10 May 2017

Despite challenging business times and seeing some business in line with hers close down in record numbers, a Youth Development Fund (YDF) funded project, owned by Ms Kedibonye Scotch has survived.

The 27-year-old mother of one, owns a laundry-mart called Scotch Brite, which is situated in Monarch area 8 in the second city of Francistown.

She was funded through YDF to the tune of P96 000 in 2015 and opened doors to her business last year May and does laundry for companies and individuals.

“Business is not bad here. I am surviving. What makes me happy about my business is that its doors are still open for business when many youth business funded at the same time have closed shop for lack of business,” Ms Scotch said.

She explained that her success in keeping the business afloat was that she invested time on advertising and marketing even before the business started.

Before she even bought the laundry machines and a place to operate, she said she engaged in a vigorous campaign to take her company to the people.

She visited government offices at Ntshe House in Francistown and others in the city as well as private companies and individuals and wherever she went, she dropped flyers, hanged banners and left her business cards.

The marketing and advertising continued for almost five months until she opened her business.

Coupled with social media advertising, her run-around mission to lure customers did pay off as her laundry business now boasts of almost 150 registered and loyal customers on her books.

“Business is not bad as the little money I make I am able to repay back my YDF loan and take care of myself and my daughter. My first month in business I made as much as P4 900 and notably this year I made P1 440 in January, P1 500 in February and a mere P410 in March but picked to P2 400 in April,” she said.

The financial trend, she explained, showed that business tends to take be weak in summer and picks up in winter and this, she noted, was because people do not like freezing doing laundry in winter and that is where she came in.

Scotch Brite uses two speed queens washing machines and a whirlpool and dryer, which she said were all of industrial capacity.

She charges P60 for a medium basket and P100 for a large basket, both of which include ironing and folding.

However, she noted that there were special discounted prices for those who bring blankets, laundries and for caterers and other organisations like churches, which use large decorating cloths.

Ms Scotch harbors ambitions of one day owning a mobile laundry, which she said could help her drive to her customers’ physical addresses to attend to their laundry needs. ENDS