On The Edge Of Beauty's Seat
Pauline Dikuelo | Monday March 19, 2018 18:00
Currently located in Block 7, Gaborone, the Edge offers services ranging from manicure, pedicure, facials, massages, slimming, body firmness and toning, and also has a salon.
Lekgoa says when starting the business she wanted to provide a one-stop beauty centre with some beauty parlour, salon, training centre as her mission is to empower women and create employment.
“I knew that the market was already saturated, but was confident that I will penetrate because my beauty parlour was unique as it also has a salon. The whole idea was to have a beauty centre that can cater for families, while the woman is doing manicure the husband can cut his hair while the children also get attended to as well,” she explains.
When narrating her journey, Lekgoa reveals it was during the interactions she had with their clientele while still an employee of Local Enterprise Authority (LEA) and Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA) when entrepreneurs inspired her. She then developed passion to start her own business preferably in the beauty industry.
“Just after working for almost 10 years in the corporate world, I then felt it was time I started my own business and the advice and courage from my colleagues worked as well. I was fortunate to meet the owner of the Edge Beauty Centre when I started my business and he sold the company to me because he needed someone to take over the business,” she says. Just like most entrepreneurs, starting up was not easy as most of her profits were consumed by rental, as the business by that time was located at Molapo Crossing. Lekgoa says she then decided to shift her business to Block 7 and ended up cutting her staff as the business was also not doing well due to economic recession.
The optimistic Lekgoa says she uses unique Bio Sculpture products, which she gets from South Africa adding that they usually get a week’s training before getting the products.
Currently, she offers packages for corporates and also does bridal and personal make-up for individuals.
In addition, Lekgoa says she has projects in the pipeline including a health and wellness centre and would also like to have a training institute in the next two to three years.
“I do have plans to create employment and see my business penetrating the international market. I want to help empower the youth, especially women and encourage them to always be hands-on and do collaborations to be successful,” she says.