By: Reitumetse Mahloane
Starting one’s own business is not an easy task, as one has to follow quite a few procedures to do that. It is just the same with the hair business, which may with the necessity to attend cosmetology school or other professional training programs.
Mpho Mosoka, says she went through some difficulties while starting up her hair business, now having launched The Gift Gods, her hair business, in July 2023.
Before the hair parlor, she had a food business where she did her cooking. However, the COVID-19 pandemic swayed a different entrepreneurial path. In any case, owning a hair business had always been one of her aspirations.
The young business woman does not compromise when it comes to pricing her products and services. Not everyone in this economy’s bracket can afford her luxuriously priced weaves and installation services, especially young people with low budgets, particularly tertiary level students.
For such people, there are payment plan set in place for their pleasure. These include installments and lay-buys. She also makes clear her ground for completely eliminating all sorts of bargains, considering her dedication to delivering quality products and services.
“prices depend on the quality of the material used.”
She listed different types of hair she supplies- vietnamese hair, indian hair, and peruvian hair.
Mosoka says, “Human hair is more expensive than artificial hair, hence installing with it is also more costly in comparison. Sometimes people are ignorant of the hair they wear, they choose cheaper hair without an understanding that it will deplete much faster than the expensive hair, which has more quality.”
Even with her clientele’s challenges, she acknowledges the good journey the hair business continues to be for her.
And how did she get into this you ask, well Mpho used to install hair on her own head, and people who saw her work were quite impressed, and advised her to open up a business doing other people’s hair. With all those complements she received, she then gravitated towards the business world and opened one of her own.
Women seem to face many challenges when it comes to entrepreneurship, including- lack of finance, networks and markets. All those did not stop Mpho Mosoka and other young women entrepreneurs to be successful. Hopefully more women find inspiration in each other and break any barriers standing in their way.