These two bright sparks from Malibu High School in Blue Downs have shown you can be a winner with rubbish.
Fazil Smith, 16, and Jason-Lee Ockhuizen, 17, took third place at the Junior Achievers South Africa Company of the Year Competition, held in Sandton, competing against nine teams.
The two made an innovative new product to help busy housewives and working moms fold laundry.
They named their product Flip2Fold, which is made from recycled cardboard and buff tape.
The Grade 11 pupils were part of 157 participants innie Wes Kaap who took part in a 12-week programme, where they were taught how to run a business. This included creating a product, coming up with a business plan and then presenting their product.
“Its very tedious to fold clothes, but if you use the Flip2Fold you’ll save time and Mother Nature, because we are using recyclable material,” Fazil explains.
Jason jokes: “Our target market is working mothers, but we have become a big hit with the dads, because they want to score points with their wives.”
The Flip2Fold is a square cardboard covered in wrapping paper and plastic. It is divided into three columns, with the middle one divided into three rows. A T-shirt is placed on it, it’s flipped and the cardboard folds.
The boys say they’ve sold 50 already.
Their Economics teacher Anton Lategan says: “It’s a great accomplishment, because it was a national competition. Their business will grow further than their project.”