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Another exciting feature for Launch Magazine. This week we feature a dynamic lady, owner of Epupa Driving School, Johanna Ferreira.

Read below to find out about this week’s feature.

Q: What is the name of your business and what does it entail?

A: The name of my business is EPUPA Driving School cc registered in 2015 and offers learners license and driving license lessons at affordable rates. I named my business EPUPA after the waterfall that is 180km from the north western town OPUWO and its one of the best tourists attraction place in Namibia because of the unique culture of the Ovahimba people living in that area. As an Accounting and Entrepreneurship teacher by profession in Opuwo, and having to walk my talk and encourage my learners as I was their role model, I spotted an opportunity for driving school need in Opuwo after having to struggle with getting lessons for my driver’s license in 2014. My Target market was the people from Opuwo and business became even better when EPUPA was one of the invited guests at the Inauguration of the Road Authority NATIS One-Stop Centre in Opuwo as this meant more customers flocking in from other towns in search for driver’s license.

Q: What challenges did you face when starting up this business?
A: Lack of Capital was the main challenge. I needed a proper car for the driving school and was using my old 2nd hand Car which later started giving me mechanical problems so i had to sell it. I approached my bank for a business loan and instead they asked for a collateral. Oops! That was a slap in my face, luckily my personal banker advised me rather to take a Car Loan and with that I bought the much wanted Chevrolet spark used for that for driving school purposes. Another challenge was finding an area to do the training for driving lessons as the Opuwo Town Council doesn’t have available serviced land to offer for businesses and so we used the air strip which is sometimes a challenge in rainy seasons as one can’t do parking’s lessons on a wet land.
Last but not least; a driving instructor. This job requires a patient person and it’s not easy to find one.

Q: The industry that you are in, do you find it competitive?
A: I had to move back to my home town in Windhoek to pursue my master’s degree and yes Windhoek’s market is HOT, competition is tough. You have to be marketing your business in order to stay alive on the market otherwise clients forget you. I advertise on my Facebook page Epupa Driving School and mostly in the Namibian Newspaper on Fridays.

Q: Any final words of motivation for people looking to start a business?
A: What I want to tell my fellow Namibians especially women in business and those wanting to start business, it’s not an easy thing. It’s tough especially with economic status of being sometimes good and sometime down, one has to be really patient.

“Rome was not build in one day”. Entrepreneurship requires perseverance, commitment to your dream, patience. Keep on pursuing. Never give up!

Launch Magazine Namibia features Thomas-Philosophié Shuuya, Co-founder of a local courier company known as EasiPost Couriers Namibia.

Q: Give us a brief background about yourself. What does your business entail? What challenges did you face when starting up your business? What makes your business unique?

A: EasiPost Couriers was founded by three young and ambitious professionals from an engineering background, but with an outstanding hunger for entrepreneurship and improving the economic wellbeing of our fellow Namibians. It stemmed from a frustration of not being able to send out documents to Windhoek in a simple and quick manner at our convenience. We were tired of having to go through hell and high water to get someone to collect something from our hands to give it into the hand of whoever we want it to go to. We were also frustrated about the other courier services not being flexible enough to allow other payment methods besides accepting cash only, even though they knew one does not carry around bundles of cash in this day and age anymore. This all led to a threshold that just struck a lightbulb in our minds- to start our own courier company, that we will grow into a world beater. That was the birth of EasiPost Couriers.

A: The name of our business is EasiPost Couriers and we want to be the biggest courier and postal service provider in Africa- with our goal to be the UPS of Africa and provide thousands of jobs. Our business is simple: we collect packages (be it an envelope, loose documents, flowers, DVDs, books, large boxes, vehicle parts, furniture, computer equipment etc.) from one doorstep and deliver it to another. We do it for the cheapest price and we do it best. You simply make a call, we find you, collect your item and deliver it to its destination. We try to make the process of getting your item from point A to point B as seamless as possible. For a few extra dollars (Namibian), you can purchase your large item at a store, call us, and give us the destination you want it to go to. We will get there, pick it up, and have it at your doorstep on that same day or the next. We purchase books for people out of town and deliver it to their doorstep (and get the book price refunded there plus the delivery cost of course). If you need something, you can bet we will collect it and deliver it.

