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WOMEN IN BUSINESS EDITION 12 ENTREPRENEURS A ccording to Christina the greatest thing about being an entrepre- neur is the freedom to venture into a project that one understands and that makes one happy. Two enabling factors that spur Christina on are the support of her husband and the memory of her mother. Christina, married for 16 years on 4 December says her husband is her rock. “My husband helped me in every step of the business, from recruitment of the employees to inspiration on a daily ba- sis. He is my rock; his understanding and support are invaluable.” Christina added, “I am happy to be happily married. It is no use to be successful outside of your home but unhappy inside of it because you can’t share your moments of joy with your life partner.” Christina’s parents were married for fifty two years and she plans to head in the same direction. The business idea for African Image Designs and Events began as an inspi- ration from her late mother. Tina Bess- inger was a seamstress and wanted all her children to become educated and get well-paying jobs. Christina was, how- ever, more interested in becoming a job creator and owning a business someday like her mother, who used to run her own informal sewing business. Christina went a step further and formalised her sewing business. After all she saw she had in- herited her mother’s creative genes. “My mother was a creative sewer and after her death in 2012, I inherited her sew- ing machine and I feel I am now walking in my mother’s footsteps,” Christina said. Christina did not rule out getting qualifications like her mother wanted for her children. She holds a BA Degree, National Diploma in Human Resource (HR), did a short course in Marketing and is currently studying Public Relations. Christina says she will do all she can to equip herself with skills and knowledge as a businesswoman. “Formal education is important. I apply in my business what I studied,” Saunderson said. Christina’s business, a close corpo- ration, currently employs three full-time staff members and three casual work- ers. Its motto is “Restyle, Remodel, Refit and Renew.” The company evolved from planning events to designing the actual products such as tablecloths, chaircov- ers, overlays and renting out of gradu- ation gowns and party costumes. To- day African Image Designs and Events manufacture graduation gowns, nursing uniforms, school uniforms and tracksuits. It additionally offers an express service where customers can walk in and out with garments they bring in for altera- tions. Seams, buttons and zips are fixed on the spot. They also have a craft cen- tre component that manufactures dolls by Innocentia Gaoes photograph Vida de Voss Links ENERGETIC, EAGER AND ENTHUSIASTIC ARE APT DESCRIPTIONS FOR CHRISTINA SAUNDERSON, OWNER OF AFRICAN IMAGE DESIGNS AND EVENTS. For Christina the road to success is not in looking out for tenders, but in becoming equipped to offer services of value that will have customers returning for more business. Christina traded a job with securities at the Office of the Ombudsman for the adventure of becoming an entrepreneur. ENTREPRENEUR TENDERPRENEUR BE AN NOT A

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Page 1: ENTREPRENEURS BE AN ENTREPRENEUR - WordPress.com · successful entrepreneur one needs to have training in entrepreneurship, know about business, have some business management knowledge

WOMEN IN BUSINESS EDITION

12ENTREPRENEURS

According to Christina the greatest thing about being an entrepre-neur is the freedom to venture

into a project that one understands and that makes one happy. Two enabling factors that spur Christina on are the support of her husband and the memory of her mother.

Christina, married for 16 years on 4 December says her husband is her rock. “My husband helped me in every step of the business, from recruitment of the employees to inspiration on a daily ba-sis. He is my rock; his understanding and support are invaluable.” Christina added, “I am happy to be happily married. It is no use to be successful outside of your home but unhappy inside of it because you can’t share your moments of joy with your life partner.” Christina’s parents were married for fifty two years and she plans to head in the same direction.

The business idea for African Image Designs and Events began as an inspi-ration from her late mother. Tina Bess-inger was a seamstress and wanted all

her children to become educated and get well-paying jobs. Christina was, how-ever, more interested in becoming a job creator and owning a business someday like her mother, who used to run her own informal sewing business. Christina went a step further and formalised her sewing business. After all she saw she had in-herited her mother’s creative genes. “My mother was a creative sewer and after her death in 2012, I inherited her sew-ing machine and I feel I am now walking in my mother’s footsteps,” Christina said.

Christina did not rule out getting qualifications like her mother wanted for her children. She holds a BA Degree, National Diploma in Human Resource (HR), did a short course in Marketing and is currently studying Public Relations. Christina says she will do all she can to equip herself with skills and knowledge as a businesswoman. “Formal education is important. I apply in my business what I studied,” Saunderson said.

