16 Feb 2016

A youth in Jwaneng, Ms Nshaluli Mmelesi ,33, has described the Youth Development Fund (YDF) as God sent.

Ms Mmelesi, who owns Nshaluli Investments which sells livestock and chicken feeds, was funded by the Department of Youth to the tune of P82 000 in September last year through the YDF programme.
Ms Mmelesi said as a young girl she had always been fond of agriculture, and had a dream of one day owning a business that deals with anything to do with agriculture.

She explained that even though she didn’t do well in her BGCSE examinations, she was not demotivated and decided to work in different shops that sold agricultural goods.

“When I realised that I will not get a tertiary certificate, I decided to look for a job along my passion so that I could get experience and save money to one day open my own business. It helped me because I gained a lot of experience, and I even had a chance to evaluate which sectors in agriculture would be suitable for me,” she explained.

The Nshaluli Investments owner explained that her business was doing well as many farmers were keen on keeping their livestock even though there was less rainfall.

She noted that her place of operation was also advantageous because it was surrounded by small and medium-scale and large- scale farmers.

“The business so far is doing exceptionally well than I had anticipated. I get a lot of positive comments from customers, saying that my business has cut their costs as they no longer have to travel to Gaborone to get some feeds for their livestock,” she said.

One cannot miss the smile on Ms Mmelesi’s face when she talks about the growth and support she gets from famers around the township.
 She said her business was growing and intends to open another store in Sekoma before the end of the year.

“When your business is doing well, when it is still a newbie in the market that means you are doing something well and therefore your entrepreneural skills have to work overtime and look for expansion opportunities,” she said.
She said in an effort to support the empowering of women she has hired two young women in her business with the aim of sharing her experience and learning from them.

Talking about the means that she uses to advertise her business, she said she has a billboard that shows her location.

She also explained that she has created a Facebook page where she interacts with her customers and potential customers. Ms Mmelesi also explained that she sends her customers messages about promotions that she makes in her shop.
She said as a way of penetrating the market, she sells her livestock feeds at a lower prize compared to her competitors.

“Internet makes advertising easier these days because you get to know what your customers want and think of your business, and that allows room for change to satisfy your customers because at the end of the day they are the ones that can break or make your business,” she explained.

On challenges, she said she travels to Gaborone to buy feeds using a seven tonne truck which was expensive to hire, but was quick to explain that the challenge would not hinder her from living her dream.
 She encouraged other youth, especially women, to enrol in programmes so that the empowerment of women and the girl child could be realised. She emphasised that culture has evolved so much that women were now bread winners.

“Women have to have that hunger to excel just like men because that will also teach and motivate the girl child to aim higher because the girl child tends to look upon her mother in order to tackle life issues,” she explained.

She encouraged young people not to give up on their dreams no matter the circumstances, explaining that as long as the government has programmes for the betterment of lives there was hope in one realising their dream.

She also encouraged the youth to open businesses that they were passionate about because they would need passion when the business faces challenges. She added that patience in the programme was as important as passion.

“I was rejected four times by the Department of Youth and the good thing is that they told me where I went wrong and that helped me to perfect my proposal because I was determined and passionate about owning a business,” she said.
Ms Mmelesi applauded the government for availing programmes to its citizens.
 

She praised the Department of Youth for organising motivational talks, workshops and training of youth that want to enrol in the programme but don’t have a background qualification.
“The Department of Youth did not only fund me, it took me to Pelotshetlha Agricultural Research Institution and trained me on animal production in which I got a certificate,” she said. Ends