Maponya's failures offer lessons for all

Maponya Mall in Pimville, Soweto.

Photo by Enoch Lehung.

Reports flooding through from the township mall is that shops are closing down or taking flight for other venues.

Shops like Fabiani are said to be leaving after only two years.

A combination of poor clientele, a dictatorial positioning strategy of only permitting specialised shops in the centre and exorbitant rentals are blamed for businesses not making it.

And, for many families, the shopping experience is an outing on its own so they prefer a drive out to the far-flung malls of the suburbs.

Maponya Mall has been plagued by controversy since it opened its doors with leaking roofs and shop owners complaining that the centre opened prematurely while hectic construction was still under way.

When approached, the centre's management refused to comment referring us to a woman called Jenny who was supposed to put us in contact with the managing director.

But at the time of going to press, this had not transpired.

But entrepreneurs can always draw lessons from their own and others' misfortunes.

The decision to open a shop should never be made based on emotion but on hard empirical evidence.

Don't delegate executive decisions.

Just as one would not rely only on a salesman's word about buying a car, one should not base a decision purely on what centre management says.

Don't be bullied into a long-term lease contract for a start-up business.

A high percentage of start-ups fail and shop owners should be wary about moving their old shop to a new centre which is itself still a start-up business.

Those wanting to become a big player should observe what the big guys do and note that they have more money and therefore can afford surveys smaller players can't.

Before leasing space in a mall, look out for the anchor shop and investigate its track record and the source of its pulling power, bearing in mind that a good anchor shop will attract a lot of foot traffic while a bad one won't.

But an anchor shop is also only as good as its franchise strategy.

Shoprite and Pick n Pay are known to have a huge clientele and a lot of thought and planning go into where they open shops, hence they generally make good anchor shops.

But if they get their planning wrong, customers won't come just because there's a Shoprite or a Pick n Pay.

Even a good anchor that attracts thousands is of no use to you if you are too far from the action.

Positioning yourself en route to a good anchor shop is the best you can do for your business survival.

Source: Sunday World

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