Delivery on your doorstep
Everyone wants something delivered to their doorstep without going through the hassle of queuing up. After all, we live in a fast-paced world.
Gabby Tjiroze
Slade Griffith is a 25-year-old Namibian who founded Milkman delivery services - a business that provides grocery deliveries in Windhoek.
Milkman is an e-commerce platform that supplies and delivers grocery items for customers.
Customers order household items, with deliveries done at specified times.
Griffith advertises all the products on his website and buys them from different supermarkets.
“I deliver items that I know people want to buy on a daily basis and I have a listing on the website and update new products every day.
“The idea of Milkman came when I saw it as a need to provide convenience by delivering products door-to-door. It all started simple. My uncle would always send me to buy bread and milk at the shops; next it was my neighbours and then I sat and thought to myself that I could actually start charging for my services, as I was unemployed. From there I used to do deliveries around my neighbourhood at an extra cost and that is how the name Milkman came about, because I'd always be mostly sent for bread and milk.
“I realised there were many people who probably struggled to do shopping after a hectic day at work and this was the trigger for the idea behind Milkman. So as the years went by, I decided to give it a try and do an online shopping service where customers order online,” said Griffith.
Hailing from Windhoek, Griffith comes from a family with a business background.
Owing to difficult financial circumstances, he had to give up on his tertiary education after completing school and started working for his uncle in order to sustain himself.
“I finished school in 2011 and started working at my uncle's business. I was exposed to the business industry at a very young age and worked myself up over the years as a hardworking employee. I was never fulfilled and wanted more than just to be an employee. I wanted to start my own business,” he said.
His mission and vision is to give customers the best possible service available and to expand nationwide and build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online.
“My responsibilities include various tasks such as the development and daily updating of the website, managing accounts and attending to orders by purchasing products and doing the deliveries, and also developing a personal relationship with my clients.”
Tough journey
Despite challenges, Griffith never lost faith in his idea.
“At first I thought it was not doable but as the years went by I felt it was time to give it a go and I resigned from my job and went into business fulltime. It's still a baby company but I am very hopeful that it will grow because people are in need of such services in the country. The first week I started I got about 15 requests already and so far the number has been growing.
“I first started doing this on my own, but now I have two employees who help with deliveries while I mostly do the administration work,” Griffith added.
He further advised young people to do something for themselves and believe in their dreams.
“What attributed to my drive is being a humble hardworking young man with a persistent attitude, while being confident in what I can achieve. My advice to entrepreneurs starting a business is to never give up, no matter how difficult it might get, no matter how discouraged you might feel; you are your biggest supporter and always believe in your ability to achieve what you might think is impossible.”
For more information visit www.milkmannam.com
Slade Griffith is a 25-year-old Namibian who founded Milkman delivery services - a business that provides grocery deliveries in Windhoek.
Milkman is an e-commerce platform that supplies and delivers grocery items for customers.
Customers order household items, with deliveries done at specified times.
Griffith advertises all the products on his website and buys them from different supermarkets.
“I deliver items that I know people want to buy on a daily basis and I have a listing on the website and update new products every day.
“The idea of Milkman came when I saw it as a need to provide convenience by delivering products door-to-door. It all started simple. My uncle would always send me to buy bread and milk at the shops; next it was my neighbours and then I sat and thought to myself that I could actually start charging for my services, as I was unemployed. From there I used to do deliveries around my neighbourhood at an extra cost and that is how the name Milkman came about, because I'd always be mostly sent for bread and milk.
“I realised there were many people who probably struggled to do shopping after a hectic day at work and this was the trigger for the idea behind Milkman. So as the years went by, I decided to give it a try and do an online shopping service where customers order online,” said Griffith.
Hailing from Windhoek, Griffith comes from a family with a business background.
Owing to difficult financial circumstances, he had to give up on his tertiary education after completing school and started working for his uncle in order to sustain himself.
“I finished school in 2011 and started working at my uncle's business. I was exposed to the business industry at a very young age and worked myself up over the years as a hardworking employee. I was never fulfilled and wanted more than just to be an employee. I wanted to start my own business,” he said.
His mission and vision is to give customers the best possible service available and to expand nationwide and build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online.
“My responsibilities include various tasks such as the development and daily updating of the website, managing accounts and attending to orders by purchasing products and doing the deliveries, and also developing a personal relationship with my clients.”
Tough journey
Despite challenges, Griffith never lost faith in his idea.
“At first I thought it was not doable but as the years went by I felt it was time to give it a go and I resigned from my job and went into business fulltime. It's still a baby company but I am very hopeful that it will grow because people are in need of such services in the country. The first week I started I got about 15 requests already and so far the number has been growing.
“I first started doing this on my own, but now I have two employees who help with deliveries while I mostly do the administration work,” Griffith added.
He further advised young people to do something for themselves and believe in their dreams.
“What attributed to my drive is being a humble hardworking young man with a persistent attitude, while being confident in what I can achieve. My advice to entrepreneurs starting a business is to never give up, no matter how difficult it might get, no matter how discouraged you might feel; you are your biggest supporter and always believe in your ability to achieve what you might think is impossible.”
For more information visit www.milkmannam.com
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