27 Sep 2013

Small scale businesses play a huge role in the local economy in terms of employment creation, household income, food security and poverty alleviation and 29 year old Mpho Medupi is raising the ‘women flag’ high transcending societal barriers to own a burgeoning stationary shop.

Medupi is one of the few youth who direct and own an enterprise in Gumare as opposed to the many who are into hawking, selling airtime and sweets on the streets. With little or no job opportunities available in Gumare and the North West district as a whole particularly for young women with only a high school certificate, the obvious shift for Medupi was to try entrepreneurship.

Medupi could not imagine herself roaming the streets, cramming Ipelegeng programme or indulging in habit forming substance like most of her peers, but being an ambassador to impress that young woman too can play a leading role in their society. She was able to invest about P86 000 through funding by department of Youth last year to start a stationery and print shop. With good finances accruing from sales, the business has managed to add another employee to its fold.

Though not yet out of the woods, Mana Printers and Stationery shop continues to do well and boasts of clientele ranging from individuals to lodges, schools, council and government institutions in Gumare.   To hone her business acumen, officials from the department of Youth took her through life skills, customer care, marketing and business management tips to help sustain the stationery shop. There are of course challenges which the business encounters in its daily operations, among them government’s delayed payment for services rendered often citing system breakdown.

This setback, she said, has incapacitated the business to deepen its base and even to supply other clients. “It makes it difficult for us to buy more stock and supply other government institutions, and we end up borrowing from individuals. This has the potential to drive the business into debt or lose clients if we don’t supply on time the required quantity,” she said.
Despite challenges associated with slow market because most the district citizenry do not have access to paying jobs, Ms Medupi will not let this derail her from the mission and is eager to grow the business from strength to strength by opening up to new ideas, suggestions and attend to complaints from customer. ENDS