Christina’s business, a close corpo-ration, currently employs three full-time

staff members and three casual work-ers. Its motto is “Restyle, Remodel, Refit and Renew.” The company evolved from planning events to designing the actual products such as tablecloths, chaircov-ers, overlays and renting out of gradu-ation gowns and party costumes. To-day African Image Designs and Events manufacture graduation gowns, nursing uniforms, school uniforms and tracksuits. It additionally offers an express service where customers can walk in and out with garments they bring in for altera-tions. Seams, buttons and zips are fixed on the spot. They also have a craft cen-tre component that manufactures dolls

by Innocentia Gaoes • photograph Vida de Voss Links

ENERGETIC, EAGER AND ENTHUSIASTIC ARE APT DESCRIPTIONS FOR CHRISTINA SAUNDERSON, OWNER OF AFRICAN IMAGE DESIGNS AND EVENTS. For Christina the road to success is not in looking out for tenders, but in becoming equipped to offer services of value that will have customers returning for more business. Christina traded a job with securities at the Office of the Ombudsman for the adventure of becoming an entrepreneur.

ENTREPRENEUR

TENDERPRENEUR

BE AN

NOT A

Page 2: ENTREPRENEURS BE AN ENTREPRENEUR - WordPress.com · successful entrepreneur one needs to have training in entrepreneurship, know about business, have some business management knowledge

www.sisternamibia.org SISTER NAMIBIA

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for both girls and boys as well as cell-phone, I-pad and e-reader bags. They even make a San doll that caters for the tourism industry. In 2015 they also pro-duced re-usable pads for Sister Namibia. For Christina delivering excellent services to the clients and having pride in what the company does is of utmost importance.

“Business is not for the faint-hearted as many get discouraged the first time things don’t work out,” said Christina. She prefers to talk about lessons instead of failures. “I always say it depends on how you see a situation. Everything is a trial and error. I see my setbacks as an opportunity to develop my skills further

and not as failures but lessons,” said Christina.

A key component that will move any business in the direction of success is hu-man capital. Christina maintains, “Once the employees are happy, they have the freedom to unleash their creativity and the company has a greater chance of success.” Christina treasures the fact that her people are creative and vibrant. She also insists that “strong women should assist other women to grow.” She therefore shares as much knowledge as she can with her employees so that they can learn and master the traits of the business.

A business cannot be run on instinct, whim or charity. Christina said to be a successful entrepreneur one needs to have training in entrepreneurship, know about business, have some business management knowledge and basic bookkeeping skills in order to under-stand the inflow and outflow of money. She added, “Pricing is important. To be profitable your product needs to be priced right. This can be a tricky part of the business.” Marketing knowledge is also vital since you need to know how to sell your brand. Ultimately Christina says one has to put personal feelings aside and concentrate on what is in the best interest of the business. She says, “I re-alised I have to make a profit as I have employees and bills to pay and for that, profit is necessary. So I had to toughen up and get business-minded”.

Christina does not live off the income of her business. She first invests in the business by paying its bills and salaries and then considers what is left as profit. The alternative of first spending money

on yourself and then borrowing money to cover business costs can only lead to building up debt.

Instead of needing to borrow, Chris-tina’s company makes sure to include Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) principles and practices. On a number of occassions they have sold products to support charities like Orange Babies. They have also donated their services and décor products like chair covers and tablecloths to the Eros Children’s Home.

Christina is inspired by women such as Veronica de Klerk, former director of Women’s Action for Development (WAD), and the director of Women’s Solidarity Namibia (WSN) Rosa Namises. She re-ferred to De Klerk as an elegant woman who brought a change to the lives of people around her with the work she did. Namises, according to Christina, is a woman who has ignited the spirit of soli-darity in her as Namises is a woman who is always on the move to bring about change through community involvement and dialogues. Like these two women, Christina also aims to be a change agent with a transformation focus.

She also finds inspiration by reading books from the likes of Nelson Mandela, Robert Kiyosaki, Stephen Covey, Steve Jobs and Oprah Winfrey.

Ten years from now, Christina sees herself as having set up a franchise. Ten years thereafter, she wants to retire on a farm as she loves nature.

CONTACT DETAILS:

Christina Saunderson 081 607 3111 E: [email protected] www.africanimagedesigns.com

Quick facts about African Image Design CC

OUR SERVICES: • Alterations on all garments • Sewing classes offered • Costume designs for children’s parties • Production of re-usable pads • Mending • Buttons • Zips

CHRISTINA SAUNDERSON