Survivors of the information superhighway
Lekopanye Mooketsi | Friday January 30, 2015 15:05
In the mid-1980s, Mogale was working at Air Botswana when he had the novel idea of starting a newsstand. When he started, he used the income from the newspaper sales to augment his salary, which he describes as ‘meagre’.
“I later quit my job with the airline and dedicated my time to the small business,” he recalls.
In those early years, the titles on Mogale’s stand included Mmegi, Botswana Guardian, Botswana Gazette and later the Midweek Sun. He also sold South African newspapers such as Sunday Times, Sowetan and various magazines.
In those nascent years, Mogale operated a stall outside the Game Store, when it was still located at The Village. He recruited assistants and established another stand at The Mall and at Gaborone Station.
Today he is only left with the Gaborone Station and Mall stalls.
“I closed my Game stall after Riverwalk Mall opened and Game Store relocated to Game City Mall,” he says.
“I tried hard to set up another store at Game City after it opened, but the landlords would not allow it.” Still the business was brisk in the 1980s and 1990s, with Mogale selling up to 800 copies of Mmegi on Friday. The Sowetan was also popular with readers and sold very well.
“There was a good market then. During that time, I hired five assistants and I paid them all gratuities after they completed five years,” he says. The advent and spread of the Internet starting in the late 1990s, marked an end to the golden age of news vending, as readers increasingly accessed content online and in real time.
As Internet availability spread, the costs associated with access declined, Mogale’s fortunes mirrored those of his principal product – print publications.
“People have resorted to reading the newspapers online,” he says, adding: “These are tough times for the business.”
Adding to the blight of the Internet, the success Mogale enjoyed in the golden years meant that more entrepreneurs ventured down his path, setting up competing newsstands and demanding an increasing sizes of the pie.
From the days when his newsstands solely occupied prime spots within retail thoroughfares, Mogale has seen new rivals pop up and populate the market space, squeezing his volumes and his margins.
In the midst of the twin challenges poised by the Internet and competitors, the newsvendor has also had to contend with economic downturns that have reduced consumers’ disposable incomes, resulting in their inability to purchase his products. Overall, Mogale’s sales volumes have declined over the years, but he has survived the hard times.
“My business has been able to survive because I do not help myself to money belonging to the publishing houses,” he says.
“I have a good working relationship with them and I always ensure that I pay them after the sales. “In addition, because I have operated for a long period, I have built up loyal customers.” Some of the loyal customers will not buy a newspaper in a shop and opt for him. Others even call him when they find the newsstand closed. “I have old customers who have always supported me,” he says.
“I have been able to retain customers because of our good relationship. I did a customer relations course during my time at Air Botswana.
“This magic has rubbed off onto my employees and they are also able to retain customers.”
When he is not ‘minding his business in the streets, Mogale’s other passion is reading. In fact, he reads most of the publications he sells. “I read a lot,” he confirmed matter-of-factly.
“When you read, you become well informed. You get to know what is happening around the world,” he says.
“However, I cannot say the same thing about most of my country folk. We are not a reading nation. “Batswana don’t read a lot like other nations.” There is another dimension to Mogale’s status as a veteran newsvendor. He is also a radio personality with a voice familiar to many Radio Botswana listeners.
Mogale is one of the most regular callers to Radio Botswana’s Masa-a-Sele morning programme, a popular call-in show that discusses various social issues. The show has propelled his popularity. “When I board a bus to Maun, my home village, people always recognise my voice and ask ‘are you Mr Mogale,’” he says, shrugging off the newly assumed celebrity status. “Some of them chat about the radio topics with me. Even at Gaborone Station, I meet a lot of admirers.” So passionate is Mogale about radio, that prior to his interview with Mmegi, he was listening attentively to Masa-a-Sele, waiting to make his contribution.
“I like interacting through radio. It is another way of showing Batswana’s tolerance for divergent views,” he says.