Young florist targets expansion
Pontsho Nnyabo | Tuesday March 22, 2022 06:00
For this reason, the Tsamaya-born florist will soon be expanding her venture by opening a branch in the southern part of the country in response to demand for her products and services.
Zenkel Florals is a Francistown-based business that mainly deals with the sale and arrangement of flowers for occasions such as funerals, weddings, and parties. Ngwenya told Business Monitor that her self-funded business started operations in 2014. She mostly sources her flowers from South Africa.
A certificate holder in flower arrangement from the Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (BUAN) says that she was inspired to venture into the business by Kelvin Mlambo, a professional florist.
“She is the reason I decided to enrol at BUAN to study flower arrangement. She has also played a mentor role over the years,” Ngwenya said.
The business started operating in a small office given to her by the owners of Thusanyo mortuary. "This benefited me because most of the mortuary clients found it convenient to purchase my flowers for their departed loved ones,” she said.
In 2019 the business moved from Thusanyo mortuary to CBD in Francistown opposite Thapama Hotel in a bid to improve the diversity of its customers.
“We are expanding our business in April. Zenkel Florals will be operating in Gaborone. The market for flowers and related products in the country is still very open,” Ngwenya added.
The florist also highlighted that her mission is to put a smile on her customers, refuel their relationships and comfort the bereaved families.
Like any other business, Zenkel does encounter challenges. On her challenges, the entrepreneur said that sometimes flowers end up dying in the shop due to lack of orders and the extremely hot temperatures. The florist encourages youth who want to venture into the business to be resilient and extensively study businesses that they want to venture in.