12 Jan 2017

 When he set up his makeshift barbershop a year ago, 19 year-old Mr Tamocha Mokaita of Monarch in Francistown did not imagine that his small venture would still be operational today.

Many dismissed his idea of a barbershop from the word go, the reason being there were already no less than 15 barbershops in the whole of Monarch and three of these within Mr Mokaita’s radius of operation.

Add to that list two salons at the neighbouring complex at Monarch Area Seven, and the competition for the young man seemed very stiff.

In the midst of all the available competition, he learnt that the barbershops at Area Seven across the busy road leading to Phase Six were doing well. But then, he thought all the three barbershops at Area Seven have long been around before the two professional salons at the complex and have thus acquired a solid customer base.

Like any start-up business, the seemingly humbled Mr Mokaita noticed a gap in the barbershop market in the location of Monarch. He noticed that the barbershops at Area Seven catered for Area Seven, Eight, and Two and Phase Five and could not possibly be getting customers from all other areas of Monarch such as Area One, Nine, 10 and 11.

With this market gap in mind, he together with his uncle, Mr Tebogo Botlhoko set up a makeshift shelter of metal sheets and Hair-cut Everlasting Barbershop was opened but his uncle has since left the barbershop and is now a taxi driver.

Situated right in the heart of the Monarch business centre, along the main road passing in front of the Monarch Post Office and surrounded by the Monarch Customary Court, Tshwaragano Clinic and the Self Help Housing Agency (SHHA) offices, it is in the right place.

In an interview with BOPA on Wednesday, Mr Mokaita stated that since opening his barbershop, poverty has beecome a thing of the past for him.

“My barbershop is doing well despite the competition from mushrooming of upcoming barbershops and the already established ones. On a regular basis I make as much as P150 a day but can make P300 to P500 a day during busy times like month ends and festive seasons,” he noted.

He said he uses his earnings to pay for rent and buy food and is also saving some money to register for driving lessons so he can get a driver’s license and pursue his ambitions to be a taxi driver or possibly own his own fleet of taxis.

Mr Mokaita revealed that his secret to fending off competition from other barbershops is simply his customer service, which is accompanied with a smile and quality hair cut done to the correct specification of the customer’s request.

Barbershop businesses unlike other business establishments, he said, did not need any marketing strategies but were self-marketing through word of mouth in particular.

A good hair cut by the barber, he said, will prompt potential customers to inquire where the cut was done, hence bringing new customers.

Furthermore, Mr Mokaita noted that good hygiene in and around his barbershop attracted some customers to his shop.

“I make sure I clean around the barbershop every morning before I start work,” he said. ENDS