20 Aug 2015

His ambition has always been to become an entrepreneur of repute.  He started off selling sweets whilst in school and now he is a successful businessman running two business entities.

Mr Keolebogile Bogopa, 33, is so grateful to his sweets business which he says has instilled in him perseverance and determination to succeed. After completing his Botswana General Certificate of Secondary Education (BGCSE) in 2001, Mr Bogopa worked in different garages due to the adversities of life.

The young man from Machaneng went on to obtain a certificate in Auto Mechanics at Madirelo Vocational Training Centre in 2005. 

He then joined hands with his childhood friend, Mr Kagiso Isaac to register their business in 2007. They applied for the Youth Development Fund in 2009 which later funded them to the tune of P98 000 in 2010.

 Even though finding a place to operate from was a problem, they managed to find a perfect location at the new industrial site in Palapye and that was the beginning of good things to come for Soft Touch Solutions, as the company is called.  

It started operating in 2011, specialising in truck and trailer wheel alignment and auto mechanics only.

The two did their own door to door advertising by distributing fliers and their main challenge was that a lot of people were not aware of the fact that trucks needed wheel alignment. In order for them to boost their business, they introduced a supplies segment. 

They supplied different commodities such as stationary, food, cleaning materials, electrical equipment, building materials to schools, council and private companies.

As time went on they introduced cleaning services to Soft Touch Solutions. 

They have since added more services to their business as they do not only specialise in truck and trailer wheel alignment; they also align buses, they do balancing, heavy duty and light duty mechanics and forklift services.

Soft Touch Solutions has hired only one person, a receptionist, but others chip in on part-time basis when there is work to be done.

Mr Bogopa said their biggest challenge was obtaining their own premises. 

Their long term goal is to own an industrial plot so that they do not have to rent.

Realising that Soft Touch Solutions has made its mark, Mr  Bogopa wanted to fulfil his other entrepreneurial ambitions, he went solo and ventured into another business he called Haigos Fencing. 

It specialises in fencing farms and ploughing fields, residential and industrial plots, cordon and security fences as well as construction of  kraals, palisade and precast walls.

“Because I wanted to grow as a businessman I decided to go solo on this one and used my own funds because I now have a lot of experience in running a business. I used the same methods we used at Soft Touch Solutions to advertise my new business,” he says.

He has hired three young people and has got a site foreman thus making it easier for him to run between the two businesses.

 He says when he started he had limited tools and the biggest challenge was transport because he had to meet with clients at farms to make quotations.

Mr Bogopa encouraged the youth who want to venture into any kind of business to never give up on their dreams. 

He said most young people get discouraged when they encounter challenges. 

He said he was now in a position to help his parents and his five younger siblings with some of their daily needs like food and clothing.

His parting shot is that “all things around us were once just ideas.

 The products we see represents decisions taken to transform those ideas into reality.” So, he says, the youth should not shy away from trying to transform whatever dreams they have, one day they would become realities. Ends