10 Aug 2022

 Natural talent and determination, patience and perseverance are key ingredients in the success of any business.  

This was emphahsised by leather smith, Mr Gaefenngwe Bathobasele  in an interview.

He said talent alone was not enough to succeed, as one need the determination to survive the countless challenges businesses were faced with.

Mr Bathobasele, who is a former Botswana Defence Force (BDF) soldier, explained that there were countless challenges in business which had to be overcome in order to prosper.   

The 37-year-old Kanye born native who left his formal employment in May due to an injury, said the leather work idea was born in 2019.

After realising that he would have to part ways with his employer due to an injury, he considered what to do after and turned to his leather work talent.

He discovered his talent during his secondary school days at Seepapitso senior Secondary school through an individual project.

However upon completion of his schooling he never put his talent to good use.

In 2019, Mr Bathobasele said, he produced some leather products for his personal use and a lot of people loved them, adding that it motivated him to venture into leather work.

“From 2019 I never looked back and I can now see light at the end of the tunnel,” he said.

He said all his products, which range from different types of bags, cardholders, wallets, blazers and belts were handmade, adding  that he would soon include horse saddles in his line of products.

Due to high prices of leather in Botswana, Mr Bathobasele said he was forced to source  raw material from neighbouring countries.

“When I buy locally, I do not make profits. We have lot of leather in Botswana and I believe the government has to find ways for us to access it at reasonable prices,” he said.

Mr Bathobasele said his target market was all age groups and genders. He said that all those who bought or saw his products were impressed.

“I have realised that I need a shop where my products could be displayed. Currently I market by word of mouth, referrals and different social media platforms,” he said.

He said he also intended to take his products to different shops in Ngami and Chobe where the tourists could easily access them.

In five years, he said due to abundance of leather locally, he hoped to have opened his own tannery to avoid importing and paying high prices.

“In so doing I would also be creating employment. There is lot of work in leather value chain and we have to take advantage to fight unemployment and meaningfully contribute to the economy,” he added.

Mr Bathobasele advised that it was never too late in life to start something new and further urged Batswana to never give up in life.

“We have to keep in mind that there are ups and downs in life but we have to always be positive. We all have different talents, let us make use of them to improve our lives,” he said.

He urged Batswana especially the youth to approach different organisations for assistance to nurture their talent as well as to apply for different government programmes that could help in turn their talents into successful businesses.

Mr Bathobasele operates under Rock Maboni and Sons Pty Ltd and he is based in Mafhikana ward in Kanye. ENDS