- From salon chairs to ride-hailing vehicles, small business owners say customers are spending less, forcing them to adjust to a tougher trading environment
GAZETTE REPORTER
For some small business owners in Botswana, the biggest challenge is no longer attracting customers but getting them to spend.
Entrepreneurs in the personal grooming and transport sectors say consumer spending habits have shifted, with customers increasingly delaying or avoiding purchases and services they once used regularly.
Salon Struggles
At The Wash Day Salon in White City, Gaborone, owner Kenamile Mogapi says his business has slowed significantly as more customers choose to cut their own hair at home.
According to Mogapi, many of his regular clients have bought their own hair-cutting machines, reducing the need for routine visits to the salon.
“People who used to cut with me in the salon have now bought machines,” he said. “They are not cutting like before. They will only come when they have important functions to attend when they want stylish cuts. Otherwise, when they are home they just cut at home.”
The change, he says, has had a direct impact on his income.
“Before I used to make around P2,000 a week. Nowadays it’s tough. Now it’s about P400 a week,” he said.
Mogapi said the decline in customers has made trading increasingly difficult compared with previous years.
Fewer Passengers
The slowdown is also being felt by ride-hailing drivers.
Vincent Benoni, an InDrive driver, says lower demand and higher operating costs have reduced his weekly earnings.
“Things are tough, very tough,” he said. “As we are speaking, I don’t have money to pay rent.”
Benoni said that during busier periods he generated between P4,500 and P4,800 a week, but his earnings have since fallen sharply.
“Now the maximum that I make is about P1,600,” he said.
He attributes the decline to increased competition among drivers as well as changing consumer behaviour.
“Even though there’s competition, people have opted to walking,” he said. “On the other hand, we have fuel challenges because fuel is expensive.”
Changing Habits
The experiences shared by Mogapi and Benoni point to changing spending patterns among consumers, with both saying customers are finding ways to reduce expenses.
For Mogapi, that has meant customers investing in home hair-cutting machines and visiting the salon only for special occasions.
For Benoni, it has meant fewer passengers choosing paid transport, with some opting to walk instead, while rising fuel costs continue to squeeze drivers’ earnings.
Although they operate in different industries, both say their businesses are generating considerably less income than they did previously, reflecting the financial pressures they face in the current trading environment.