02 Nov 2017

Twenty-five-year old business man and entrepreneur, Mr Arnold Mogodiri has opened a snack shop in Phakalane’s Acacia mall.

The shop, which trades under the name Keathorn’s, specialises in selling biltong, dried fruits, nuts, seeds, raisins and exotic chocolates.

He is an exemple to the youth that one cannot only rely on government for funding of their businesses, but can also seek for funds from potential sponsors, family and friends that are willing to.

He was funded by his father to make his dream come to reality.

The business derives its name from his name and that of his brother, KEA from his Setswana name “Keaboka” and THORN from my brother’s name “Nitithorn”, combined together to creatively get KEATHORN.

Established in February 2015, Keathorn’s was officially opened recently in the New Phakalane Acacia Mall.

It is located at unit 13B on the main isle heading towards Superspar.

All products come pre-packed except for the biltong, which is scaled and weighed at the customer’s request and desired amount.

Mogodiri hails from Gabane and has been receiving a good reception from people with many promoting the store on social media.

“I have been receiving massive support from people, some of whom have even posted on social media mentioning how good our products are,” he said.

He also said the business started off as a dream way back in 2014 and the company was registered the following year, 2015.

He stated that his desire to venture into this business mostly came from the love and appreciation of these ‘amazing’ products, where he had a light bulb moment and asked himself why a store cannot specialise only in selling biltong, dried fruits, nuts, seeds, raisins and exotic chocolates.

Mogodiri added that the vision and plan is to reach more consumers by opening branches in other malls in River Walk and Airport-Junction in Gaborone as they attract a wide variety of consumers and brands.

“I take pride in the fact that I produce all the biltong we have in store, made from locally sourced beef. I started producing biltong in 2016, not to sell but to use as a tool for marketing,” he said.

He gave away the biltong to friends, family and even potential customers to get feedback on. Mogodiri mentioned that the positive feedback he got from people motivated him to continue on nurturing his skills and techniques towards making the best biltong in the city.

“My plans are that by 2018, I should have opened another store in the city and have started putting my biltong intensively into the market by targeting the corporates and private events,” he said.

He further said he wanted to be able to supply not just his stores but individuals and companies with his brands, stating that Keathorn’s wants to be where the demand for their products is.

Mogodiri also mentioned his love for farming and said he would like to venture into the innovative and productive farming industry by 2019.

“If countries can grow crops in a desert and manage to make them viable, then in our country we have no excuses as to why we cannot be self-sufficient in certain foods,” he said.

Further, he said Batswana have to be innovative with the resources at their disposal and find ways that could work for them to have high crop yields using the little they have. BOPA