Intermittent Power and Water Disruptions Cripple Small Businesses

Power outages and water supply disruptions are taking a toll on the daily operations of small businesses in increased costs and revenue losses. Sasha Tautona, who works as an office assistant in an Internet café, tells The Business Weekly & Review in an interview that just a few hours of an electricity blackout causes a 100 percent profit loss because all services of the café are computerised and therefore depend on electricity. [ihc-hide-content ihc_mb_type="show" ihc_mb_who="1,2,3,4" ihc_mb_template="3" ] The café, which operates out of a repurposed shipping container, provides Internet access services, typing and printing, as well as laminating, binding, and designing of documents for clients who mostly commute through the busy Gaborone bus rank terminus. “Times are tough and business is low already,” Tautona says. On a normal day, we take in up to P300 compared to a complete loss when there is load shedding. The recent one was the longest power cut we have ever experienced and we suffered a heavy loss” Expressing disappointment with the current state of power supply, she said the owners of the business have considered getting a generator for backup during power cuts and are currently in the process of procuring one. “The situation is getting more unpredictable and unstable by the day,” she added. “Honestly speaking, expensive as generators are, it is better to be safe than sorry.” Hlaganani Seringa operates the Gaborone Parcel Counter inside the premises of Gaborone Hotel at the bus terminus. The business also operates out of a container, and is contending with the same issues. In addition to its core business of keeping the luggage and other parcels of travelers safely, the business supplies soft drinks, bottled water in bulk for re-selling, and provides much-needed phone charging services to people working at the bus terminus. ‘We use fridges to store our stock,” he says. “Most of the clients are hawkers and vendors who operate who have no access to cold storage and so prefer the ready-chilled goods they get from us. “The power cuts affect the quality of our stock and the soft drinks and bottled water become warm for consuption. In such circumstances, our clients resort to wholesalers that have power backup and it becomes a complete setback for us.” But although Seringa says there were at least two power cuts that lasted up to four hours each recently, he does not think the situation justifies obtaining a generators for backup yet. “Besides, buying a generators would be an extra business expense on its own, let alone the recurrent cost of buying diesel and the constant increases in the price of diesel,” he says. For Dineo Moswete, who makes a living by selling food from a Gaborone City Council kitchen kiosk located at the entrance to Railpark Mall, the power and water supply outages mean increased operating costs in the day-to-day running of her small business. She explains that this impacts her bottom line and she is often forced to dig deep into her pockets to alleviate the situation. “I am forced to buy bottled water in bulk for cooking, which is unsustainable,” she points out. “Sometimes I have to hire a cab to fetch water from my house, which is an extra cost that was not planned for.” But the power outages are worse than the water supply disruptions for Moswete who says she resorts to using gas to cook meals for her customers, which she says is more expensive than buying water. “The daily operations of my catering business are heavily dependent on electricity - from the hot water urns used to make tea for breakfast to the fridges for keeping fresh produce and meat,” she says. “Sometimes I have take the perishables back home to store in the fridge there, all the while hoping I will not be met with a power outage. That often happens and amy losses multiply because the fresh produce goes to waste.” [/ihc-hide-content]

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Intermittent Power and Water Disruptions Cripple Small Businesses

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