Semehal Guesh is the CEO of Kabana Design PLC. She was born twenty nine years ago to parents hailing from the public service. She was brought up here in Addis Ababa. She went to two private schools for her primary and secondary education. Then she joined the Addis Ababa University (AAU) and graduated with BSC of Architecture in 2014.
Meanwhile, her great passion for the art of designing let her decide to start a little business of her own, which later won her laurels as the young female entrepreneur of the year by the UN in 2018.
She is today’s guest of The Ethiopian Herlad’s Edition. Excerpts:
Herald: Would you tell us how you chose to study architecture?
Semehal: I love designing and drawing. In this case, architecture is an all-inclusive field of study. An architect would have a basic knowledge about interior design, product design, urban planning and many other disciplines. So that is why I wanted to become an architect and studied for five and half years at AAU. There is an artistic value in architecture that would inspire one.
When you think about designing and using the space that you have in your place, architecture would enable you to see different things deeply from different perspectives such as function, image, feeling etc. Our lecturers used to give us different types of puzzling assignments. For instance, once we were told to draw or sketch voice, Can you imagine?
Herald: Is that possible?
Semehal: Although I and other students were a tad confused at that time, yes it is possible. It is just about how your mind thinks. And the main issue is how we implement or express what is in our mind on the ground.
Herald: Tell us about your career.
Semehal: I started out in an architecture consulting bureau. I worked for two years there. It was immediately after I graduated from college. Even if I went through a practical internship for half a year when I was a student, the lessons I had taken during those two years as an employee were very crucial. I had the chance to work with different professional designers, structural and electrical engineers, with whom I had a significant experience. Then, I decided to start my own little business.
Herald: How was it started and when?
Semehal: The idea or the initiative took shape in my mind ten years ago. When I was in college I and my roommates used to make different designs of leather products late at night. We also used to discuss how we can translate the initiative into reality and pursue our passion. Then we would go to Merkato (The largest market in Addis Ababa) and buy small pieces of leather that the manufacturing industries dispose as wastes. Out of them we used to make bracelets, purses and what have you? I remember making my first purse from those pieces of leather. I remember that it took me one full night to make that purse.
I now regret selling my masterpiece in that exhibition. I also did my thesis on leather industry. I had to visit several leather factories and observe how they were handling their designs and how they collect the skins. All in all, I was attentive of the overall process of production. Therefore, the basic questions were identifying where the missing parts lie that affect the production quality. That was what I tried to answer on my thesis, which I concluded with the idea that suggests if a production process is carefully handled from the beginning to the end with fully equipped factories; the last output will be a quality product.
After graduation, about the same time when I was working in the architecture consultancy office, I had been trying to establish different businesses of my own, which failed for various reasons. As I went on trying and failing I would restructure my old initiative and established the actual Kabana PLC on March of 2017.
Herald: With how much initial capital?
Semehal: What I had in my hand was three hundred Birr.
Herald: Have you tried to be organized in a Micro or Small Scale Enterprises?
Herald: I never wanted to be engaged in that. I had a problem with the process and procedure that would require coming up with ten individuals to be organized and get access for loan. It was my belief that I should not team up with ten people that I did not know very well. I rather preferred to establish my own company with my few friends and a little initial capital because I was of the opinion that I should contribute to the effort in creating jobs for youths like me.
In order to create jobs one does not need to have ten or three partners. A partnership business is like marriage. The people you collaborate with need to be on the same page of vision. Those people could have their own vision and mine is different. So it was hard for me to find ten such people. When the government intends to organize the enterprises and facilitate loans, its major criteria should not be the number of such beneficiaries but the common vision they have and the prospects of success in their business idea.
For me it is not all about creating the business only for my own self-development but how we can work to change the lives of others. This cannot be by providing aids. It must be by creating jobs. Therefore, I took an entrepreneur training and started with the money that I have.
Herald: How many jobs did you create and what is the current status of the company?
Semehal: First only one. Then the company would grow and the number of my employees has reached 80. Production and market competency is improving from time to time. Now we are producing export standard leather products. We are penetrating the market in the USA competing with Cuban and Mexican products. Our initial capital has been revolving and now it has reached 500,000. Our company does not only build
its own capacity but also that of its employees. Seven former employees of ours have been able to establish their own businesses. We encourage the employees to start their own business or promote them to our administrative posts after two years of experience here. Therefore, those seven former employees have created jobs for others and the impact over the value chain is the benefit of over 400 people, according to our assessment.
The best impact for me is that we have maintained a self-development opportunity for employees of the company. We also try to discharge our social responsibilities by supporting single mothers in raising their children. We have a plan to establish a day care here in our shade for mother employees, who could not afford to have nannies as well as providing milk and other sanitary materials. That would enable the women to do their jobs efficiently.
When a woman has good working conditions and is efficient on her job, she would be able to raise her child better and the positive impact will go to a second generation. As a result, the way we assess the impact is not only by financial growth or the promotion that employees would get but also by the result how many lives we have changed. This is not a responsibility that one has to give a second thought. If people have problems that would prevent them from doing their jobs, the reason may not only be due to their laziness. We have to understand that there could be other factors.
It could be a problem related to sending their children to school. We have to assist them and we have been funding some employees and their children or relatives to have access to education for one year. Thus, these employees would use their salary to cover the costs for other things in their lives.
Herald: What are the
challenges and enabling conditions in becoming a young female entrepreneur and
your advices for the women who strive to have their own decent and independent
sources of income?
Semehal: First they need to find their own female role models from the business world, in which they are interested to be part of. Things may not always go just the way we want them to. Naturally, there are pitfalls in the business world and it will not be hard to accept them and make a new start if there are role models that would tell them how they managed to circumvent those challenges and emerged successful.
We may not understand it at the right time but our teachers are also our good mentors. On top of the subject matter they feed us with, they would ask us how we could handle our difficulties and tell us recommendable solutions. So, one of our problems while we enter the business world is that we do not have our own role models or mentors. Our traditions that underestimate the capability of women are also the challenges that we need to deal with.
Females are saddled with domestic chores. Also, as mothers, they have too many responsibilities. Even if they have whatever it takes, they have to discharge those responsibilities. There is a female employee who is deaf and she does her job bringing her kid to the work place, while the father is engaged in his one job. So, she is doing two jobs simultaneously. It is not about making money but the burden of social responsibility.
On the other hand, most of the men and even women do not expect young women like me running a company of her own. They entertain the wrong concept about women being incapable of handling such a demanding task. More often than not, such people would approach and ask me “Who is the owner of this company?” When I tell them that “It is me!” Wide-eyed they see me in disbelief.
Herald: What would they say?
Semehal: Women folks would say “Good job. Keep it up!” On the other hand most men would ask me where I got the capital from. Such mentality is the product of our tradition of little faith on women’s capability. So all members of the fair sex have to break through all these challenges and show the best they can do.
In this case, so many women are emerging nowadays and that is very inspiring. There is an association that supports women in business which I myself is a member of. Women who run several big companies are also part of it. As a result, I would say women can accomplish so many crucial jobs by their own in their own country.
Herald: Thank you.
Semehal: Thank you for having me a guest.
The Ethiopian Herald Herald Sunday Edition 10 November 2019
BY HENOK TIBEBU
