31 Jan 2017

Like other African countries, Botswana is faced with myriad of socio-economic challenges. Some within our control while other are far from our control. For those within our control, the government had already put remedial measures to curb them.

And for every challenge that besieges any country, it is its citizens that can salvage it out of that predicament. Likewise, government encourages citizens to create employment for themselves and the plea is bearing fruit as many citizens had created jobs for themselves, One of those is Ms Oabile Segwagwa runs a sucessful  stationary shop in Hukuntsi.

Her journey into the business world was motivated by the fact that she wanted to be self-employed and fulfill her childhood passion of owning a business.

Her shop, which trades by the name Brandvale Investment, dates back to 2012 after the closure of her family business, which she worked for. When she entered the business world, she was not a novice because she had already cultivated the spirit of entrepreneurship through networking with established business people.

Unlike many women who run to government to ask for funding, the 32-year-old business woman started her business from her owning savings.

As biblical adage warns us not to despise small beginnings, she preferred to start small and witness the growth of her business. Perhaps she wanted to prove the reality of a common adage which says it is not a curse to start small, but it is curse to stay small.

Her business is located at Mautle’s complex, just a stone throw away from the old Hukuntsi Mall and caters for people from all walks of life including the government, individuals, private companies and residents of the surrounding villages.

The Kanye born entrepreneur attributes the success of her business to good customer service, perseverance, hard work and commitment. She said she works tirelessly to market the business and so far she had penetrated the market.

As any business has its challenges, Ms Segwagwa says winning government tenders is an uphill battle, adding that some entrepreneurs cannot withstand the pressure of not winning tenders and usually close shop when things do not go their way.

Nonetheless, she appreciates the challenges that come with running the business, describing them as an eye opener.

“They (challenges) should empower us so that we can grow our businesses. Business people should not rely much on government tenders. Tenders are all about competition,” she reckons.

To prove how determined she is in achieving her ambition to become an entrepreneur of note; she is currently conducting a feasibility study to diversifying her business and introduce a supermarket. To her, diversification is the only strategy to survive the odds of business world.

Her word of advice to those in business is that they should learn from their mentors. She says mentorship is good in business to avoid petty mistakes which sometimes can discourage entrepreneurs. ENDS