06 Oct 2019

Len-Ba Garments, a Mahalapye-based youth owned business, is steadily making its mark in the face of fierce competition in the fashion and textile industry.

Funded by CEDA at more than P500 000 in 2015, the company has to date created employment for five people.

Len-Ba Garments Manager, Mr Phenyo Petros revealed in a recent interview with BOPA that the business took off at a snail’s pace as it was faced with stiff competition from well-established competitors.

“As a new comer in the market, we struggled to get a reasonable share of the available customer base.

However, satisfied customers changed the whole complexion as, through word of mouth, we started receiving more and more customers,” he said.

He said he believed that the company had found its footing as its products were receiving positive attention from the customers.

“We are enjoying the support of individual customers from all over the country.

We have even won tenders to supply some private companies and government departments,” he gushed, adding that they got tenders from such localities as Gaborone, Francistown and Palapye.

Mr Petros said the company, which specialises in clothing design, uniforms, sportswear, protective clothing, printing and embroidery, was working hard to market its products through the media, word of mouth from satisfied customers and social media platforms.

He was of the view that customer satisfaction worked wonders in marketing a company, adding that despite competition being tough in the fashion and textile industry, a sound and solid marketing strategy always yielded positive results.

Notwithstanding market challenges, Mr Petros believed commitment and quality service were vital in retaining and growing a customer base.

He also indicated that Len-Ba Garments was able to service the CEDA loan, revealing however that at the beginning, it was not easy, as the company was struggling.

Mr Petros also indicated that drafting a business proposal to secure a loan from CEDA was not a headache, adding that reality only hit when the business was in operation as it encountered challenges that had to be dealt with in order to survive.

He however lamented that support from companies in Mahalapye was still limited, adding “I believe the local market could do more to support us, as government has appealed for the support of locally produced goods and services.”

Mr Petros also indicated that small businesses were affected by high rental charges, adding that the government’s current move of encouraging small businesses to operate from residential places is a welcome development, with the only challenge will being locating where one would be easily accessible to potential customers.

He said location was a major component in marketing a product or service. ENDS