21 Apr 2021

 Small business owners say Covid-19 has made them realise the importance of saving money.  

They noted how it was difficult for them to survive during the first national lockdown last year because they had not been saving business profits.

BOPA took to the streets of Francistown to get it from the horse’s mouth on how SMEs were keeping their businesses afloat amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The consensus was that there was need to adopt new ways of doing business and saving the little profits from sales.

The manager of Infinity Hair Saloon, Ms Mpho Mogomotsi said Covid-19 greatly affected her business, but that it did not stop her from operating the saloon.

She said her strong marketing team ensured the business continued to attract customers. 

She said they also had to change the way they did things and adopt new methods that would continue attracting customers.

She said they practiced proper bookkeeping and were now saving for their hairdressers and barbers, adding that the pandemic did not demotivate them although they had to change their operating times to abide by curfew restrictions,

Ms Mogomotsi said people should adjust and still survive during the pandemic because it was not known when COVID would end. 

“This is our new normal and although it is hard we still have to live and make a living,” she said.

Ms Goabaone Oteng, who owns a clothing stall, said the business has been hard by COVID-19. 

She said the suspension of the entertainment industry impacted on her business as most of her customers were people buying attires to attend events.

She said she was working hard to make ends meet and that she worked from hand to mouth and could not save like she used to. 

“We get stock from Zambia and their borders are now expensive as we spend more money on COVID tests and tax which escalates cost,” she said.

Though difficuly, she said would never give up, citing social media as a vehicle that helped advertise her products, attracting new customers in the process.

Ms Segolame Patiko of Sego’s Nail and Beauty Corner explained that her business, which was into beautifying clients, no longer got business because there were no leisure events and weddings to attend. 

She also said people were not investing on nails and makeup like before. 

She urged all to observe COVID-19 protocols to protect lives. ends