17 Sep 2018

Ms Naledi Gaosafelwe is a living proof of the saying, ‘the significance of a man is not in what he attains, but in what he longs to attain’.

This came to light in an interview as Ms Gaosafelwe narrated how she started her business by selling a few items under a tree at Gaborone’s Main Mall. She said at the time, she used to have a table and gazebo.

The Takatokwane born woman, who started her business while doing first year pursuing a degree course at the University of Botswana (UB) in 2004 has seen her business grow despite challenges.

“I used to buy clothes for myself in South Africa and some students would ask me to bring some for them. I then realised I could turn this into a business opportunity, as we started selling earrings and moved to clothes in my second year,” she said.

She said to nurture the business, they took turns being in the stall with her sister Neo Sojane who was pursuing a Diploma in Business Management at GIPS.

However, in 2012 their efforts began to show as they opened their first shop, but also continued selling under a gazebo.

Currently, they have six shops and 13 employees.

According to Ms Gaosafelwe, the business did not go well due to rental issues and they eventually closed the shops.

As luck would have it, in 2013 they increased their stock by adding caps, hair pieces and shoes, then opened again, but closed the main mall stall indefinitely.

“Our finances had improved by then, we even opened the second shop and started looking at ways of expanding by manufacturing perfumes,” she said.

She explained that they used to buy perfumes from South Africa, but with time they decided to research how to make perfumes, hence the launch of their perfume line, Perfume Home.

Ms Gaosafelwe said their business made a lot of profit after opening the first shop such that she even made her first trip to China in 2016.

However, the business made a loss from the trip as they underestimated the expenses to be incurred on the trip.

Ms Gaosafelwe said their major challenge had been money as they were rejected by YDF, but they not despair as they were able to get going by lending money from metshelo.

She also said Trueville helps with sponsoring wardrobes such as the Ministry of Basic Education adverts aimed at sensitising students about teenage pregnancy.

They have also sponsored Mahupu Senior school prize giving, Mr and Miss Bakgaladi Beauty Pageant, Our Wedding Day and Miss Albino wardrobes.

She said their future plans included opening a shop in Palapye, Maun and Francistown.

“We are also doing this business because we have a passion for clothes. We are hoping to expand and help other people,” she said. ENDS