15 Nov 2016

Creativity, passion and innovation are critical in taking artists to greater heights.

Those were the wise words uttered by Pearl Baitemi of Ntsweng ward in Kanye when interviewed by BOPA recently.

Baitemi remained obstinate that creativity, passion and innovation are pivotal in making her to come-up with inspirational artifacts, noting that the three virtues are a winning formula for her business success.

The self made entrepreneur therefore challenged the youth and other fellow business people to be innovative when designing artifacts, adding uniqueness positions highly products in the market.

Baitemi said that each and every single person has something that they are good at, citing that some are academically gifted while others are born with some astounding talents that only need ingenuity to sell beyond boundaries.

She says after being smacked on the face by the ugliness of unemployment for some time, she was motivated to turn her hobby into a business.

With her being passionate about beauty and fashion, the self made business woman started Legakwa Designs in 2013, specialising in beauty ornaments such as handbags, neck pieces, cushions, earrings and bracelets, among others.

In products designing, Baitemi says she uses assorted fabric material and beads in order to give her crafts an exquisite look.

“I had to think outside the box, so I merged German prints and African attire materials of assorted colors to give my products that unique marvelous look for them to transcend the market barriers,”Baitemi said.

She also uses the readily available material such as wires, bottle caps and used zips. Baitemi also refurbishes some used ornaments to give them a new look.

However, she decried high rental costs, noting that it impedes youth businesses growth.

She said to avoid  high rentals she opted to design and sell from home and display her products in front of shops, at exhibitions and during the market days.

She also decried customers who delay payment and those who disappear without settling their debts, thereby reducing her profit margin.

Although faced with such challenges, Baitemi remains optimistic of a positive growth in the near future, given the uniqueness of her business.

The entrepreneur said she has also engaged the use of online sale and social media to market her business, which saw her increasing her clientele base. BOPA