Republikein Newspaper

Tunohole Mungoba





Esh-Ham Business Consultants, a secretarial service provider, celebrated seven years in the business on 1 February and according to founder and customer relationship manager Ester Hamukoto, their biggest achievement is brand loyalty.

“To date, we have created brand loyalty amongst clients around the country. Customers now choose us over other start-ups due to the fact that the trust and belief in our services has grown over the years, and also the level of expertise my team and I have in the SME industry has also grown,” she said.

Esh-Ham Business Consultants offers services such as registration of new businesses, accounting and taxation services, business consulting and tender filling services, and boasts clientele all over Namibia.

“Young and new entrepreneurs are often in a vulnerable stage of their business, especially when they do not have anyone to turn to for a second opinion when pursuing their dreams. The second group of people we focus on are companies that have to make their sales and marketing teams more effective. This includes companies who are receiving a lot of poor customer service complaints and need to upgrade their customer service experience.”

To celebrate their anniversary, Esh-Ham Business Consultant handed over donations to seven learners from Ella Du Plessis High School, which included stationery and a uniform. “This was an initiative part of our corporate social responsibility. I was a learner at Ella Du Plessis, thus I saw the need to plough back to my former school. We also awarded our long standing clients with appreciation certificates and this was done to show our clients that we as a company do appreciate their support,” she said.

With a degree in business administration, specialising in strategic marketing, from the University of Namibia, Hamukoto was exposed to the spirit of entrepreneurship and invention from a young age as she grew up with her grandmother, who was an entrepreneur herself.

“While in high school, I was introduced to the Junior Achievement Programme which I joined and eventually my entrepreneurship skills were developed. I am a firm believer in female empowerment and, as a young woman, it is our responsibility to take up positions that were stereotyped to be traditionally only reserved for men,” she said.

So what is the importance of the youth being involved in entrepreneurship? As a young entrepreneur herself, Hamukoto believes that there are ample opportunities in our county for young people to become self-employed and create job opportunities in the fields they are working in.

“Despite the challenges in the economy we are currently facing, our company has managed to stay afloat and survive. I believe it is due to the consistency from both me and my team as we give our work 100% commitment,” she said.

“I can confidently say Esh-Ham Business Consultants has become a household name in Namibia and this was all due to the dedication we have put in as a team.”

She told Careers Hub that customers are always their biggest asset and they ensure that they are giving a good experience as referrals are the cheapest marketing medium, and also can be regarded as a success.

“I also see to it that my employees are trained and well vested with good command of customer service and good knowledge of our services on offer. I am also financially disciplined as I try to stick to the budget and save for rainy days. When there are no sales, at least the staff is paid on time. Furthermore, I do self-studying a lot. I always try to equip myself with the latest techniques on how to run an SME and how to survive on a tight budget so self-education is very important to me and it’s part of my lifestyle,” said Hamukoto.

Besides the harsh economic climate, Hamukoto also lists working in male-dominated industry as a challenge. “Sometimes, I need to work extra hard to convince clients that we are equally as good as a company owned by male counterparts, therefore compromise on customer service is not even on the agenda as we need to go all out.”

She added that access to finances to grow the company, customers paying on time and industry regulations are other challenges they face.

As she looks towards the next seven years, Hamukoto’s long-term goal is to open branches in other towns in Namibia as they currently only operate from Windhoek. “Even though our services are available to all clients around Namibia and to foreign nationals who want to set up businesses in Namibia, growing and expending has always been my main goal and I see Esh-Ham Business Consultants as a place where aspiring entrepreneurs can come for all their business start-up needs.”

“I believe we still have a long way to go, but I strongly believe in not changing our model.”