A: The main challenge we faced was obtaining the resources required to carry out our operations. Obtaining assets such as vehicles, office equipment and the books/documents required for the day to day running of the business. Obtaining capital to start a business can be very tough but one needs to be able to tighten their belts, avoid being too proud to beg for loans and have faith that God will create a way.

A: Our business is unique in numerous ways. We offer the “unconventional” payment method of using Ewallet, Blue Wallet or Easy Wallet to pay for a courier. We also allow clients to place orders/request for goods at stores, which we pay for upon collection and get refunded by the clients when we deliver it- for this we need an ID number and full name for security purposes. We offer book purchases through us which essentially occurs in the same way as described above- we emphasize this because we are avid readers but usually do not find many of the titles we desire in our beloved Swakopmund. We also offer significantly cheaper rates than our competitors. Way cheaper rates- while giving world class customer service. To get items delivered from a store, you don’t need to go through many callous hassles, you just call us and we collect and deliver it. This we created to make life easy for all those people who prefer to use public transport to minimize their carbon footprint or are simply saving up for something they find more valuable than owning a car.

A: If you have an idea that gets you excited, don’t dwell on the things that might go right or wrong or try to get it perfect before you start. JUST DO IT!- to quote Richard Branson, who is one of my biggest role models.

 

As promised! Launch Magazine Namibia caught up with Helena Negonga, our very first feature for this dynamic magazine. Here is a sneak peek introduction of Helena Negonga owner of D’Helen Investments CC.

Q: Tell us about yourself?

A: My name is Helena Negonga I’m a 28 year old mother of two, currently working at MMI Holdings. My company D’Helen Investments CC was registered in 2011 but I started doing nails while I was still at the Polytechnic of Namibia (Namibia University of Science and technology) in 2008, at that time I was just using nail polish and only did pedicures.

I used to charge N$20 per person, and every time I made some money I would give my mother a share, even if it was just a N$40, she was always thankful. In mid-2009, I started working at Standard bank and stopped doing nails because I had to attend classes after work.

November 2013 I then ventured into renting out chairs and tables and when I realised that business was growing, I decided to add more equipment and doing events management.

In 2014 I opened up a Nail Salon and later started offering nail training. Over the past 4 years I have ventured into so many other things including catering services, cleaning services, marketing services, kiddies’ parties, Educational Tutorials and so forth.

Last year I realised that it was best for me to concentrate on something I loved most which is Nail Technician training instead of doing too many things at the same time. I still do events coordination and catering when time permits.

Growing up with a single mother of 4 motivated me to start a business because I wanted to give my children everything that my mom gave us and more.

Q: Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?
A: In the next 5 years I see myself running and mentoring a beauty school and having one of the leading events management companies that Namibia has seen thus far.

Q: What challenges did you face when starting up your business?
A: The biggest challenge I faced when I started my business was start-up capital. I had just resigned from Standard Bank in 2014 and used my pension money as working capital to purchase stock items, and as much as I wanted to buy more equipment that same time, I couldn’t because of a lack of sufficient funds and I didn’t want to take out a loan or ask anybody for funds just yet. To date I have bankrolled all my businesses from my pocket. It really helps to remain financially disciplined until such a time that you are confident and ready for expansion, and then you’d also have learned the prudential skills needed to take on debt obligations and manage cash flow. As an entrepreneur, one needs to be well-rounded in planning, budgeting, marketing and executing various cost control measures that will keep your business afloat especially during economic downturns. It’s also equally important to closely monitor the micro and macro business environment within which you operate and remain cognizant of economic trends and changes (it can save you and your business).

Q: Who motivates you? 
A: My daughters motivate me to keep doing what I do, and they respect my hustle, If I simply say ‘’Mama is training’’, they know they shouldn’t bother mommy until the trainees have left and no matter what I’m going through in life, I try to make sure that every week I make an extra income so I can take care of my babies. Life in Windhoek is expensive, and two kids are not a joke, but I thank God for my kids, because when I got my first born that’s when i realised I needed an additional income.

