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Meet the boss
Kealeboga Gaelebale popularly known as DJ Kellz is a well-known Yarona FM presenter hosting a late night Sunday show, The Revolution.
However outside the airwaves, he is a businessman of note and his Legends Barbershop Botswana Brand has been making the right noises so far.
In the middle of Covid-19 pandemic in July, 2020, Gaelebale took a drastic decision to open Legends Barbershop franchise in Botswana.
Although everything started slowly, the brand has grown tremendously in the past two years, opening two branches in Gaborone one in (Hillside Kgale Mall & another in Sarona City Mall with a total staff complement of 25 people.
Who is DJ Kellz?
Im just a simple man approaching his 40s, from Mahalapye village, I hold a B-Com in Marketing and AAT.
Before you established Legends Barbershop in Botswana, where did you work?
Immediately after finishing tertiary I had my first job as call centre consultant at Orinoco (111).
I was then hired by Mascom for five years as a retail executive From there I joined Yarona FM under sales, then worked for Mobility as a retail manager, worked for DC Tours as a Marketing manager before I went on to establish my own research firm that gave birth to Legends Barbershop Botswana.
Now tell us about owning Legends Barbershop, how did this come about?
It was a case of being at the right space and right time.
I talk of space because at some point, my life was clouded with a lot of activity but without direction or fulfilment, I made a deliberate decision to take U-Turn and start life afresh.
This meant making very tough decisions of sacrificing some of the temporary things that I loved for things that would yield long term results,(this includes physically, financially and spiritually).
It is during this time that an opportunity to buy the franchise presented itself in the form of a phone call from Sheldon Tachell (Legends founder) who was referred to me by a friend (DJ Oneal), and the rest is history as they say.
The moral of the story I just shared is to encourage someone who might be reading this that God’s blessings need to find you with room to receive them.
We sometimes cluster our lives with so much that even the blessings that are for us have no room in our busy lives.
Wow! So How difficult or easy is it to do franchising business, don’t you feel the pressure of maintaining high standards at all times?
If you are a person who understands the importance of service standards, there will be no pressure, so it’s actually quite easy to run a business that comes with standards that forms part of you.
I subscribe to exceptional customer experience, cleanliness and hygiene.
On that note what services and products does Legends sell?
Besides the Legendary haircuts , we offer various line designs , beard shave , straight edge razor shaves, kiddies cuts and we also sell a range of our Legendary hair and beard products which include , Beard oil , Hair growth serums , Legendary wave kit ( wave brush , pomade , durag , wave texturizer) and Legendary shampoo.
Batswana have really welcomed the brand, and the support has been overwhelming and we highly appreciate the support.
What remains Legends Barbershop’s major breakthrough in the market?
We do much more than providing great haircuts.
We believe a haircut should be paired with an exceptional customer experience.
From our service to our well trained barbers and world class equipment sets a new standard for barber shops.
There are more breakthroughs coming soon which I will disclose when the time comes (Chuckles).
Legends Barbershop associates more with celebrities, what’s the reason behind that?
Brands understand the importance of always looking fresh and will always work with other reputable brands that complement them.
Other than that, Legends is a friend to everyone, we have built relationships with both the ordinary people and celebrities, and it’s just that celebrities stand out the most because of their popularity.
With the mushrooming of many barbershops and haircuts, how does Legends deal with competition?
We are not here to compete, we focus on our own race and lane, however through research and development, we continuously introduce innovative and cutting edge products and service that meet the demands of today’s customer.
What are the challenges you face in your trade?
The ever changing hair trends that need constant training for our barbers.
Where do you want to see Legends Barbershop Botswana in the next years?
The aim is taking the legendary experience to some of our customers in other parts of the country by opening more branches.
That’s the dream thus far.
Legends Barbershop Botswana opened in the middle of Covid-19, how did that affect the business?
Just like any other business, we opened in 2020, the year of the pandemic; people were reluctant to visit barbershops.
The consumers spending patterns and habits have also changed and all this ultimately affected our projected figures.
Apart from this business, are there any other entities you have and run in other sectors of the economy?
I am running a market research firm that has been in the research space for close to ten years.
Our services include Mystery Shopping, Retail audits, Concept testing, Market assessment and feasibility studies, Brand health tracking, Customer satisfaction studies and general consumer survey.
You are also a family man, radio presenter, how do you juggle all these with your corporate work?
It all comes with time management, since I ventured into other businesses, I make sure that I avail myself to all the three, nothing suffers.
The radio side is only a weekly Sunday slot, the rest of the five days of the week are dedicated to both Legends and the research business.
In terms of employment, how many jobs have Legends Barbershop created?
We have created 25 jobs (all citizens) and intend on creating more as the brand grows.
We are not here to just be a mere barbershop; we also pride ourselves in being able to impact our society positively through our legendary give back initiatives.
On a lighter note how do you spend your free time?
I enjoy spending time with my lovely kids and beautiful wife, even if we don’t do anything fancy, my time with them is everything.
