29 Oct 2015

Phemelo Mesotlo  (29) of Moshupa believes hardwork is the only way to put food on the table. He would sell vegetables in the market place or think of other things to keep himself busy.

Mesotlo owns and runs a photo shooting place he picked randomly behind one of the shops in Jwaneng.  Armed with a small Canon 16 pixels camera and one photo background, Mesotlo did not hesitate to step into the photo shooting business that grew rapidly. 

Mesotlo revealed in an interview that he had been in the business since April 2014.

Before venturing into such business, he said he worked as a night watchman and when he knocked off in the morning he would follow his passion of taking photos. He also had a desire to go to a driving school so that with the little time he had it was difficult to do all these things.

 That was when he decided to leave his job as a night watchman and go to driving school and continue with the business.

 He said his business included taking people photos from normal to big sizes, selling photo frames and albums and according to him, the business proved to be viable as it helped him to remain self-reliant.

He said when he started the business he would print photos in Gaborone but he managed to buy a small printer for normal and passport photos and today things are much better and easier.

As challenges are a way of life, Mesotlo has faced challenges in the business. He mentioned that his business is operating just in the street with no office and this is the reason why he cannot buy big machines thus limiting the growth of the business. 

Another challenge, he said, was that people were undermining small businesses.

Despite the challenges Mesotlo wished to see himself owning a photo studio and he believes he can start it since he has achieved a lot with the current one.

 He encourages the youth who are in small businesses to be patient and persevere as things normally start little and at the end become big. Ends