The elec-tronic lady

Consumer electronics such as handsets are becoming ever more accessible and continue to transform the way we live, interact and ingest information.

While mobiles are having significant communication enhancing impacts, their use is also open up the world to a wealth of empowering information, and can has created a burgeoning industry for those who maintain them.

Enter Victoria Matheus, who until this writer met her, formed part of a set of statistics we all get excited about when lofty buzzwords like “tech entrepreneurs in Namibia” come up, but hardly ever give the grassroots recognition they deserve.



Factory reset

While still at school in Ondangwa, Matheus would be happy to figure out and help fix her family and friends' faulty phones when visiting her village.

That’s how the now 24-year-old found mutual ground with a new-found friend in Windhoek, Millo Gon, and soon afterward they decided to start a business that would be the 'Genesis' (which they christened their first repair shop) for their mission to make sure those around them could stay connected and, very importantly, make a living.

“At the time, my friend had some experience working on cellular phones, but made his living selling consumables like covers and screen protectors,” she related while near-fixated on fault-finding a passing customers’ cell phone, in the second of their now four-location-strong empire along Monte Christo Drive near Havana in Windhoek.

“If I show you photos, you would never believe we even got off the ground... And I mean the literal ground.

“We accepted our first commission with the skills to get it done, but none of the tools to make it happen. I will always remember trying to hide behind the counter so the customer didn’t see that we were using our fingernails and a knife to deconstruct the phone for repairs," she said.

“Needless to say, we got caught, but because of the client’s satisfaction with the eventual repairs, we made N$100, and immediately used that to buy our first set of screwdrivers for electronics. A week of hustling later, we bought our first soldering iron," Matheus added.

“The rest is a long, hard, but often happy history of slowly getting more and more work as we continued to invest in the equipment we needed to grow,” she related after we sat down for refreshments outside their fourth stall at the market next to Wernhil shopping complex the next day.

Soon after, they saw a market for electronic spares, and sourced more than they needed from local and international suppliers and resold those to other small business in and around the Katutura area.

“Through this process, we built up good relationships with foreign suppliers operating locally. To the point where they would call us when they needed certain parts like a specific body, etc,” she explained.



Empowered by electronics

Matheus said though she was always business-minded, she actually wanted to be a dentist, but her choice of subjects at school didn’t allow her to pursue the field. However, she never imagined that taking on work repairing consumer electronics would help her build a sustainable and empowered livelihood.

“I’ve always been fascinated by electronics, but never thought it would allow me to become a business owner and chart my own course,” she said.

Upscaling their business to four locations in two years did not come easy as supply constraints, the economic decline and employee oversights pushed her and her partner to adopt a strict, efficient and agile style to manage their business.

“It can be difficult managing several locations at once, but we closely monitor the trends at every shop, and also rotate between locations to make sure we know what is happening on the ground and can manage any employee performance issues, customer complaints and also check whether enough is being done to promote that specific business,” she explained.

“Sometimes we find that an employee is not as productive as they should be, which is very frustrating, because they’ll tell you that there was no business coming in, but when myself and my partner spend a week at a location, we always make something, because we go out and get business,” she said.



Fixated on the future

Having experienced the empowering nature of electronics and technology, Matheus said she believes there is so much potential in the space to capitalise on.

“I fully believe in the transformative nature of technology, and think if we do more to get young people skilled and create an environment where we have easy access to training, components and markets, they will make a success of themselves and uplift the people around them,” she said.

Despite their success in business, and big plans of establishing a larger central warehouse and workshop, Matheus is still fixated on achieving her dream of becoming a dentist in the future.

“It’s something I have to do for myself. It will be hard, but I like a challenge. Plus, who knows, maybe I can take some tools along and source some customers while on campus,” she said with a laugh.



For more information, call Matheus and her team on 081 441 7889.