#WIB-Q&A With Mashoto Mphahlele Owner Of Pre-Loved KIDS Clothes -

1. Can you please tell us more about your business?

A. Pre-Loved KIDS Clothes is a clothing store in the hip & trendy “Maboneng Precinct” , downtown Johannesburg. I specialise in babies and children’s clothing and accessories(0-16years) to be specific, kids clothes are almost always in a good condition after use as kids outgrow them fairly quickly. I chose the term “Pre-Loved” to give value to the clothes and well, as some people would put it “dignity” to second hand garments.

It then later dawned on me that most of my customers would need new clothes during the festive season as this is the culture in my beloved country so I decided to add a fair percentage of new garments in store to cover them for this season. Currently my business sells 70% Pre-Loved & 30% new clothing.

2. When, how and why did you start your business?

A. I started my business about 3 years ago, mainly selling on Facebook Market places and WhatsApp. I worked for a small company at the time and didn’t have the time to run a store full time (or so i thought). I remember walking through the Johannesburg CBD to catch my taxi to work and there were so many clothes being sold for so less and I thought “hey, maybe i could sell these at work”.

I bought a few jeans and jackets, I would then wash and iron them nicely and started selling to my colleagues. It went really well from then onwards that 3 months later I decided to open a small shop and sell on the weekends. I started to get so many customers I had to leave my work and operate full time. A year later I moved into a bigger shop and that is what you see today which isn’t too big still…

3. What is your role in the business?

A. To be honest, I love engaging with my customers, finding clothes for them and literally becoming their ‘personal shopper’ is all so magical to me that I decided to take orders via WhatsApp where a customer specifies their budget and wishes and I make matching outfits for them and send the pictures via WhatsApp and courier Countrywide.

It is my company and I ultimately make the decisions, but I do not want to call myself the director (although I am of course) I do not feel myself any more than the ladies I work with, I also clean, do the odd jobs and do what needs to be done. I think this has created an open and honest working relationship with my employees and that I can describe my employees more as “family”. We have a lot of understanding, respect and fun times together.

4. Where did you study and what did you study?

A. I studied Mathematics and informatics at the University of Johannesburg for about 2 years and then dropped out, I reluctantly went to school and it felt like I was not on the right path in my life.

5. How did you finance your business?

A. I am an avid saver! I used all of my savings in buying stock and collecting from moms and all my proceeds from when I sold to colleagues, family and friends. I occasionally took extra work so there was that too. I have never asked a bank or anyone for a loan. My stock is paid and I don’t like owing other people or institutions money. When I receive an invoice I pay it immediately. I think this has brought me a lot of business advantage, I am now often the first to be offered nice batches of clothing 😉

6. Describe your average workday, if such a thing exists.

A. My day starts at about 07:30 in the morning. I spend about 30 minutes with my son before I take my breakfast in my little garden and head out. I stay and work in the Maboneng area so I don’t have to go through traffic in the morning. I literally walk from my house, pick up coffee on the way (Maboneng has the most amazing coffees) and BAM, get to the store. To be honest I’m not really a morning person, I need my time to boot up and that’s why I decided to open my store from 10 am to 6pm ;). I normally start with answering & commenting on my social media pages and WhatsApp chats, I can thank my success to social-media. I have customers from all over the country, so I take my time when it comes to my social media platforms.

7. How do you balance your home life and your work life?

A. My store is open 6 days a week so this means I also work 6 days a week. I take in the week (Mondays) to solely spend time with family and run some errands. I make sure I take about 1 or 2 hours in the day to play with my son because I feel it’s really important to be a present mom amid all the business. As much as it has been amazing it has also been difficult because sometimes you feel you are just not doing enough.

8. What drives you and inspires you?

A. I love children, and with my children’s clothing business I realised how fast they actually outgrow their clothing (my customers often come back). I know most of the kids by name and it’s such a pleasure seeing those cute little faces light up when they realise how adorable they look in their new outfit…such a pleasure! It is impossible to describe a lay of a child, it is a feeling that melts my heart each time. I also have a huge passion for fashion, I think that the combination of both keeps me motivated.

9. Where and when do you have your best ideas?

A. I love nature, and everything that grows and flourishes in it gives me peace and space .. I find my small garden and hammock truly peaceful. This is the one place where i have gotten most of my ideas from…

10. Where and how do you market/advertise your business for sales leads?

A. Social media and especially Facebook. This takes me back to when i recorded my first few facebook videos and I would only get 400 views. If you told me then that today I will have more than 80K followers and 35K members on my Facebook community I would tell you how crazy you are! 🙂 In addition, it is really unimaginable how fast word-of-mouth advertising goes. I often see new customers a week later with their family, friends or colleagues. These customers are my best ambassadors.

11. What is next for your business?

A. I have thought about this for a long time. I have thought of franchising my business, opening a larger store, or going online. I have now chosen to go online in addition to my current store. I am currently in the final stages of getting my new online platform www.jaxi.co.za (named after my son Jaxx) online soon. You should see this platform as your online wardrobe. Here you can buy everything that normally hangs in your wardrobe, but also sell it yourself in the future.

In my current Facebook group I have 35k members and have offered 50 best and most active members in this group a collaboration to sell through Jaxi and therefore offer them through their own webshop (with stock management if desired) a reliable online payment possibility. The role of the Jaxi platform will be to facilitate between the buyer and the seller, handle all payments, and display honest reviews. Unfortunately there is a lot of fraud on online marketplaces and I want to combat that with Jaxi.

12. What advice would you give to female entrepreneurs hoping to start their own business?

A. Whatever you’re going to do, start small, but always have the bigger picture in mind. Get to know your business, listen to other people’s opinions (especially those that care enough to give you a cent). Be unique and specialize, by this I mean only sell children’s clothing and no adult clothing if you wish to go into clothing( this is just an example), children’s clothing is my market, and people come to me for that and that only. I could easily sell adult clothing but my niche is children’s clothing. I like to send my customers to someone who is good at adult clothing.

But above all, with everything you do, make sure you are passionate about it yourself. Your passion will keep you going in more difficult times..