19 Feb 2018

Kgatleng residents have been urged to partake in business ventures and help grow the economy of the country thereby helping in developing their district. 

Speaking at the inaugural Mmapole Careers and Ideas Expo on Saturday, Kgatleng District Council chairperson, Mr Mpho Morolong encouraged attendants to take the expo seriously as it could help curb unemployment by venturing into business. 

He said it was of great concern to the leaders that there were no developmens in their communities because the youth was afraid of taking risks by pursuing their business dreams. 

Mr Morolong further said there were no businesses in Kgatleng especially tourism facilities as they were forced to look for places outside Mochudi to host their meetings though the youth were available and without jobs in the community. 

He thanked all the businesses that paid homage to Mmapole Kgotla to help other youth to try their luck in business and build a better future for the community. 

He also applauded area councillor and also director of the expo, Mr Gomolemo Gouwe for ensuring that the ward was not only attributed to bad behaviour.

A representative from the district commissioner’s office, Ms Maitumelo Maemo said parents should stop choosing career path for their children but rather help them to follow their own career path.

She said students should invest in blue collar jobs for better diversity of the economy especially that white collar jobs were already congested in the market. 

Ms Maemo urged all to stop alcohol and drug abuse as that was of great concern among the youth and also one of the factors leading to businesses collapsing. 

Mr Gouwe alluded that this opportunity was for all that were in business and all who wanted to start their own businesses to share ideas on how to run and keep the business running. 

He said businesses were collapsing because people did not want to share their experiences with others who want to venture into business. 

Mr Gouwe said the mandate of the expo was to give businesses exposure and for the entrepreneurs to know each other and find ways to help eone another expand their brand to the outside community. 

Mr Gouwe also encouraged attendants to invest more on marketing their businesses.  

He said marketing was a stronghold in business and urged all exhibitors to market their product with confidence so that they attract loyal customers.

He further urged the youth to do research on untapped business opportunities and find ways to explore them and bridge the gap in the business field and also create employment. 

Owner of Extramile Express, Ms Joyce Setshedi said for one to become an entrepreneur, they should be ready to lose everything and not even care what people say about their lives. 

She attributed settling for less to failure as all bigger things in life comes from hardwork and determination, adding that one’s desire for the company’s future should be the only thing that matters. 

Furthermore, Ms Setshedi encouraged entrepreneurs to live their brand. 

She said presentation matters in everything that one does as it associated one with their field of work citing that a fashion designer could notlook like a contractor and expect their business to grow.

Ms Setshedi attributed following trends to business collapse adding that stealing other people’s business ideas leads to failure.

She encouraged women to work together in business to help each other grow instead of being jealous of one another.Ends