11 Jan 2015

What started as a menial job for two women, Ms Shadi Rakakae aged 53 and Balatlhile Mabophiwa aged 41 has evolved into a prospering business.

The duo met and worked together at Wawa Textile and decided after two years to quit and set up their own company, which they named Bobs and Rags Textiles.

Ms Rakakae had previously worked for different companies in the textile industry and through that she acquired tons of experience in tailoring.

On the other hand, Ms Mabophiwa had had been an instructor in dressmaking at Home Craft in Francistown.

In 2010, the two women registered their company with the intention of having their own business, starting off with a few machines, which included two straight machines and an over lock machine.

In an interview with BOPA, Ms Rakakae said the straight machine is used to join pieces of material together while the over lock machine is used to make final touches to the garment and also to make it neat.

Ms Mabophiwa said they were inspired to open their own business when they realised that the products they were making at Wawa pulled in customers.

“The issue was that we were not compensated as well as we should,” she said. It was then that they decided to set up their own company.

As with any business, the two women said they experience challenges in their business, amongst these is the issue of a place to operate at as the current one is small while the rent money is high.

Another issue is that they do not have enough machinery and equipment and for the business to produce a garment for an individual, that person has to bring along the material required and then they only charge labour.

The resources needed in the business include cloths, needles, measuring tape among others and the women said with lack of resources, they have been unable to meet the demands of some customers.

They then decided to seek assistance from the government and it was in May 2013 that they approached the Department of Women Affairs now known as Gender Affairs.

“We had to produce what was required by the department for them to be able to assist us and amongst the things we had to produce was a business plan,” said Ms Rakakae.

She said they experienced challenges in the process and had to rely on business consultants, some of them crooks who just claimed money from them without producing results.

Another issue was that being the only ones in the business, they were required to come up with three more people as the department can only fund a number of five or more people.

“We then approached three more people who agreed that they would join us but they would rather do that when everything is in place,” said Ms Mabophiwa.

In September 2014, they received an approval letter from the department that they will be funded to a sum of P189 099.80, which they will use to expand their business.

The two women believe that their dream has come true and the money will be used efficiently and effectively to grow their business.

When it comes to marketing, the women use oral advertising and they hope to advertise their business in the commercial advertisers when they can afford to.

They said they retain customers by ensuring that they give them the best produced garments and good service that go along with those products.

In future, they would like to open a shop that would have different kinds of materials they need and an area where they would be able to display their products.

Ms Rakakae and Ms Mabophiwa said they will always be grateful for the financial assistance they have acquired from government.

The duo in parting said that business requires patience as it does not start with the booming stage but starts from the bottom and people have to make it climb all the way to the top. ENDS