. . . also helps needy school children STAFF REPORTER When Limpho Makhele enrolled for a Fashion Design and Decorations course with Intec College in South Africa in 2013 for three years, she thought everything would run smoothly upon completion of her course. But she was gravely mistaken. Her goal was to become the best fashion designer after completing her studies but that was not as easy as it sounded. She says in 2008 they rented a room in Mafeteng town with three other women to run different businesses under the same roof. She says this was done to cut and minimise expenses of doing business, especially for the beginners. “We were running different businesses under one roof. Others were running saloons while l was doing fashion design,” Makhele recalls, while conceding it was rough and tough to get her business up and running. And in 2010, she was squeezed out of business because her business was running losses and could not operate on its own so she had to pack her equipment and stay at her home in Thabana-Morena Mount Tabor because she could no longer run the business. “I did not have enough skills to run the business or to put it bluntly, I completely lacked the business skills,” she says. At the back of her mind, she knew that unless she stepped up her game, her business would never rise again. Makhele works full time, juggling her career with raising her boy child which she says was not easy at all. In 2015, Makhele wormed her way back into business and this time around she was set to reignite that flame of hope from the flicker of despair so she started to look for ways of marketing her business to potential buyers. It was a journey fraught with difficulties, Makhele says. She recalls how she used social media platforms such as facebook to market her business and states that sometimes she had to take photos of her products and move from house to house to show people what she produces. The aspiring businesswoman says her operations were mostly in the three districts of Mafeteng, Maseru and Mohale’s Hoek from which she got positive feedback. Her efforts were finally rewarded and she managed to find a way as people gradually began to get attracted to her products. Based on the number of people who showed interest in her products, Makhele says that was when she found it necessary to find a location for her business so that clients could easily find her. She worked hard to penetrate the market and performed relatively well under tough circumstances. “I had to prove that I was worthy of being in business,” she notes. Today, Makhele is one of the most successful fashion designers in the country. She designs suits for celebrities in the country while some ordinary citizens also visit her business to show her the designs that they need. Makhele has also made her name in decoration where she decorates at big ceremonies like graduation parties, funerals and weddings. The single mother says she is still pushing hard to make her name known in the fashion design and decoration industry, adding that she keeps on getting something new in this industry every day. “It is not easy being in business but you need to live up to your dream,” she notes, further insisting that success does not come easy in the business and people have to push hard for it. Through hard work and endurance Makhele says today she is competing with the Chinese in the industry where there has been an influx of Chinese fashion designers competing with the locals. Her advice is that the government should financially assist women who are willing to start up their own businesses and create market-friendly policies. She says this could help to transform the country’s sickly economy and stop women in the rural areas from moving around with a begging bowl for survival. She says small businesses could help lift the country out of this penury. The World Food Programme (WFP) in its new Lesotho Country Strategic Plan 2019- 2024 says an estimated 57% of Basotho are still living below the poverty line. On the other hand, Makhele says lack of capital has killed aspirations for women who are willing to have their own businesses. During those trying times when her business was in doldrums, her mother was always behind her, giving her unwavering support. Now Makhele has turned herself into a Good Samaritan to help needy Primary School pupils mostly in Thabana-Morena since she believes charity begins at home. Yet she has also extended a helping hand to some pupils in other areas in Quthing, Mohale’s Hoek and Thaba-Tseka. She gives the needy pupils school shoes, uniforms and food items. “I want to help the needy with the little that I have,” Makhele states. Makhele believes in sharing as a child of God and after helping some needy pupils in her area, more people began to visit her business asking her to help other pupils in their areas. She says helping the needy does not necessarily imply that she has money but it is just that she wants to share the little that she has with the needy, Makhele maintains. Now she is aiming to rise to c-suite level in the corporate world. Because she grew up in an economically challenged background, Makhele says she knows that needy children cannot perform well at school. Their plight is conspicuous in winter when they do not have warm clothes to cushion them against harsh weather conditions. She believes more has to be done to help the needy pupils, adding her experience is that most people think they would generate profits within just a few months while in business. This, she argues, is what frustrates most women to get into business. She says patience plays a critical role in helping women to get to know the problems in the businesses they are running and how they can overcome those problems. Makhele says when the future looks bleak for those trying to grow or even just preserve their wealth in local markets, they just go out of business. This is not how it is supposed to be, they should work hard to be at the helm of their businesses and get acquainted with the dynamics of the nature of their businesses, she says.