12 Aug 2015

A 30-year-old business woman, Ms Malebogo Wilson says the world of business is one area difficult to break into.

However, she said when one sticks to the basics of hard work, passion, patience and implementing innovative strategies it was possible to break through. 

The youthful entrepreneur, who grew up in the city of Francistown, is critical of people who easily throw in the towel when challenges in their businesses crop up.

In an interview recently, Ms Wilson narrated that when her business of hair salon was on the edge of collapse, she never felt discouraged. Rather, she took the challenge as motivation to seek and implement strategies that would resurrect her project.

“I started this project from my own savings. I was not satisfied with the profit margins I made. Lack of proper equipment and professional hairdressers are some of the issues that contributed to my setback,” said Ms Wilson.

The mother of one said her passion towards hairdressing also propelled her to find means that would boost her business.

“I have been into hairdressing for the past eight years and as such could not afford to just let my creativity and passion go down the drain,” she said.

Ms Wilson said for that reason, she sought financial assistance through the Youth Development Fund (YDF) and succeeded.

With the P98 000 she received, she bought all the necessary equipment she needed such as wall mirrors, massage bed, facial steamer and others. 

She used some of the funds for the day-to-day running of the business and she was up and operational in no time.

Looking at her pacing around the salon, one can tell that Ms Wilson is determined to work hard for the success of her business. She operates as Zandile Hair and Beauty Therapy which is situated in the city centre at the SSS complex. Her services include body massage, beauty therapy, hair care and others.

She stated that she now has a satisfactory clientele base which makes it possible for her to pay up her bills and employees well in time and save some profits for rainy days. She also said although the goals for her project was profit making and customer satisfaction, she also was advancing the objectives of job creation in the country, especially for other youth.

“So far I have 12 youth employees under my belt ,and they specialise in different areas. I am impressed that they do their duties with high regard and in a professional manner,” she said.

Ms Wilson said she was aware of the competition from other salons. She said she has opened a Facebook page to market her business.

She also said to beat up competition, she always strives to work hard and incorporate some concepts of creativity and at the same time reads magazines to know of the latest hair trends.

“Team work and customer focus as well as more research among my employees’ plays a significant role.” She noted.

Furthermore, she said she learned a lot of business related topics during the YDF beneficiaries training workshop which helps her manage the business well.

She also stated that business planning was the other aspect that keeps her going, noting that it helps implement plans and also detect whether the business was growing or has remained stagnant.

Ms Wilson further revealed that her grace period came to an end last month, as such she would be starting to repay her loan at the end of August. 

“It is important that I work hard so that I manage to repay the loan within the stipulated time so that others get assistance well in time,” she said.

She praised the YDF, noting that it was through the department that she managed to make a breakthrough. ENDS