13 Oct 2015

Wachila Khani has taken it upon himself to create employment for himself and other graduates by starting Dominic Studio Investments in Tutume.

The 32 year-old entrepreneur said he started his business in 2011 after completing his Masters in Business Administration (MBA) in South Africa and decided to use all the experience he obtained during attachment at school to open his own business. 

He said he talked to his family who agreed to assist him financially and stated that he started by purchasing a Disc Jockey (DJ) equipment and cameras to provide sound system and photography at weddings and parties. 

The young man said in 2012, he decided to introduce secretarial services after doing a market research and the results showed that more people did copying, faxing, typing and scanning daily. 

He hired one employee and a freelancer who assisted from time to time and also managed to find an office space to rent.

Khani said he met Ishmael Selebogo the same year who agreed to assist him with graphic designing and multimedia so as to produce good quality photos and programmes for his clients. 

He said this helped grow his business and in 2013, he went to the youth offices to ask for assistance so that he can expand his business and introduce more services. 

His proposal was approved in October and was funded with P100 000, which he used to buy an advanced sound system, back-up power system and opened another office at the centre of the village to attract more customers. 

He said he also included other services such as car and sign boards writing, car plate numbers, computer repair, t-shirt printing, Internet, general supply and same day photo printing. 

Khani said he had to employ two more people to meet his client’s demand and provided on job training for all of them so they can be in a better position to provide good quality customer service at all times.

He noted that since entering the business world, he has participated in many youth workshops as a motivational speaker, judged Junior Achievement Botswana (JAB) projects and assisted other youth to write business proposals. 

Furthermore, he has also won sound hiring services tenders for many campaigns such as the Tobacco day, Month of Youth Against AIDS (MYAA), road safety and youth pitso. 

He noted that his services are enjoyed in other villages and they have even provided wedding services in Moshupa. 

To market his business, he produces flyers, pamphlets, business cards, has a Facebook page where people can view what services are provided and also makes sure that they give out good customer service to all their clients so that they can recommend their friends to Dominic Studios. 

He said that he continuously attend business workshops so that he can network with other entrepreneurs and share ideas on how best to improve their businesses.

Mr Khani said that they are involved in projects around the village as a way to give back to the community such as providing sound system to McConnell College for free, assisting local netball teams with kits and balls, and adopted Thini Primary School since last year. 

He said that at the moment he is busy building another office at his business plot in Magapatona ward, which is scheduled to be opened before the end of the year. 

The building will consist of an office, library section, Internet café where people can surf the Internet while having coffee and snacks, study room for students to use for group work and a photo studio. 

He said that he managed to purchase a company vehicle and now able to provide services in other places at a quicker time.

The budding youth entrepreneur noted that despite all the good things happening at the studio, they still face challenges such as lack of equipment, especially embroidery machines for t-shirt printing and bulk copying printers. 

However he said that his team is determined to provide good quality services to their clients despite the challenges they face. 

Khani said that graduates should not wait for the government to provide jobs for them but rather use entrepreneurship skills learnt at schools to come up with different businesses to better their lives as well as create jobs for their peers. 

He said that his door will always be open to anyone who needs assistance or advice regarding business. Ends