How creativity is becoming currency

Something is shifting in the way South Africans earn, create and build. According to the Old Mutual Savings and Investment Monitor, 57% of South Africans now participate in side hustles, rising to 73% among those aged 18 to 29.

As tools and platforms become more accessible, more people are turning creativity into income streams – making and selling everything from personalised home décor and custom gifts to iron-on apparel and bespoke stationery.

This shift is reflected in broader business trends. The “State of South African Small Business 2025” report by Xero found that 83% of small businesses grew their revenue over the past year, with 90% expressing confidence in their future prospects. The creative economy is playing a growing role in this momentum.

For creators like Celest Dreyer, that shift started with a single idea – and the right tools. The 37-year-old mother of two from Mitchell’s Plain began making personalised items after her husband gifted her a Cricut machine. She shared a few photos on WhatsApp, and demand followed almost immediately.

“People were asking, how much would you charge to do that for me?” she recalls. Today, she runs The Vinyl Lady, creating personalised T-shirts, mugs, school bags and more, with customers finding her on TikTok.

“I love getting to bring people’s requests to life,” she says. “Whether it’s for a birthday shirt or just seeing someone smile because their name is on a glass.”

Stories like Celest’s highlight the growing demand for accessible creative tools. Cricut, the global creative platform trusted by makers in over 100 countries, is introducing two new machines to the South African market: the Cricut Joy 2 and the Cricut Explore 5.

Designed to make creating more accessible, both machines come ready to use out of the box and are paired with an enhanced version of Design Space, Cricut’s intuitive software platform. New features include step-by-step guided flows, a live preview function and an AI-powered design tool that generates ready-to-cut designs from a simple text prompt.

Cricut Joy 2

Compact enough to fit in the palm of your hand and weighing just 1.19kg, the Cricut Joy 2 is the brand’s most portable cutting machine. It precision-cuts over 75 materials including cardstock, vinyl and iron-on, and introduces a Print Then Cut sensor for full-colour sticker creation using a standard inkjet printer.

Cricut Explore 5

The Cricut Explore 5, the latest in Cricut’s most popular machine family, offers expanded capability, cutting over 100 materials at high speed and supporting thicker materials with additional tools. It is designed for users looking to scale their creative output or grow a business.corporate

Gifting market continues to grow

The timing of these machines is significant. The global personalised gifts market exceeded $822 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach $1.2 trillion by 2029, while South Africa’s corporate gifting market continues to grow, driven by demand for personalised products.

Already, a third of Cricut’s South African community members use their machines to run a business or generate supplementary income – highlighting the role of accessible tools in turning creativity into viable income streams.

“With nearly six in 10 South Africans relying on a side hustle, there is a clear opportunity to support a growing community of creators and entrepreneurs,” says Martin Kruger, Cricut South Africa director of Sales and Marketing. “Access to the right tools can make a meaningful difference in helping people turn ideas into income, and the Cricut Joy 2 and Explore 5 are designed with that in mind.”

The Cricut Joy 2 and Cricut Explore 5 are available for pre-order in South Africa now. Stock is expected to arrive in June 2026.