The Dressing Guru laid bare
Fresh out of Form Five and slightly unsure what her next step in life would be, in 2017 a teenage girl chose to start selling clothing as a way of expressing her love for fashion – as well, of course, as making some much-needed money!
That girl is now a 25-year-old woman and her online boutique, The Dressing Guru, has branched out big time, expanding its merchandise to include a wide range of goods.
Speaking to Voice Money, the business-minded youth, Pauline Motlotlegi explained this all became possible two years ago, when she ‘went east’, swapping South Africa for China to source her products.
At a time when Covid-19 meant many were wary of importing from China, Motlotlegi’s decision proved a masterstroke; she was able to supply items that others could not.
“When I started The Dressing Guru, I was selling clothes from Johannesburg. But I felt stuck in one place and also felt as if everyone else was selling clothes from Jozi; the business was not doing well because the market was saturated,” she recalls.
“Since changing suppliers, I’m no longer limited to only selling clothes. I now order literally anything that my clients want or need, from cars to cosmetics to electronics,” reveals the Lentsweletau native, who, craving a change of scenery, relocated from Gaborone to Francistown in March.
As for the hurdles she faces, Motlotlegi pauses for a second before listing impatient clients as her biggest headache.
“When ordering from China or anywhere else in the world, you will always have shipment delays. For example, if an order takes 14 days to arrive in Botswana, customers will expect to receive their order that same day, and they will become irritated when you explain that there has been a delay,” she shrugs, noting she has come to accept this as being part and parcel of her business and does her best to reassure her customers.
As an extra bow to her hustle, Motlotlegi teaches other entrepreneurs how to order from China safely.
For more information, check out her Facebook page ‘The Dressing Guru’, which currently has over 16, 000 followers.
