18 May 2017

Mr Omphemetse Kgotlaetsile, managing director of Serowe Canvas and Tents paints a gloomy picture of a struggling business enterprise hinged on a precarious ground.

From his narrative during a tour by Local Enterprise Authority (LEA) and journalists recently, despite heaping blame on the not so level business environment, he concedes the enterprise is hit by several trials.

Notwithstanding all that, the entrepreneur concedes some blame can be traced to his inaction on, but not limited to lack of a well detailed aggressive marketing plan of his products and services.

To his dire surprise, customers are satisfied with the quality of his products and services, yet his business is struggling.

In fact, he observes that his enterprise has been hibernating for quite some time.

A stone’s throw from the popular drinking spot, Bridgeway, the business manufactures a range of tents, camping equipment, truck and tournie covers, canvas and turpullin products, upholstery and does general repairs.

Not only that, Serowe Canvas and Tents hires out and repairs tents and associated products.

While established market players have hit the ground running and honing all the tricks under their sleeves to determine prices, relatively new entrants like Serowe Canvas and Tents walk on a tight rope to set a steady foot on the trade.

With a staff complement of seven, Serowe Canvas and Tents has been in operation since 2007, mainly doing business with individuals, companies, government and its enterprises.

Local Enterprise Authority, one of government enterprises were cited to have purchased camping equipment for a historic P200 000.

Although marketing is arguably the best from of creating awareness of one’s services and products, largely depicting them as the best, the managing director concedes he has been slow on the ground although LEA has equipped him with sales and marketing skills, customer care and procurement awareness.

With challenges hitting hard in his pocket, Mr Kgotlaetsile says it has since dawned on him that marketing is an integral part of a business, more especially the one that seeks to survive in a hostile competitive environment.

He has drawn a plan of interventions to rekindle a business characterised by mixed fortunes.

To this, the managing director seeks to further engage LEA with a view to improving his marketing and promotional strategies, which hitherto fail him.

Many of his competitors are what he believes are agents of big multinational companies from South Africa, which he observes control and manipulate pricing.

“When I approached these companies in South Africa with a view of buying from them they referred me back to their agents in Botswana,” said Mr Kgotlaetsile, who added that it made no business sense purchasing material from the agents.

He found that ready made products from South Africa were cheaper than locally produced ones, hence customers preferred the former.

Upon conversing with some of his competitors during benchmarking exercises and at times at shows, he learnt that although registered as manufacturing companies, the agents imported ready made products, thereby stifling the already tough tent and canvas trading environment on his part.

Even during the tendering for doing business with and for government, Mr Kgotlaetsile alleges that the agents quote lower bids to beat local enterprises whose prices cater for, among others, labour and high purchase prices of raw material outside the country.

That as it may, Mr Kgotlaetsile recollects there has never been a month when his employees went unpaid as result of lack of revenue.

He spends about P13 000 monthly to run the businesses. ENDS