The business, which is located along the ever buzzing Molepolole main road, Motswedi Tyre Services specialises in tyre repairs, retreaded and selling of second hand tyres.
Last week, Motswedi Tyre Services manager, Aobakwe Hirchfeld who is also the brother to the owner said the tyre service business is lucrative even though they had both better and bad days. “When we started, we would go for three days without getting any business; this did not demoralise us as we kept operating until it picked up the pace,” he said in an interview with BusinessMonitor “The business is now sustainable because we get the salaries to feed our families.” According to Aobakwe, his brother used his savings that were mostly generated from the other businesses that he is running to fund the establishment of the tyre venture.
The savings were used to procure the machinery that they are currently using. “We used to run car washes and sold some ice blocks and drinks in the offices across Molepolole. We then realised the gap in the tyre service business and immediately decided to buy machinery and start operations,” Aobakwe explained how they ventured into tyre business.
Motswedi Tyre Services specialises in cars and mini-trucks with their clientele mostly being individuals. Aobakwe said the tyre business is very competitive and are face some tough competition from others who are also operating in Molepolole. He, however, said they beat their competitors by offering the best service at competitive prices.
“We are still new in the business and most of our clientele is attracted by our prices and service. We treat our clients differently and most of them do refer other people to us,” he added.
He further said they have plans to expand the business to include wheel alignment and suspension. Aobakwe said they rely mostly on referrals the company currently does not have any marketing strategy. “We are not robust when it comes to marketing, but it is something that we have been considering to work on. We will explore different ways of bringing more customers to us,” he said.
Like other business, Aobakwe said the downside of their business was the outbreak of the COVID-19 which affected their business as their sales dropped due to restricted movement of people. “The pandemic came at a time of growth and the need for diversification arose. However, we kept on and had faith in the business until we got back on our feet again,” he said. Despite the challenges, the company has remained with its two employees with plans to employ more once they expand.
