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Maphane enjoys wealth of opportunities in beauty industry

Thato Maphane
Thato Maphane

FRANCISTOWN: Beautician Thato Maphane has been enjoying a wealth of offerings from beauty therapy, which have seen exponential growth over the years.

The beauty parlour, which operates under the name Ice Queen Beauty Parlour, is situated near Riverside Hospital, House No. 374/5 in the Francistown CBD. Maphane told BusinessMonitor that she has been running the rewarding business since October 2018. She said amongst other things, her company offers facials, manicures, pedicures, microblading, massages, and eyelash extensions. She added that she obtained experience working for someone for five years before opening her own beauty parlour. Maphane stated that she was motivated to enter the nail and beauty profession by women who are always wearing make-up and having their nails done. “I worked towards earning a Diploma in Beauty Therapy. In order to gain a deeper understanding of the beauty industry, I pursued a Certificate in Beauty at GTC (Gaborone Technical College),” she added.

Additionally, the businesswoman indicated that because Francistown lacks a supplier for nail and cosmetic products, she purchases most of her goods from Johannesburg (South Africa) and Gaborone. She mentioned fierce competition in the industry because Francistown has a large number of beauticians. "Even though I have a lot of competitors in town, if you are good at what you do, people will always choose you. I use high-quality stuff, which is why I'm the best," she continued. Maphane expressed gratitude to her grandmother for her unwavering support and for lending her money to launch her company. She urged the youth to always be patient because patience is a virtue and one must start somewhere to acquire the necessary experience in the field they want to pursue. Furthermore, Maphane wishes to extend Ice Queen to places like Palapye, Gaborone, and Maun.

She also acknowledged her role model and former boss Mary Tlhowe, who she says groomed her from college and learnt a lot from in terms of how to handle her business responsibilities. She also believed that most of the youth-owned businesses collapse because they rush to have a start-up before receiving mentorship and experience. “As much as working for someone can be frustrating, there is so much you can learn, and the youth doesn’t have patience for rainy days. Business can’t flow throughout the year,” she said.

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