National Small Business Champion & Top 20 Winner DRIP Footwear is the brainchild of Lekau Sehoana. It is a sneaker brand but that’s just the start. They pride themselves on making quality sneakers that are functional, fashionable and customer-centric. Lekau began making sneakers in high school when he saw a pair of torn sneakers and refashioned them with denim and polyurethane. These were a hit with his school friends and he had turned a pain in his life into profit. He chased other business dreams after school but returned to his first passion – shoes. Through his business, Lekau Sehoana offers opportunities to young people within his community to build and strive for their dreams. He hires over 124 people and by the end of 2021 he will have opened up 20 retail outlets. His business mission is to inspire his customers to define their “great” and live it no matter where they come from.

About Drip
Drip Footwear is more than just a sneaker. It is a brand that is dedicated to working with customers to design the future. Design and Quality are at the core of everything we do. We are accessible and we collaborate with others to amplify our impact. We strive to be a dependable, responsive, imaginative and passionate brand. Our mission is to inspire customers to define their great, irrespective of where they come from.

History
The story of Drip Footwear dates back to 2003, where founder Lekau Sehoana had to make the most out of what he had, which sparked innovation and creativity. Growing up in an informal settlement of Ivory Park, Lekau Sehoana, didn’t have any shoes to wear. He then saw an old torn sneaker and redesigned it using Denim and Polyurethane. This sneaker became a local hit and led him to making an entry into the shoe making business and exchanging pain for profit, for the next 5 Years of his High School life. A few years later, Drip was born and the rest is history.

The concept behind the name and branding of this footwear brand comes from the modern day usage of words. Drip in a literal sense means drops of liquid. However, in urban street culture it means looking nice, having high fashion sense, Ukotini, style or being highly fashionable. It is against the backdrop of urban street language that the Drip brand has positioned itself. Our bold design, versatility and collaborative culture are what makes us stand out from the rest.

Values
Dependable – We are reliable and trustworthy.
Responsive -We react quickly and positively to opportunities and challenges. Imaginative – We think outside the box and we are creative in our solutions. Passionate – We approach everything with enthusiasm

South Africa’s Sneaker Craze
For South Africa’s city dwellers, sneakers are more than just shoes. As a marker of personality as well as social status, they are cared for and worn with pride, and youths compete to hunt down the rarest models from a market flooded with old and new sneakers – including many fakes. “Sneakers kind of tell your story,” graffiti artist Rasik “Mr.ekse” Green said. As demand for sneakers has grown, local entrepreneurs have become fierce rivals to international brands.

Sehoana now uses part of the company’s earnings to make shoes for children in townships. “I guess it’s one way of uniting us and bringing us together, as a people, as a country, as different races,” Green said. “Besides all our differences, at least we share one common thing… shoes.”

Q.1.1 Analyse the concept of social responsibility with reference to the case study. (10)

Q.1.2 Identify and discuss Lekau Sehoana’s entrepreneurial traits and characteristics. (10)

Q.1.3 Explain opportunities and threats in the market environment with examples
applicable to Drip Footwear. (10)

Q.1.4 Describe the elements in the micro-environment with application to the case study. (10)

Question 2 (Marks: 35)
Part of a business plan is a general company description that explains the business. General management of a business are found at various hierarchal levels and in various specialised functional areas. Conduct research on a business of your own choice and then write a report applying the following themes from your prescribed text to the business:

• The general description of the venture (Chapter 3, section 3.3.6.1)
• The fundamental requirements for a new venture opportunity (Chapter 2, section 2.7.3.2);
• Examples of different levels and functional areas of management (Chapter 6, section 6.4).

Question 3 (Marks: 25)
Conduct research on an example of poor corporate governance demonstrated by a South African company. Write an essay where you define and explain the principles of good governance, illustrating your understanding through application to your selected company.

Instructions:
• A word limit of 1000- 1200 words applies. Markers will disregard any text beyond this limit. Please indicate the word count at the end of your answer;
• An essay requires a clear introduction and conclusion, use of paragraphs and academic tone;
• Use headings to structure your essay;
• Explain relevant theory in your own words from credible, referenced sources;
• Detailed application of theory is required.

NB – Your lecturer/tutor will not mark beyond the maximum word count for the question. For example, if you exceed the 1200-word limit by submitting a 1400-word essay, you could lose all marks allocated to any sections/arguments that fall into the 200 words not marked.

Get answers on questions above on Business Management

Answer 1: Social responsibility is an important concept that indicates the responsibility of an organisation towards the society in which it operates. It is the moral responsibility of every organisation to contribute towards the community for its overall well being. In the given case scenario of Drip Footwear, it is evaluated that social responsibility is integrated within the initiative undertaken by the company, such as giving back to the community out of the profit it makes in order to allow children to wear shoes in townships. The company therefore aims at providing quality shoes and at the same time, it also takes into consideration its responsibility towards the society which shows a great responsibility maintained by the company towards the community as a whole.