08 Apr 2014

Often times people put off their dreams for a later date in the hope that they will be best suited for another time and settings and things will work better at a later date.

With that, people become victims of an extended period of procrastination which miught eventually become a habit. One would not dispute the fact that there are certain things that have a time frame and set dates to do them, like meetings and other important activities.

However, the moment you see yourself excited about your ambition every time you cogitate about it and the excitement does not see the light of implementation, then there is a problem.

Following her resignation from her previous job where she worked as a computer assistant in an internet café in Gaborone, 29-year- old, Ms Merapelo Boswajatau used the skills she had acquired from her previous employer to sustain herself.

Her relocation to Hukuntsi in 2009 was an eye opener as she established Boswa Photo Studio after realising that there was no internet café or photo studio in the area.

The Thamaga-born never paid heed to the distance between her home village, Thamaga and Hukuntsi as the urge to chase her dream of owning a photo studio and bringing services closer to the residents of Hukuntsi were too much.

Her first endeavour as an entrepreneur was strenuous as she was by herself and had to cover all customers’ needs singlehandedly.

“Back then it was not like a bed of roses since I was new in the business world and also the lack of equipment, funds and man power to offer a hand worsened the situation,” she noted.

Ms Boswajatau said her business is not performing well but she never rests because her business has to grow through her own efforts.

She subsequently applied for Youth Development Fund and she was funded.

The youth entrepreneur divulged gladly that she used the funds to purchase six computers, two video cameras and a photo copying machine.

She also relocated to a prime place in as far as her target audience is concerned.

She also managed to connect the Internet in her photo studio and also generate employment as she has created one employment opportunity.

Nevertheless, there are always hurdles in every aspect of life and Boswa Photo Studio is not an exception.

Despite high computer illiteracy in the area, which poses as a major stumbling block to the growth of her business, Ms Merapelo decried civil servants who are not ready to assist locals with secretarial duties.

“I wish for civil servants to refer the locals to local entrepreneurs whenever they seek any sort of secretarial duties, be it photocopying or faxing in order to empower those entrepreneurs,” she said.

Ms Merapelo further advised young people who want to embark into business field to pay heed to places where there businesses are in demand.

Business she said is not a sprint but marathon; therefore young entrepreneurs need not have to expect rewards overnight.

She said every business requires dedication, perseverance and passion for its prolonged sustainability. ENDS