- A conversation with a friend inspired Lebogang Moiloa to start her own courier company.
- Lebo.M Courier aims to expand to other provinces after exclusively catering to people in Gauteng.
- Moiloa has positioned herself competitively by charging a flat rate for all deliveries.
After listening to a friend complain about the terrible service she'd received from several established courier companies, Lebogang Moiloa decided to take matters into her own hands.
"One day I was with my best friend. She's a fashion designer. She was complaining that she was always struggling with the couriers. Parcels would arrive late and some would get lost. Because I have a bakkie, she said I should start to courier her parcels for her," Moiloa told News24.
It was this conversation that led to the inception of Lebo.M Courier.
With little experience but a lot of determination, the unemployed mother launched her courier company in September 2019.
The company aims to collect parcels and deliver it by the next day. "I never want a parcel to take more than two days to be delivered," she said.
Although she was able to build a group of loyal customers, six months into her operations, she faced a major hurdle. The country went into lockdown to curb the rapid spread of the coronavirus. This meant business operations had to be halted.
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However, as restrictions started to ease, Moiloa found at one point, she was delivering as many as 200 parcels a day in Gauteng.
"On my side, during lockdown business picked up very well under Level 3. People were still at home, so I was delivering for them. At that time, I could still do same-day deliveries. People were happy with that and that's what made the business grow even more," she said.
She said:
Public figures such as DJ Zinhle and Mbali Sebapu have sung Moiloa's praises.
"Most of my clients are women and they push me to work harder," she said.
Big dreams
Moiloa will soon be operating in Rustenburg in North West, with the long-term goal of couriering parcels internationally.
"We ... will open in other areas little by little. I would love to courier to the whole of South Africa. It's not going to be easy but with God anything is possible. It will come slowly but surely," she said.
Moiloa has positioned herself competitively in the market by charging R100 for deliveries, regardless of size and weight.
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