From retrenched to in-demand curtain entrepreneur in less than two years

When his employers retired and shut up shop, curtain maker Richard Serere decided to go it alone.

Starting his endeavour just as lockdown hit South Africa in March last year was not the best time to end up without an income. But he did it. Just under two years after landing his first client, demand for his services is on a constant upward curve.

Serere’s curtaining business has been making waves across several social media chat groups. Word of mouth has been themainstay of his marketing and, he said, it was an unintended consequence of working as hard as possible for his customers.

Serere said: “I didn’t even know that people were taking pictures of my work and posting it on social media. It became a word-of-mouth machine for me and I just keep getting calls from people that have read about me or seen pictures of my work.”

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He could not find enough words to thank his clients for the goodwill and referrals.

Late last year, demand saw Serere train his wife and now the pair work together, at home.

“I call on all the customers, do the measurements, work on design and ultimately head back to install the curtains,” said Serere.

He manages about three customer consultations and installations every week.

“I take time with my clients,” he said. “We go shopping together for fabric, too, because I want to make sure that they buy the right kind of material and, also, at the best price possible.”

When clients don’t have time to shop, Serere sources swatches to suit the client’s home.

Word about his work has spread far and wide and Serere recently completed jobs in Nigel and Bela-Bela, amongst others.

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“I was even fortunate enough to be contracted to kit out all rooms in a hotel in Durban recently.”

He said the secret to his emerging success is service.

“I am passionate about what I do and how I service my clients. If I cannot get a taxi or public transport to a consultation, I will hail an Uber. I will do whatever it takes … to give joy with a finished product worth looking at.”

“I focus just on curtains. I want to be the best at what I do, and perfection comes with specialisation.”

– news@citizen.co.za