LÜDERITZ – Fifty-nine-year old Anna Bostander says it has not been easy for her to get passengers to transport, but she never gave up as she tried her best to succeed in her transport business.
Bostander is a female long-distance bus driver and owner of Bostander Transport in Lüderitz.
She started her venture with a single cab in 1999, with her Mazda sedan until 2001, the same year she bought an eight-seater Toyota Condor.
With the Toyota Condor she started to transport passengers travelling between Lüderitz and Keetmanshoop on a daily basis.
She explained how difficult it was for her as a woman to stand at the taxi rank waiting for passengers to come and board her bus.
Some passengers having reservations and the comments they made about a female bus driver reduced her to tears.
This is when she resorted to radical measures by picking up passengers from door to door, which she still does unlike her competitors.
“I prepared my business plan in order to expand my business, and I approached several financial institutions for loans to buy a bigger Kombi, but I could not get any assistance. I even tried the SME Bank for a loan, but unfortunately I got the same answer, which was that they do not finance loans for taxis, because it is apparently too risky,” she says.
The God-fearing driver drew strength from the fact that “with God all things are possible” and she would one day fully satisfy her dream.
She explains that because there is a need for transport between Lüderitz and Keetmanshoop, her business grew. In March 2007, Bostander registered her business with the Ministry of Trade and Industry that also issued her with a compliance certificate.
“In December 2008 I bought my very first new 14-seat CAM Inyati minibus for cash – to God be the glory,” she sang her praises.
With her new Inyati she expanded her trips to Windhoek, Upington, Kimberly and Cape Town, with only her behind the wheel.
In 2010 she bought a 14-seater Toyota Quantum on credit that was financed by Wesbank (FNB) and she is full of praise to the bank for believing in her.
In November 2014, she will pay her last installment for the Quantum bus and she plans to buy another Toyota Quantum. Currently, she transports tourists, undertakes school trips, does airport shuttles, and assists families who ask her to transport them for funerals in Lüderitz for free.
She employs one person and gets assistance from her husband when he is off duty from his daily job.
She has a special message to entrepreneurs who want to start their own business – that it is very hard but it’s worth it, and they should never give up.
“Just trust in God and believe in yourself, and do it with a passion,” Bostander motivates others.
Bostander who will turn 60 next year says she is still very healthy and will still continue as her grandchildren will help her in future.
To those already in business, she encouraged them to keep their dreams alive and continue working hard so that they fulfill their dreams.
She also praised her husband Paul for his support that made her business the success that it is today.
On Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays she transports people from Lüderitz to Keetmanshoop and her driver also transports Skorpion Zink Mine employees on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.