Being self-employed is wonderful because it helps you determine your future and success as long as you are willing to work hard.
This is Pierre Shiimi's advice. He is one of three partners at Shiimi Upholstery and Joinery in Soweto, Katutura.
He says young people must strive to acquire a skill they can use to create their own employment for life, because "no one can take it away from you".
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Shiimi and his business partners, Mercy Shihepo and Toivo Mupupa, make furniture such as cupboards, beds and headboards. They also do upholstery work.
"While each of us has his own customers, we help each other on some jobs where one has better skill than the other for each of us to get all-round customer satisfaction," he says.
Shiimi says he started his skills development journey at school, where he was taught carpentry.
"I then attended Katutura Young Enterprise Centre, better known as Kayec, in Wanaheda for a six-month course, and then enrolled at the Windhoek Vocational Training Centre to further hone my skills in carpentry and woodwork," he says, adding that because he loved working with his hands, he did a lot of side jobs and learned about the art of upholstery along the way.
Shiimi says he was not satisfied working for other people, so he rented the premises they work from and was joined by his partners.
Taking up a number of business courses along the way, including one on financial literature run by the Namibia University of Science and Technology, has come in handy, he says.
"Each partner looks for his own work and customers, but we share expenses like rent and paying the workers," Shiimi says, adding that the business employs about seven people at its workshop.
This is confirmed by Mupupa, who says the arrangement makes each partner put in effort to look for work.
He says he learned about cupboard making and upholstery from a Congolese artisan who ran a workshop at Ombili informal settlement.
"I could not stay idle at home, so I got a job with this man who taught me the tricks of the trade. Today I'm standing on my own," he says.
Shiimi urges young people to be eager to learn and to look for opportunities where others do not see them.
"When we started working here, we made two padded headboards. They were snapped up in a short time, and we haven't stopped making them as they are popular," he says.
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The business' biggest challenge is not having enough machinery to do the work faster, he says.
This has led to employing several people, he says.
Shiimi says he had applied for equipment assistance in the past from the then Ministry of Industrialisation and Trade through their constituency councillor and is still awaiting a response.
Another challenge is not being able to stock enough materials in the shop.
Shiimi says he dreams of growing the business to become the size of stores like Lewis and Furnmart.
"All these stores are foreign-owned, but I dream of growing one Namibian furniture store - individually or with others - to compete with these foreign-owned enterprises," he says.
