16 Sep 2018

The trending and high demand for pallet furniture has motivated Mr Ncedani Showa, 23, to start a business entreprise dubbed The Pallet lifestyle and Décor.

In an interview, the fourth year Bachelors degree in business administration and management student at University of Botswana said he was driven by the love of doing business.

Mr Showa said with only his monthly allowance as a source of income, he had to find other means to acquire startup capital.

He took chances and started advertising his business before he even bought one tool.

He said he first obtained a few unused pallets from the shops, through negotiation of prices since he had little money. 

His first client was his sister, who is an events organizer and wanted to support him in his journey. 

“My first deposit went to buying all the necessary tools, fuelling the van I used to transport the pallets and buying other equipment required. I got motivated as soon as I had the tools,” he said.

Furthermore, he explained that at the time, he relied on the knowledge he got from the internet (YouTube) and the skills from benchmarking from his newly made friends from Old Naledi in Gaborone who were in the same business.

He noted that his first furniture was a wedding table which he managed to finish and deliver on time.

He expressed his gratitude towards his sister for believing in him and giving him a chance to prove himself adding that it was the best business decision he hever made. 

Mr Showa said he started with one employee and now has four.  

He noted that his business offered pallets furniture product such as wedding tables, bed frames, coffee tables, headboards, reception counters, boardroom tables, palisade fence, wooden houses and the interior designing which offers office partitioning, shop shelving, restaurant refurbishment, kitchen/bathroom remodeling.

Due to high demand, he said started buying pallets at Tshomarelo Tikologo Organisation in Gaborone because he spent most of his time there while studying.

He added that he bought them in bulk and different kinds as their quality varies according to the kind of end product.

With the help of modern technology, Mr Showa said he advertised his business without any difficulties through social media, and the response was overwhelming.

He also used the internet to do his researches on how he could improve or do other designs.

In addition, he said the course he was studying came in handy since he was applying his accounting, marketing, human resource, quality assurance and product development skills which he acquired in the past three years . 

He, however, said it was difficult to balance school, business and social life because they were all demanding. 

“Time management plays an important part in my life, it has also taught me to be responsible as I have to deliver on time, meet deadlines both at school and business and also give time to my loved ones,” he said.

In addition he mentioned that using pallets was advantageous as they were semi-processed material and did not need too much processing to make a finish product.

He added he used his school breaks to push his business.

Going forward, Mr Showa said he would like to acquire funding as he wants to diversify and do steel furniture and also do cushioning, have a warehouse where he would have competitive quality products with giants in the furniture industry, extend his business and employ other youth.

He further encouraged the youth to take chances and sacrifice for their future saying it takes determination, ambition and hard work to succeed. ENDS