16 May 2018

Some consumers prefer quality over quantity and vice versa, but quality always stands out to be the best in the industry.

Speaking to BOPA recently, two young women entrepreneurs said as such they are dedicated to competing with the big companies while building their brand and making better profits for themselves.

The duo, who are business partners and cousins, Ms Omphile Pule, 29, and Ms Katlego Seleka, 28, said they have since found a common goal in beating the youth unemployment crisis in the country by starting their own company, which they named Still Seem.

Theirs is a tissue paper company that started operating in October last year, producing tissue rolls branding them Ghetto tissue paper.

“Being able to produce quality has made us who we are, it has helped our business to grow and we are proud and wish to do better in future,” Ms Pule said.

Narrating the story of how they started their business, Ms Pule said she wanted to be a lawyer during her college days, but when her Botswana General Certificate of Secondary Education results were released, she was short of one point to enroll in the Law Faculty at the University of Botswana as she wished and then opted to go for career counselling.

She said it was at that time when she developed the interest to someday be a businesswoman, hence choosing to enrol in Bachelor of Commerce in Marketing Management at Murdoch University in Australia.

After she graduated and returned home, she did not have a clear idea of what business she would want to start and where she would get the funds.

She added she was fortunate enough to acquire a loan from a family member to start the tissue paper company.

Having a cousin almost her age, who was also seeking employment made it easier for them to partner and start their own business, which they were eager to start operating as soon as possible.

She added that they opted for tissue paper as they believed they could make better profits as it is something that is being used frequently and everywhere, hence that could help them grow quickly.

Furthermore, she stated that her qualifications also come in handy in their business as she has studied a lot on marketing the product and also managing the business.

The duo said when they started, it was the two of them and it was not easy as they had to work harder and extra hours, cut off a lot of their social time and commit it to work.

They stated that they started with one machine for cutting rolls and started by selling to suppliers and later increased their cutting machines to two as the demand grew.

“We have started tendering to supply government schools, tertiary institutions, individuals and private companies.

We are surely growing,” she added.

She further said they recently hired two energetic youth to add to their team and they wish to employ more of the youth as the business grows to also help in trying to curb the unemployment rate in the country.

However, Ms Pule said even though the demand of their product is escalating, they are faced with challenges of getting the raw materials as their supplier is based in South Africa.

She said it is a challenge to them as they experience damages and the transportation is too costly for them.

In addition, she said despite their challenges they do not compromise on their mission of producing quality tissue paper as they push harder to grow their business.

She added that the brand, Ghetto tissue paper recognises the city, hence locals appreciating it more; something she said she has learnt from marketing on localising the product.

Ms Pule further said their dream is to see their company producing a variety of tissue papers so that their consumers can be spoiled for choice, stating that they currently supply toilet tissue rolls only.

She added that they also want their brand to be well known all over the country and also someday be a one stop shop of raw materials for other manufacturers from other countries and locals.

For her part, Ms Seleka encouraged the youth to take their businesses seriously and invest their time in it in order to grow.

She said owning and managing a business is not easy, especially when one wants to enjoy their youthful days, but it is important to look in the bigger picture of making a better future for oneself.

Ms Seleka advised the youth to be bold in deciding and taking the initiative, adding that the government has offered many opportunities that they could use to change the current situation of unemployment.

Ms Seleka discouraged the laziness among the youth, saying they should stop waiting for things to come easy to them, but should work hard and explore their talents to make a better living for themselves. ENDS