Growing up in the dusty streets of Boswelakoko Ward in Molepolole, young entrepreneur Koketso Motswagole of KM Sales always knew that he would make it in the business sphere if given a chance.
Motswagole currently owns and runs KM Sales, a store that sells iconic clothes as and shoes imported from abroad, mostly China.
“I have had a love for business from a very tender age,” he says Motswagole in a telephone interview. “I used to sell sweets and biscuits at the playing ground as me and my age mates played, mixing business with pleasure.” The 23-year-old entrepreneur took his zest for with him when he went to the big city, Gaborone, to pursue his tertiary education in 2019. “I used my student allowance and savings to buy phones to sell,” he says.
“I then realised that I needed to grow and ventured into selling sneakers because my love for fashion kicked in. I used to sell about 15 sneakers a month from the boot of a car when I started.” In April 2022, Motswagole decided to take his business to greater heights by moving from selling sneakers from the boot of a car to opening a store in the Main Mall, thus the name KM Sales came into being. “I now sell a wide range of shoes and clothes,” he notes. “These are unique items that are hardly found anywhere else in Botswana.
“One thing about me is that I like unique things. That is why I am always scouring on social media for unique things that other people are selling abroad and to and try to bring some of them to Botswana.” Motswagole is proud that he is also an employer of four people on a full time basis and two part-timers. He says one what sets KM Sales apart from other businesses in the same line is that he is not in competition with anyone.
“I am just doing my thing and like to research to see what is in demand,” he points out. “I do not sell merchandise because I saw someone selling it.” This Molepolole-born entrepreneur says growing up in a financially disadvantaged family motivated him to go into business considerably. “I am a breadwinner and my family looks up to me to take care of them,” Motswagole explains.