03 Sep 2018

You cannot simply find your passion but you must actively work in developing it hence the belief that interest arrive fully formed and must simply be found can lead people to limit their pursuit of new fields and challenges.

The belief has not overwhelmed the women of leather’s minds from casting the iron to exploit what they are passionate about.

The testimony is being guaranteed through their business which goes by the name Okemp5 Company, which is made up of five youth people in partnership Ms Kefilwe Gaonosi, Ms Masego Bili and Ms Mpho Bogatsu, all 35 years, Ms Otlaarongwa Moagi, 20, and Keemenao Bili, 25.

The five tertiary educated women all graduated with a degree in Fashion Design from Limkokwing University in 2014.

Narrating their story, they said from the experience that Ms Bogatsu got where she was attached at Gaborone Technical College, she sold leather production business idea which they grasped and decided to take into another level where they would produce unique leather products that were classy and attractive.

Armed with fashion design skills and determination to excel, leather work never turned out to be an impediment to the quartet.

To sharpen their skills on leather work management they opted for a short course with LEA.

Located at LEA incubator in Gaborone, a distinctive dump leather smell, glue and the sound of machines characterises the atmosphere at Okamp5 workshop every day.

The workshop specialises in production of leather products which range from classic handbags, shoes, belts, stools and wine holders amongst others.

Their fantasy of becoming industrialists came true after they successfully applied for funding by Youth Development Fund (YDF) and received P450 000 in 2015 and which they used to buy equipment, machinery and production materials.

The determination has seen them transverse the world, displaying their crafts and learning new methods and techniques of working with leather in expos and workshops that they attended.

Some of the challenges facing the business is unavailability of market for their products.

“We are still failing to find a reliable market where we can be able to sell our products in bulk, but with courage that we have that will be something of the past in no time,” the optimistic Ms Gaonosi explained.

The entrepreneurs also cited shortage of some material locally which forces them to purchase it from as far as South Africa and Zimbabwe making their products even more expensive and complaints from some customers about prices.

To Ms Gaonosi, the type of material used determines the price of products, adding that the more the raw materials cost the higher the end product will be.

For her part, Ms Bogatsu said against all odds, their business was running smoothly hence the demand of their goods increasing albeit slow and noted they worked tirelessly to come up with fashionable products that always matches the dynamic culture and fashion trends hence their goods being there to stay in the market.

When quizzed about their key to success, they said being service driven along with team spirit that prevails in their company was taking them places.

She said they also make customised products and give customers the privilege of bringing their own designs and pointed out that success of their company so far can be attributed to passion, commitment and patience especially when business is low. ENDS