Business woman is luckier second time around
She said at first she thought she was in the money-making business if she produced affordable high-quality spices and herbs
Starting a business with just R10 000 is one thing, sustaining it is another.
This is one of the many lessons local entrepreneur Mikie Monoketsi learnt soon after starting Mama’s Spices and Herbs with just R10 000.
One would think that someone who started a business before and failed dismally would approach the next business idea with caution.
At least, that’s what Monoketsi thought she was doing. The main reason why her first venture in the form of a call centre failed was because of a lack of research before starting it and processes in place to minimise risks while it was up and running.
“When I started Mama’s Spices and Herbs, I thought I had learnt and had everything covered,” said Monoketsi.
“With Mama’s Spices and Herbs, I went into townships and villages to understand what they use in their kitchens to season food, and also why they are told not to use the spices and herbs they were using as these spices and herbs were responsible for conditions like high blood pressure,” she said.
She said at first she thought she was in the money-making business if she produced affordable high-quality spices and herbs, but soon realised that her research focused more on the products and not necessarily the sales and marketing of these products.
“I was stuck with products with no shelve cover as retailers didn’t stock from me. My marketing and sales strategy had to change, as I initially thought retailers would easily stock high-quality spices and herbs.
“To be fair, they do, but it is not an easy task to get products onto their shelves, especially for a new female black-owned brand no one knows about,” she continued.
“As you can imagine, I felt defeated and again ready to give it all up and focus on something else. I actually thought I had failed again. But as I was about to give up, I met a gentleman who delivered potatoes to Kota business outlets.
After engaging with him, I was able to tap into his existing clientele, thus giving me new sales and marketing ideas. When the product is good, everyone wants a piece of it. And so Kota outlets and their customers wanted to try these spices and the rest is history,” she explained.
“Marketing and sales of products is not an easy task. I nearly lost everything once again due to not paying attention to the life of the business, without sales there is no business. I now know better,” she said.
Seeing the response and demand, she decided to hire the Kota restaurants as agents, selling directly to their customers on a commission basis. That is how she saved her business and in the process built a national network of agents.
“Sometimes all you need is a will to pick up the pieces of your life after a traumatic experience which might have left you desperate and destitute. Money is needed, but it will not do much for you without that will.
“My focus is on empowering women like me and I plan to do so for the next 15 years,” she concluded.
