Keeping F/towners In Fashion

By Uyapo Kgosi
Correspondent | Monday June 2, 2008 00:00

 

She exuberantly posits that the key to success lies in her hands and that she is responsible for her own destiny. 'My language is strictly business', she says.

This is the youthful and vivacious Pauline Mmusi, a 26-year-old woman from Matsiloje, a staunch Christian, who runs a boutique in Francistown to which she is the managing director. Her small store, Paumuel's Fashion, is situated within the Grand Lodge complex, opposite Ngilichi House. She set up shop last April with the help of her fiance with a start-up capital of P35, 000 and she spends P2,500 monthly on rent.  Her business currently accommodates two employees. Mmusi is very thankful to her fiance who helped her during the initial stages of the business. 'I would like to acknowledge the help I got from Samuel, my fiance. He helped mould my business idea and ultimately provided funds that gave the green light to kick start the project,', she states exuberantly.

The store, which is a source of income for Mmusi, sells trendy local and foreign clothes, handbags and footwear. 'I have in stock fashionable brands ranging from Camel, Timberland, Levis, Soviet and, among others, rock gear, all which are foreign. Locally, I have Allkasi, Odipeca, and Makungulupeswa. The latter is an Ikalanga inspired apparel. All these products provide good value for money,' she says enthusiastically. Interestingly for Mmusi, she has to travel long distances by air in order to buy some of her products. 'I buy my legion of foreign gear from Thailand (Asia) and this involves long air travels and spending nights in hotels in a foreign country. And I have chosen Thailand because they sell quality brands and most businesses in the African region get their supplies from there,' she explains. Furthermore, she says the country's culture, geography, tourist resorts, inter alia, interests her a lot and she always feels good whenever she is on the other side of the world, although there is a language barrier.

Her goods, she says, are transported by air from Thailand until they reach Gaborone. From Gaborone they are transported by Seabelo's Express all the way to Francistown, their final destination. She says she has never experienced any problems in this process. Mmusi says the process won't be complete without mentioning one Linga, a business associate who operates Smart Fashions at Galo shopping complex, Francistown. 'She is the one who organises everything,' she says, adding that her next stock will be arriving this Friday.

She said that this time the money used in buying the goods was obtained from the department of Youth and Culture, Francistown office, through the 'Out-Of- School-Youth Grant' at a sum she declined to disclose. She applied for the grant like any other young Motswana and, fortunately, her proposal was approved for funding in January this year. 'I applied for this grant in order to expand my business. I saw this as an initiative by government tilted towards youth empowerment and I used the opportunity to further my business ambition, as I want to engage in an expansionist mission, says the youthful Mmusi. She says she would like to open up branches in, among others, Maun, Selibe-Phikwe, and Kasane.

The ambitious young woman has a word of advice for other young Batswana who aspire to make it big in the business world: 'Seek advice from the department of Youth and Culture and the Local Entreprise Authority (LEA) in their respective regions; desist from deviant behavior and, above all, seek spiritual guidance from God.'

She further advices that one should guard against those who would like to pull them down. 'I nearly gave up on the idea of starting my own business as some people were going around spreading rumours that I had stolen money from a shop which I used to work for. But this did not put me down. I used the negative rumour to invest in the positive, and here I am managing a business that is doing well at this juncture. I am building my own future,' she states proudly and with an encouraging tone.