04 Mar 2014

Ms Kesolofetse Tsheruakhoba is a tiny woman by frame, and so is her partner in business, Ms Bonolo Tshetlha.

The two were born and bred in Khekhenye, one of the five rural settlements in the Letlhakeng Sub-district. Khekhenye is quite a sleepy village that is derived of many daily activities associated with large villages.

There are no functions that require one to “dress-to-kill” or put on fancy hairstyles except on rare occasions like primary school prize giving ceremonies, and so this makes the choice of choosing a business to venture into quite a delicate balancing act.

Loitering under the shade of a large tree because of slow business, if not lack of it, the two women cannot wait to narrate their story on the challenges that face their choice of a business venture, a hair salon in uncharted waters.

Although reserved, and very shy, the two ladies can be talkative once they gain confidence, and Ms Tsheruakhoba proves to be the more talkative one.

“It is quite a struggle to operate a salon in a small village like ours. It is the first salon in the village as far as we can recall, and we have no reliable clients as most potential clients prefer to do their hair in larger villages such as Letlhakeng. We are not sure whether it is because they do not trust a salon in a rural area, or we are not doing a good job here,” she said, pondering through the window.

On whether they ever go around the village marketing their salon, Ms Tsheruakhoba said they have never thought of doing that as they are confident that people know about their salon. Ms Tshetlha finally finds a voice to add to their grievances.

“The problem like my partner puts it is not that people do not now about our salon, they do, only that most people in the village prefer plaiting each other for free under the tree shades. This really kills our business. How many people can choose to come to a salon and pay while they can plait for free at a friend’s,” she said.

Ms Tshetlha said such a practice by the villagers means their business does not have enough cash flow, which also affects their wages at the end of the month.

“We can go for a few months without any wages because of lack of business, and an arrangement has been made to pay us through Ipelegeng. Should this arrangement come out positive, we will be relieved because we will have a reliable source of income,” she said.

Quizzed on how much they make on a bad month, Ms Tshetlha became probably a little more exaggerative to drive her point home. “We can make as little as P10 on a bad month,” she said, attracting a critical look and finally a chuckle from her partners, instantly giving her away.

Even though Ms Tshetlha puts the income so low, her estimation is not that off the mark looking at the fact that they mostly offer small services such as oiling and combing.

Their male counterpart, Mr Buisanyang “Xhoki” Tlhojane said apart from the challenge of lack of customers, their other challenge is lack of the basic equipment.

“Last year the council bought us some equipment such as generator, but they never supplied fuel, and the shampoo backwash unit has never been connected with water, so they are as good as not supplied. Our only barber machine is not working and needs to be repaired,” he said.

He said such lack of basic equipment plays a vital part in customers shunning their establishment.

In fact, Mr Tlhojane said the water pipe that supplies the whole complex has not been repaired since they reported it a few months back, forcing them to collect water as far as the kgotla, hundreds of metres away.

The talkative one, Ms Tsheruakhoba said they have informed the Village Development Committee (VDC) about their predicament. “In fact, that’s the reason we said we are being considered for inclusion under the Ipelegeng payment,” she said.

Ms Tsheruakhoba said when they started their project, they were went for drilling at one salon in Letlhakeng where they horned their skills in plaiting and the general operations of a salon.

“Even before we started the salon we knew how to plait hair, but we did not know much about different hairstyles,” said the 23 year-old.

The quartet, whose other member, Bamponye Lekokomane is currently engaged at Ipelegeng said they are however, still confident that should their equipment be installed, their salon can make a turn around.

“We only started operating last year November, so we have about three months in operation, and it is still too early to write our operations off,” said Ms Tshetlha.

All the four have not gone as far as tertiary education. Ms Tsheruakhoba is the most learned as she completed form five at Matsha Community College in Kang in 2011, while the 27 year-old Mr Tlhojane failed form three at Motaung Junior school in Kang in 2003.

The youngest of them all, the 21 year-old Tshetlha’s educational journey was however, cut short by a teenage pregnancy while still doing her form one way back in 2007, and according to the way she puts it, she has no more interest in school.

Every great business they say, has a story to tell, and usually the story is about the struggle that bedevilled it in its infancy stages. What is more important is to keep up ones head and persist throughout the storm until a light emerges.

The quartet, whose business is still without a name, too is hopeful that in a few years to come, their business will be as successful as others with their own story to tell, and perhaps be used as an example of inspiration amongst the youth. ENDS