A Glance at Grace Kaonga’s Prospering Business

Knowing what you are doing, liking what you are doing and believing in what you are doing is the story of Grace Kaonga ,a small entrepreneur  and manager of Towezi Supermarket located at University Teaching Hospital(UTH)  in Lusaka’s Ridgeway area.

Grace Kaonga who has been under the Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) Enpretech training programme said her success in business has come from keeping her mind open for new ideas and always being eager to learn.

Ten years ago, Grace hardly seemed on the road to success when she started a small shop in Lusaka’s Chawama area with part of the merchandise being opaque beer commonly known as chibuku in local language.

“We stated very small, we had a small shop somewhere in Chawama, that was sometime in 2001. I remember part of the merchandise we used to sell was opaque beer, those are what I call my humble days as my commitment to this business was tested.”

“When I started this business, it was all about making ends meet then in the process I realised I liked what I was doing and then opted to make it work,” grace narrates.

Three years later after the inception of the shop, grace’s hunger for success initiated the need for growth and in 2003, Grace thought of re- positioning her shop from Chawama to Chilenje area.

“In 2003, I felt the need for us to grow and decided that we change the location of the shop from Chawama to Chilenje though we still maintained the shop in chawama,” she said.

After two years of gathering up resources, Grace decided to build a small shopping complex where she also opened a saloon and a bar.

“In 2005, after we made some money, we decided to close the shop and instead build a small shopping complex in chilenje, and from there we also operated a saloon and a bar,” she said.

In trying to expand further, Grace opened a new outlet in Makeni which was operational until sometime last year.

She explained that after encountering some problems with the Makeni outlet, they opted to close the shop and find a much bigger place which was later found at UTH where they have been renting from 2007 to date.

 Grace explained that her journey through this business has taught her the true meaning of perseverance and the value of hard work. She said she feels humbled with her achievement especially with the fact that she has been able to give back to the society through the employment she has created for 20 people.

“I am humbled with the success I have received, when I look ten years back, I never thought I would see my business grow to this extent. This business has taught me the value of hard work and I even feel a greater sense of fulfillment when I see the contribution I have made to society as well through the employment I have created. When I started this business, I only had 3 employees but I now have employed 20 people which is a big achievement for me,” she said.

She said during the first years of her business, her opening stock was 27 million but now the margin has risen to an opening stock of K170 to 200 million.

She said while she has enjoyed a great deal of success with her shop, like any other business, “The major challenge I have been facing in my business is that of finances, the freezing equipment has given my business a hiccup, I have gotten some loans from banks but you find that they do not do much as the equipment is very expensive.”

“This place is really big and I have been thinking of opening up a bakery but it has not been possible because of resources,” she lamented.

Grace explained that the Enpretech training offered by ZDA had come at the right time in her business as it has helped her cope with some of these challenges and also in coming up with better strategies in generating revenue.

“The training helped in the way I display my merchandise, the quality of merchandise has also changed and even the way we market ourselves. It has also provided consistency in how we handle our customers,” She said.

She said the other area the training has helped her is with networking and she has built a good relationship with her suppliers.

“The training has also helped me with networking with my suppliers, this time around I have a very good relationship with my suppliers, and nowadays Parmalat and Coca-Cola accept payment by cheque.”

 “I have also learnt how to handle my employees, there was a time I wanted my workers to be just like me and operate the way I do but I have learnt to accept people’s individual personalities and so I try to handle every worker differently and try to bring out the best in them at an individual level.”

Grace says her response to competition has also changed because of the training she has received from ZDA.

“I now handle competition differently, my personal strategy has changed, I no longer aim to maximize on profits only but I pay extra attention to detail as well in ensuring that my customers get the maximum satisfaction,” she says.

“The other thing is on dressing, before I went for training, my employees would come in their own attires but I have now provided uniforms for them which make us look neat and presentable,” she explained.

Grace believes the training has helped in building a solid reputation for her business which is very critical for its success. By providing the highest quality service and in keeping the integrity of her business intact, customers are sure to notice and not only that;  her employees also keep up with this principle and help out with the provision of quality customer service.