Thebe Ventures Into Nail Business
Cavin Kanoko | Monday October 21, 2019 18:00
Theresa Thebe, a Mahalapye native, has undertaken the nail business, offering manicures, pedicures and nail beauty, with a goal to competing in the industry.
Thebe owns Nails by Tessa, which is one of the nail businesses that command a huge customer base. Thebe explains that she started the business in 2015 as a means to earn money because at the time she was a stay-at-home mother.
“I studied journalism and I have worked in the journalism industry in the past, but I got pregnant and I had to stay at home to take care of my child,” she reveals.
Thebe says after staying at home while depending on her fiancé she decided to start a home-based business and look after her child while working.
Thebe adds that she was staying in Mahalapye when she decided on the idea to get into the nail business.
She says at the time she came to Gaborone to get training on how to work with nails specifically stick-on nails that were popular at the time before finding an operating base in Mahalapye.
Thebe points out that she was well received but was not content with the revenue she was amassing from the business thus she decided to get further training in Namibia, now specialising in working with gel on nails.
“After I started working with gel nails I decided to move to Oodi in order to find a better customer base so as to get more revenue from the business,” she explains.
Thebe adds that even though she was advertising her business on social media people were not forthcoming which prompted her to change her approach to the business, as she decided to become mobile.
She would get a call from a customer and go to that customer’s place to provide them with her services.
Even though this helped her, she explains that being mobile was working to her disadvantage as she did not have a car so she moved into the Louiville residence in Mogoditshane where she has her studio, a move she says has helped grow her business, as she now at least makes close to P2, 000 a week.
Thebe says her success in the business is due to her commitment to the art of nails and the marketing skills she acquired at college, as she is a journalism graduate from Limkokwing University.
She says the industry is undermined by the public and the government, but it is a high earning industry as it is possible to make as much as P40, 000 in a month.
She does social media marketing with her page having amassed more than 4,000 likes and some of her previous customers have posted positive reviews on her page.
Another thing she says has worked to her advantage is her working hours as she works from five in the morning to 11 in the evening so as to cater for working women.
Thebe says she has worked with some celebrities and other high profile individuals who were impressed with her work.
Getting a bigger space and employing others is her endgame as she says she wants to move out of her house.
Thebe says she offers competitive prices and her offers include mobile services, which have a price tag different from her usual pricing.