With a bucket of tomatoes balanced on her head, Anna Heita once walked from house to house, selling produce to earn money. The determination behind that hard work was shaped by watching her mother sell kapana, fat cakes and fish to put food on the table and pay school fees.

At 31, Heita is putting the lessons she learnt from her mother into practice through a flower business that grew from the garden in her compound. What began as a love for flowers has developed into a livelihood that supports her daily needs, creates work for two young people and has enabled her to bring printing services closer to her community.

“I learned business from my mom. She used to sell kapana, fat cakes and fish just to help with daily groceries and school fees. Before I started selling flowers, I used to carry a bucket of tomatoes on my head and follow houses,” Heita said.

Her love for flowers started long before she considered making money from them. She began growing flowers at home until the entire compound had become a garden. Her neighbors would ask to pick flowers whenever they had events, and she would help arrange them into bouquets.

Those requests eventually opened her eyes to a business opportunity.

“I have loved flowers all my life. I started growing them and turned the whole compound into a flower garden. My neighbours would always ask to pick some flowers whenever they had events. I would help create a bouquet for them, which always came out very beautiful. That was when I saw a business opportunity,” she said.

Heita now makes bouquets for birthdays, anniversaries and graduations, as well as sympathy flowers for families mourning the loss of loved ones.

She keeps wrapping paper, ribbons, labels, artificial flowers and message cards ready for use. She buys these materials from different shops, particularly P&G shops in Oshakati, while fresh flowers are sometimes sourced from Shoprite.

Each bouquet is made according to the customer’s preferences, including the colours, wrapping, ribbon and message on the label.

“I always make sure I give my customers exactly what they want, according to the event or ceremony. I consider how they want the colours to be mixed, the label message, and the colour of the wrapping and the ribbon,” she said.

One bouquet normally takes between 30 and 45 minutes to complete. Heita often prepares orders at night, keeping the flowers in water to maintain their freshness for the following morning.

Her working hours can change when customers need flowers urgently, particularly for memorial services and burials. She takes orders by phone, delivers bouquets and prepares arrangements in advance when she has no specific orders to fulfil.

Maintaining a steady supply of fresh flowers is one of her biggest challenges. During winter, the flowers in her garden often fade, forcing her to buy from suppliers. However, fresh flowers are not always available at Shoprite, while other sellers can charge high prices.

“During winter, my own flowers fade away. This is when I struggle with live flowers. Sometimes I will not find them in Shoprite, and in other shops they are expensive. Like now, I am just regrowing and I must buy live flowers just to keep my customers,” she said.

Despite these difficulties, Heita continues to serve her customers while regrowing the flowers in her garden. The income from her flower business has also allowed her to invest in printing services. She bought a printer and began offering printing services in her community, where residents previously had to take a taxi to reach the nearest printing shop.

Her ventures have created work for two young people. Lovisa assists with making flower arrangements, while Tangeni works at the printing shop. “Selling flowers has helped me become an independent woman. I can cater for my daily needs. Through it, I was able to buy a printer, and now I rent out printing services in our location where there was no printing shop at all. We used to take a taxi just to reach the nearest printing shop,” she said. Heita hopes to open more flower shops and create additional employment opportunities for young people. She says she is working towards these goals by managing her finances carefully and avoiding unnecessary spending and peer pressure.

“My prayer to God is to open more flower shops and create more job opportunities for the youth. But while I am praying, I am working hard and planning wisely financially, with no overspending on unnecessary things and no peer pressure,” she said.

She encourages other women to identify skills they can turn into sources of income, whether through singing, dancing, knitting, hairdressing or offering advice. She also advises them to continue learning new skills.

“To my fellow women, every woman has what it takes to flourish in life. It is within you. What you love and what you enjoy doing can become your source of income. It can be singing, dancing, knitting, doing hair or simply giving good advice. Start making money out of it,” she said. Her message to graduates is to consider creating employment rather than relying only on the search for formal jobs. She believes that taking on temporary work to raise start-up capital can be a practical first step towards establishing a business.

“Something I want to say to the graduates. Let us focus our minds on creating job opportunities for others. If you must clean houses for a few months just to start that business, do it. Think high. When you shoot for the moon, even if you miss, you will land among the stars,” she said.

-taimihaihambo2000@gmail.com