Achieves Warns Traditional Clothing Brands
Tsogo Ramatsabana | Monday January 21, 2019 12:54
Thirty-five year old Godwin Koboyankwe, started his clothing line ‘Achieves’ wear in 2005 at the time there were many mushrooming local manufacturers, which ultimately led to Achieves folding during its fledging stages.
The clothing line was re-launched last September and Koboyankwe is convinced that this time around the brand will not fold because it offers quality products. Achieves products are sold at Broadhurst, Gaborone.
The company operates its mini clothes manufacturing plant in Oodi. In addition the branding and packaging of Achieves products is also done at the village.
At the moment, they manufacture and brand T-shirt as well as various forms of headgea,r but its product line will soon feature modern dresses.
Koboyankwe highlighted that in future the company will introduce creative and smart footwear under its product line. Other products (T-shirts and Headgear) are occasionally sourced from USA and South Africa but are branded in Botswana. “ My love for fashion and passion for arts influenced me to start the business,” said Koboyankwe, who possesses a BGCSE but has plans to pursue a business management course. Kobonyankwe is unfazed by the stiff competition he faces from clothing giants like Nike, Puma and Al Kasi.
“We offer quality products at a reasonable price. Designs and artworks found in our merchandise are also tailor-made to suit the interests or lifestyle of our clientele such as those who like street wear and urban culture, amongst others.”
He added: “Our main challenge is that the distribution of our products is still not up to scratch. It is not easy for some of our clients to get our products on time. We are however negotiating with Urban Soul to start stocking and selling our products in their outlets around Botswana”. Just like any budding entrepreneur, Koboyankwe encounters challenges in his venture, but he maintains that the business is doing fairly well.
“The demand for our products has exceeded expectations. The demand was so immense during the festive season.” He noted that most youth businesses collapse because of lack of passion and creativity. He urged aspiring young business people to learn as much as they can about businesses they want to venture into, to avoid unnecessary pitfalls.