12 Jan 2021

Such as the saying that tough times call for tough measures, Motswana businesswoman based in Malaysia, Ms Jane Makwinja says investing in drop shipping is the way to go in the COVID-19 era.

Speaking in an interview recently, she said drop shipping, which is selling goods to customers online and shipping them from the supplier’s directly to the customer, has proved to be viable during this time of restricted movement.

She said while the COVID-19 pandemic has shown that life could change in the blink of an eye, people could not afford to fold their arms to make ends meet, adding that drop shipping and side hustle was ideal.

She said the pandemic has shown that one could not afford to depend on a single income stream.

‘It’s the beginning of the year and its profitable to have multiple streams of income, it doesn’t have to be something big,” she said.

Ms Makwinja explained that despite lockdown challenges, one was certain that they would have what to sell online shipped.

She said drop shipping could be beneficial because selling online people could still buy even while on lockdown.

“It is a popular business model in the e-commerce industry and Batswana especially during the COVID-19 era can generate a lot of money if they consider investing in it,” Ms Makwinja advised.

Her online store, The Merchantries, which helps customers to open online stores and drop shipping business, has survived COVID-19.

Having been in the industry for some time has prepared her and made her cognizant of what they meant by putting the rest in the bank for a rainy day.

Ms Makwinja’s business sense was shaped by her educational experience.

She holds a masters degree in business administration obtained from Cardiff Metropolitan University, Bachelor of Science in business administration from Lancaster and a diploma in business administration.

Ms Makwinja has assisted more than 10 Batswana online who have since opened online shops and are up and running.

She confirmed that her major customers were in Africa in countries such as South Africa, Nigeria and many others.

With everyone working from home because of what the world is experiencing, she said apart from online shopping, hustles such as selling herbalife products has also made life easier for her.

As a business coach who has been in the game for a while, she has discovered that for one to be successful in what they wanted to achieve, they have to be persistent and believe in what they do.

Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced many businesses to fold, and her recommendation is that if they have not considered online selling, they should pursue it to recover and never give up.

“Whether it’s a cake business, selling oranges open that online store and make home deliveries,” she said.

She was optimistic that drop shipping would push them to work from the comfort of their homes and be able to recover what they have lost. BOPA