Graphic Designer Opens Shop In Tutume
Lesedi Mkhutshwa | Monday October 24, 2016 18:00
With the skills acquired from school, owner of the company, Mpaphi Chilume did not waste any time but unleashed his talent through his company to make a living.
The 30-year-old said his company is basically involved in general branding in terms of company identity establishment, or just identity revamping logo design or any company documents, car branding, sign boards, branded company tiles and corporate gifts.
The entrepreneur disclosed that the company is a newly-established business, which started operating eight months ago.
The business is located in the newly-built resplendent mall above Tutume Choppies known as the Tutume Central Business District (CBD).
Chilume said the quest for owning his own graphic designing company started back in 2009 when he was an employee at the Excellent Printers and Graphic.
The businessman shared that he acquired a lot of skills from the company and he learnt how to use corel draw, which is the basic software to the basic foundation of graphic design.
“My star sign is Leo. I believe that I am artistic by nature and I guess I was bound to follow my creative desire. On a serious note, since when I was a child I had a zeal and love for drawing. Drawing was not only art to me, but a friend because it calmed me down and opened up my imaginative mind,” he said.
He noted that the success of his business is marched by his academic achievements gained from different tertiary schools.
He pursued a BSc (General) Double Major in biology and Environmental Science at the University of Botswana (UB) but quit while doing his third year because he wanted to follow his dream of being a graphic designer.
After quitting UB, he studied for a Certificate in Graphics Design and Multimedia and later on did an Advanced Certificate in Information Technology and Business Skills.
He disclosed that the business is doing well because it can sustain itself without him using his savings to pay for utilities.
He added that his main challenge is some clients who are not willing to pay up for services, but rather complain about the price even though they appreciate his work.
“They are not willing to pay for quality and real artistic designs, but preferably settle for mediocre artworks. I guess there is a bit of confusion and lack of knowledge about the difference between a typical Internet Café and a design studio,” said the entrepreneur.
He noted that when it comes to designing, he does not have competitors, but the competitors surface when it comes to printing.
He said his ambition is to own numerous billboard spaces and rent them out to different companies and have a branding contract with corporate agencies.
“My role model internationally is Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson who owns the Virgin Group. He is a true definition of turning nothing into something,” he said.
Chilume indicated that although government is supporting the youth, he feels it is not enough especially when it comes to the restrictions they put in place for most government schemes and tenders.
He said the main problem that leads to youth business failure is lack of basic money handling skills because with the exposure to money comes lots of unnecessary expenditure and the need for a certain lifestyle.