16 Nov 2020

Member of Parliament for Kanye South has recently encouraged a youthful, Kanye based entrepreneur to raise his sights, push frontiers and shepherd his venture to a long term survival.

The young man, Mr Merapelo Magogodi manufactures nails, thanks to the financial support he received from the Citizen Entrepreneurship Development Agency in May.

Dr Lemogang Kwape said the business was unique, with every potential of being counted among the success stories of government-funded agencies one fine day.

He promised to encourage local hardware dealers to purchase supplies from the young man and help the business get ahead of the curve. 

The Kanye South legislator also advised Mr Magogodi to sell both packaged and unpackaged products with price variations to give customers a choice. 

Dr Kwape, also Minister of International Affairs and Cooperation, encouraged the entrepreneur to develop a culture of rewarding employees well as the business grew through different phases. 

He said employees were the life-blood of any organisation. 

He said well paid employees naturally felt appreciated and went extra miles as a way of reciprocation.

When walking BOPA around the business and how the idea came about, Mr Magogodi explained that he once bumped into a plant in China, where nails were being manufactured and the idea instantly hit him on the face. 

Again, as a student of architecture, he said he had also realised that nails were consumed in large quantities from that standpoint. He then embarked on groundwork of research that took him five years to establish the profitability of the venture.

Confident of its viability, he approached the Local Enterprise Authority to assist with the business proposal, the process he said took another year to finalise. 

He then submitted the proposal to CEDA and was eventually funded after some yearlong back and forth. 

Mr Magogodi encourages young Batswana not to give up on their dreams. 

He said every worthwhile undertaking required a good share of patience.For now, he sells in bulk, targeting hardware dealers and revealed that the outlook was nothing short of rosy. ends