06 Mar 2017

 Formation of cooperatives has been described as a better and viable way of doing business in Botswana.
Speaking at a workshop held for the backyard nursery farmers in Maun recently, principal cooperative auditor for Maun region in the Department of Consumer Affairs, Mr Donald Masalila said cooperatives business model had always been a backbone of many business successes in Botswana.
He said as a body mandated to advocate and facilitate the formation of cooperatives, their sole responsibility was to ensure that their main objective of uniting people to work together in business was fulfilled and said working together had more advantages than disadvantages.
Mr Masalila therefore encouraged nursery farmers to act and speak as one voice as this would help in attraction of funding from financial bodies such as the Citizen Entrepreneur Development Agency (CEDA) as well as the National Development Bank (NDB) and also the market demand.
He however cautioned that transparency was crucial whenever people are operating as a cooperative to avoid any issues of mistrust, which could lead to collapse of the whole business.
As the name suggests, Mr Masalila said cooperatives needed everyone to work together as a team with a common goal to make it successful.
He advised people to think outside the box and avoid saturating the market with already existing products.
Mr Masalila regretted that some beneficiaries neglect their project after being funded by government, a situation he described as a worrying trend.
He further observed that cooperatives in most cases fail because they have been left to be operated by employees, which he described as a bad business practice.
Mr Masalila also criticised owners who fail to participate in the day to day running of cooperatives showing up only when the business is doing well.
Meanwhile, Local Enterprise Authority (LEA) business advisor Ms Constance Phokoje encouraged the backyard nursery farmers to consult their offices to access various services  they offered.
She said LEA was established to help micro businesses to begin operation through various initiatives such as company registration, trading licenses, production of business plans and management plans as well as assistance in acquiring start up capital funds.
One of the backyard nursery farmers complained that they were often given competition by traders who come from other countries to sell the same products. She  therefore asked on the department to help in protecting their already small market. ENDS