18 Sep 2018

Ms Gwisani Morongwa (31) is one of those youth who believe nothing will stop her from living her dream.

A few months ago,  the business  was on a verge of collapse due to high rentals, which forced her to think of another way of doing business.

She then decided to make her business mobile, which meant she could continue doing what she loves and at the convenience of her customers.

Her services include facial treatment, trimming of eye brows, makeup, manicure, hair plaiting and several others related. 

Every morning, she goes out carrying a mini luggage bag. 

The mini luggage bag serves as her office and she stores all the necessities she uses to carry out her daily business activities. 

In an interview, Ms Morongwa said she had always had the vision of being financially independent through providing beauty treatment related services. 

She said though challenges of high rental fees cropped up and threatened the existence of her business, the idea to throw in the towel never crossed her mind. 

As such she felt the need to come up with a constructive idea that will help her keep business running, hence she decided to offer her services from a luggage bag on a mobile basis. 

“I have been in this business for quiet sometime, I rented out a chair in a salon and paid on a monthly basis. This became a bit expensive for me especially that some days I experienced less customers,” she said. 

She said whenever she paid her rental fees; she would be left with a less amount that could not even sustain her until the next pay cheque. 

Ms Morongwa said with this pattern, she would be forced to borrow some money and this negatively affected her profit margins. 

“With all these challenges I felt the need to come up with a better plan that will not compromise the existence of my business project; as such I decided to operate on mobile basis,” she said. 

Ms Morongwa indicated that being mobile has paid off especially that most of her customers understand her story and whenever they need her services they make an appointment. 

“The idea to operate on a mobile basis proves to be ideal, I have no rental fees as I follow my customers to their homes and this keeps me busy as usual,” she said. 

Called Mma Suitcase by some of her regular customers, clearly Ms Morongwa has earned herself a satisfying clientele database and the incoming calls she keeps receiving from customers making appointments says it all. 

Meanwhile Ms Morongwa has advised other youth not to be discouraged by issues of lack of business plots or high rental and utility bills. 

She said setbacks need one to come up with innovative strategies to address challenges. 

Ms Morongwa also noted that in any business set up there is always a starting point that is often characterized by difficulties. 

She said no one will ever find a readymade business project that readily gives out satisfying profit margins, but it all depends on an individual’s determination to succeed. 

“Some of the youth believe that satisfying profit margins are earned within overnight, and when this fails they feel discouraged,” she said. 

Ms Morongwa said when she felt challenged due to high rental fees, most naysayers felt it was the end of road for her, but the determination she had about her project gave her the confidence to fight it all. ENDS