The ever increasing wholesale prices of goods and services, among them fuel and food have put pressure on small business in Maun to continually also pass on the cost to the consumer in order for them to remain in business.
In an interview, one of the small business owners, Trevor Ponego said the rise in inflation has hit just after the severe effects of Covid-19 pandemic. He revealed that some commodity prices have doubled over the past few years.
He explained that they are currently experiencing a rise in commodity costs due to the ever rising fuel prices. He added that paying rental fees and employees is also a challenge due to spike inflation, resulting in retrenchments and business closures.
“Increased costs for the products we sell doesn’t mean we are making profit, we are making less because we have to pay higher costs on everything that we sell to our customers,” he cleared.
The Director of Sumhill Restaurant, Ditiro Kgosinkwe also concurred that in general, the cost of doing business has gone up high because everything they need to do their job costs them more.
Kgosinkwe added that they used to buy beef from butcheries for around P25/kg but prices have now increased to P32/kg. She stressed that prices for vegetables, cooking oil and flour which they use in the restaurant have increased.
For her part, Car Bazzar Sales Manager, Gake Setongwane indicated that the number of motorists purchasing spare parts has gone down. He attributes this to high fuel prices which has seen more cars being parked.
“We have reacted to spiking inflation by raising prices, but now because of the high petrol prices, car owners are not buying spare parts like before, we think this could be due to the fact that some can no longer afford high petrol prices and spare parts prices,” she noted.
