Drum
In the bustling streets of Johannesburg, it’s not unusual to see entrepreneurs hustling for opportunity, but for Brandon Banda, that hustle looks a little different.
He approaches strangers, rings the intercom, and hands out business cards in hopes of landing his next client.
The young entrepreneur, who runs his cleaning company KleenLab entirely on his own, has quickly gained attention for his bold approach to finding customers, refusing to sit and wait for opportunities to come to him.
Banda’s journey began in Zimbabwe, where he spent most of his childhood before eventually moving to South Africa to pursue his studies.
He shared with Drum that he is highly competitive, a trait that continues to shape how he approaches challenges today.
His parents also instilled in him a strong foundation of faith and discipline. “My mother taught me how to pray, and my father taught me how to work hard, the perfect balance. Faith without works is dead.
Before entrepreneurship entered the picture, Banda had his sights set on a completely different path.
He once dreamed of becoming a professional cricket player, but when that dream didn’t materialise the way he had hoped, he found himself searching for another way to succeed.
“I regret not going all in on cricket because I knew I had the talent and could have done more,” Banda said.
That sense of unfinished business has now become fuel for his entrepreneurial drive: “I want to give myself the best shot at winning in life by trying and reducing the time between thought and action.”
Surprisingly, the idea for his cleaning business came from a simple conversation with his grandmother.
While driving through Johannesburg one day, she pointed out the number of homes and complexes in the area and suggested that starting a cleaning service could be a good opportunity.
“She had run something similar years ago and had seen success before relocating,” Banda recalled.
The comment stayed with him, and a few days later, while driving down the same street, something clicked.
“I looked around at the number of houses and realised the opportunity, almost every home has carpets that need cleaning,” Banda said.
Within 27 minutes of reaching out to people in his phone book, Banda secured his first client, “That was the beginning of the company.”
Instead of relying solely on online marketing, Banda decided to take a direct approach to growing his business.
He walks through neighbourhoods around Johannesburg, introducing himself to residents and handing out his business cards.
“This may sound silly, but my desire to own a Porsche 911 Turbo S Arctic Grey with red brake pads far exceeds any embarrassment or challenges I have to go through to get there,” he shared.
That relentless drive has helped him overcome the awkwardness many people feel when pitching to strangers, and sometimes, those encounters turn into memorable moments.
One of his most popular interactions, captured on video, shows him ringing an intercom, only for the first resident to hang up on him.
Undeterred, he tries again and eventually convinces another resident to come outside and hear his pitch.
“By the end of our exchange, he said he was going to put my business card on his fridge,” Banda said.
The video has since attracted more than 100,000 views on TikTok.
For now, Banda runs every aspect of the company himself, from marketing and customer outreach to cleaning carpets and couches.
His daily routine is a balancing act between business and personal development.
“A typical day starts with praying and hyping myself up, then I go to the gym, have a solid meal and work on my school work,” he said.
In addition to running the cleaning business, Banda is also studying Al software development.
The rest of the day is spent creating content, distributing business cards, completing cleaning jobs and managing deliveries before posting updates on social media.
Banda’s ambitions stretch far beyond running a small cleaning service.
In the next decade, he envisions building a company that works with major businesses in Sandton, often referred to as Africa’s richest square mile.
“I will be signing contracts with the biggest companies there,” he said.
Banda’s vision also includes giving back, as he wants to provide job opportunities, build orphanages, care for the needy, and upskill the unskilled.
“I hope people say Brandon Banda changed my life,” he said.
