This is the only recipe that prominent businesswoman Ruth Krupavaram has used for the past 31 years she has been a prominent businessperson in Selebi-Phikwe. Today she enjoys the rewards of her sweat with one of her businesses becoming a franchisee, albeit with challenges. Her advice is that any businessperson, including vendors, can make it provided commitment and extreme financial discipline is their mainstay.
Having started with only a small general dealer that she bought from somebody through the little savings she made as a teacher, Krupavaram now runs several businesses around town that have contributed immensely to the development of Selibi-Phikwe. Currently she employs about 230 people. "Financial discipline comes with a lot of sacrifice. Do not spend on yourself because in business, every thebe counts. I achieved a lot because I also plough back to the Selebi-Phikwe community that has sustained me thus far," she says. She says with a small general dealer whose start-up loan took five years to clear, she opened shop every single day of the week because having quit her job she had to pay installments through proceeds received.
