01 Apr 2014

 Ms Motswedi Dikaelo (30) of Mokobaxane in Boteti is a living example of empowered women undermining the old tradition that made heads and providers of their families.

Doing everything in her power to climb up the business ladder, Ms Dikaelo expressed her concern about women who stayed at home and depended on men for financial support. 

“This pains my heart because I take the equality issue very seriously and I am a stern believer of women empowerment”, she said in an interview.

Ms Dikaelo said she started her business in August 2012 with a P96 000 funding she got from the Youth Development Fund (YDF).  Today she is a well-established business woman and has the people of Boteti eating from the palm of her hands. 

Gather Creation is a small upholstery business owned by this proud Motswana youth, with a well-established market from individual members of the community, government and council institutions, as well as the private sector demanding her services. Ms Dikaelo said she was drawn into this line of business due to the mere fact that there were very few people doing what she did.

 “It’s a very unique business, most people go into fashion design but I opted to take a different route and it is working to my advantage,” she added. The young business woman stated that all she had to do was enroll at Maun Technical College for a short course in Clothing Design and Textiles and after completion she secured a job at Emperiel Upholstery at Orapa and later joined Sadolf Agency.

 After gaining the much needed experience, Ms Dikaelo applied for government youth funding to start her own business. She has utilised the experience she had acquired at her previous employers to start up her own business and had even created employment for three other young people from Mopipi, Serowe and Mmadinare.

Gather Creations specialises in canvas work, car seats, canopy tents and tony covers. Dikaelo noted that it was hard to find hardworking and passionate workers. 

“Batswana youth are very impatient, after acquiring the much needed skills through on the job training, they disappear and you have to start from the scratch recruiting and training new faces. “I train them from scratch, whether it is a difficult or easy job I don’t mind but they never stick around,” said Ms Dikaelo 

She went on to say that lack of transport has proven to be a hindrance to her business, adding that the situation indirectly affects income generation as it is difficult to service orders from outside Letlhakane. 

With a reliable transport, she said she would be able to expand her market and even service customers outside Boteti and ultimately grow her business to greater heights. Ms. Dikaelo encourages everyone aspiring to go into business to stand up and make a difference in order to create a better future for themselves. Ends