24 Jan 2017

As much as some people are born for it, there are also those who continuously push until they find the niche.

These people are self driven enough to create the life they desire, working tirelessly against all odds.

The 55year old Ms Leentjie Decock is one perfect example of people with great enthusiasm to rise above adversity.

Ms Decock said in an interview that despite her failure to continue school after standard seven, she never looked down upon herself but found something to sustain herself and her family.

She explained that she was lucky enough to have landed a job as a shop assistant, adding that the experience she gained back then came in handy in running of her businesses now.

According to Ms Decock, she loved her job as it sparked interest and inspired her to run her own business someday.

She said she took advice well and learnt the basics of running a business from her boss all the time.Several years after learning skills of the trade, she is now a businesswoman of repute in Tsabong .

Ms Decock further explained that she was also blessed to have met her late husband who was business minded as well as motivated to make it happen.

“My husband and I worked as a team from scratch, taking advantage of the fact that Tsabong was still underdeveloped in about a decade ago,” said Ms Decock.

It was in 1998 when they started a coffin manufacturing company that was funded through the then Financial Assistance Policy.

The company was the first of its kind in Kgalagadi South area and they supplied clients from Kokotsha to Struizendam.

In a period of two years down the line, the manufacturing business grew amazingly and they had to come up with viable opportunities to expand it.

Ms Decock said that Kgalagadi South dwellers were faced with another challenge of travelling a distance of about 435 kilometres from Tsabong to Kanye to seek mortuary services.

She went on to say they seized that opportunity by opening a funeral home that has since offered a range of caskets, funeral merchandise and a funeral cover that enables clients to provide a fitting memorialization to their loved ones.

“I must admit this is the most sensitive business ever; it has to be handled with compassion, one has to convey appropriate sympathy as well as apply proper ethical standards,” said Ms Decock.

Ms Decock further stated that she finds strength in prayer and meditation every day, adding that even after her husband’s passing she still tried her best to run the commercial property and other businesses that they built together.

However, she also admitted that an entrepreneurial journey is not a smooth sailing one but in order to overcome stress one needs to accept failure as the seed of growth. She says it is through hard work and self-belief that one gets to accomplish their goals.  BOPA