Q: Can you give training costs and details for those interested in taking part?
A: I mostly train every Monday to Wednesday in Windhoek and the first two weekends of each month I try to travel to other towns to offer the nail training. I currently charge N$1400 in Windhoek and N$1600 outside Windhoek (to cater for transport, venue and accommodation fees). All my trainees receive a kit with 28 items, certificate of attendance plus I also guide them on how to run their businesses and survive the industry.

Q: Any final words of motivation for people looking to start a business?
A: I constantly tell people to try and make money from what they are good at and what they love the most, even if it’s in the smallest way possible, always dream big but start small and if things don’t go well, at least you haven’t spent too much that you can’t get back on your feet again. If you try something and it doesn’t work out for you, try something else until you find your calling. One needs to love what they do so you can enjoy it; it’s not always about the money. No matter the situation, keep pushing.

I have been offering nail training for over 2 years now and have trained over 400 young and old women, when I started offering the training, we were just a handful in the market but now the market has grown but that won’t stop me. Service excellence and efficiency is the very pulse of my business and that’s important to me on a personal level too. The moment you provide good service to one person, 5 more people will hear about you and that’s how your business grows. Most SMEs and start-up businesses actually really thrive on word of mouth and direct referrals especially for the first 12 months of the financial year. Hence one really needs to take advantage of and capitalize on every single opportunity you get to shape a customer’s 1st hand experience because that’s what determines your CCR: Client Come-back Rate…

 

Anya Koen, owner of a printing and designing company named Ctrl-P Graphics, shares her inspiring story. Learn more about her printing business.

Read below to find out more about this exciting young entrepreneur.

Q: Tell us a bit about yourself?
I was born and raised in Windhoek, Namibia. Finished school in 2011 in WHS, after that I studied photography and graphic design in Stellenbosch. I came back to my homeland (Namibia) in 2013 and started my photography career but it ended soon, because my dad came up with a “great” idea to start a printing and designing company. So I started my own printing and designing company named Ctrl-P Graphics, actually in “partnership” with my dad. From 2013 we have created a very successful business and we are running full steam.

Q: What is the name of your company and what does it entail?

Ctrl-P Graphics, that means Control Print on the keyboard. We are located in the Southern Industrial Area, Windhoek, and Marconi Street 44 – 46 in the same building as Dolls Paradise & Gift Shop. What we do: Designing, business cards, magnetic name tags, posters, flyers / brochure, canvas, PVC, one-way vision, banners, pull-up banners, teardrops, vinyl prints, vinyl cut-outs, sandblasting, vehicle branding, magnetic stickers, t-shirt branding, Vista Signs, laser engraving – wood, Perspex, glass, leather, stainless steel, etc…,laser cuts – wood, Perspex, leather, etc…,customized gifts & trophies. So basically we do all kinds of printing, just a little bit more. We are three designers (including me), three applicators and one receptionist. We are a great team, just saying!

Q: What motivated you to venture into this business?

Actually my dad. I would have never even imagined owning a business; my dad helped me through it all. Even though we argue and have different opinions we will at the end of the day make a success with this business

Q: Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Probably with a bigger and more successful business, I’m hoping for that, and somewhere around the world traveling.

Q: What challenges did you face when starting up this business?

There is so much competition in this industry; we struggled to get clients in the beginning, and also comparing our prices in the market. I think after a few years this business is now a success.

Q: What or who motivates you?

My parents and boyfriend are always on standby to help me lift my spirit. They are always here to make sure that I reach my goals no matter what. My friends and family are also behind me to support me no matter what.

Q: Do you plan to compete in the global market place? If yes, how? If no, why not?

No, because we are local and “Local is Lekker”.

Q: Final words of motivation for people looking to start a business?

You must always give 110% into the business, 100% isn’t’ enough. Be proud of the business and never doubt yourself.