15 Nov 2016

Armed with 10 years’ experience of working in a safari business, Mr Chere Morundu dared to move out of his home village of Shakawe to Kasane to start his own safari business.

Popularly known as ‘Cherry’ by associates, Mr Morundu’s decisive relocation did not disappoint because today, he is the proud owner of Chobe Chere Safari that offers boat cruises, game drives, cultural dances, fishing excursions, and trips to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, among others.

“Unemployment motivated me to start my own business. When I moved here I knew it was not every day that a person gets to relocate to a strange place with just a desire to make his dreams come true, but I had a feeling I was going to make it,” he said in an interview with BOPA.

The tour operator said he got extra encouragement from people around him because they knew how passionate he was towards his job.

His road to success started in 2011 with several unsuccessful business plan attempts until 2014 when luck struck as the youth office finally approved his business plan and sponsored him to the tune of P100 000.

Although he knew that his dreams had come true and P100 000 seemed like millions of pula, it was not enough to start the business of his dream, that included boats,” he said.

“Seeing that the funds were not enough, I approached my land lords, who also played a huge role in my life,” he said, adding that the family offered him P50 000, with which he managed to buy a boat.

Eventually Chobe Cherry Safari was up and running with just a single 14-seater boat, Mr Morundu said, adding that tourists come in large numbers for his services and that it becomes hard to deliver with only one boat.

However, Mr Morundu said he often hires colleagues’ boats and cars to keep his business going but since his business started expanding seriously he hired on a long term basis two a 12-seater and a 20-seater boat.

He has now secured his own plot which he has turned into an office to make it easy for his clients to be able to locate him, he said.

Running a business is not a child’s play as it comes with its own challenges; for instance, many Batswana customers always want to negotiate for a lower price, which can be bad to an emerging business. With a smile on his face, he expressed how he is proud of himself and how his business is growing as he has so far managed to hire four freelancers, which is a big achievement for him and hopes to hire them permanently in future.

“I really desire that my business skyrockets this year. At the moment, I am saving for another boat, which is going to be much bigger and hopefully I will be able to purchase it in December,” he said hopefully.

Mr Morundu added that his business has helped him a lot as he can now afford to support his three children.

He stressed that being disciplined in business can help it to be a success, adding that his love for people and good service makes his customers to keep coming for more.

The safari business owner advised the youth to follow their dreams and that they should also quit smoking and drinking alcohol as it can delay them from reaching their dreams. BOPA