Determination is the key to being successful, according to a lone hairdresser who is soon to open a new saloon in Honiara.
Not one to be deterred by anything in the field, the optimistic Benji Karegua Leve said that his saloon will target the young crowd in the Solomons."We only have a few saloons in Honiara, so I want to contribute in the field by going for a specific market, and that is the youths," Mr. Leve told Solomon Times.
The 24-year-old from the Western Province is not new in owning a saloon, having earlier owned the "Leleana" hair saloon from 2005-2007.
"I decided to go mobile after 2007, where I do home visits to people who request for hair cuts right in the comfort of their homes," Mr. Leve said.
He also does mobile jobs for leading hair saloon in town, the Image Hair Saloon.
Mr. Leve who has worked in the hairdressing industry for nine years said it is an area he enjoys simply because "it is my interest."
"I also took up studies on hairdressing and have a certificate for it, but I will be fully qualified once I complete everything June this year," he said.
Mr. Leve stated that with all the experiences gained, he is confident in opening this new initiative where "I make use of my talents".
Mr. Leve will be the first local professional male hairdresser to own a saloon in the country to compete with the female-dominant hairdressing industry.
"The room's being renovated right now and orders placed for equipment from Australia, so this saloon in the heart of Honiara will be open soon," he said.
Asked on what he does on spare times, Mr. Leve said doing voluntary jobs for churches is the one thing he enjoys apart from hairdressing.
With a saloon in tow, the young hairdresser is confident that with lines of clients already in place from years of mobile services, business will pick up fast.
"I have the name 'Ben-Gs' as the name for my saloon with the 'B' representing boys and 'G' for girls, so everyone is welcome," Mr. Leve said.
Young children are not forgotten in his plans, "we will do new looks for children as well".
Mr. Leve said that services in his new saloon will not be limited to just hair cutting and styling.
"My saloon will cater for everything including counseling to people on what to wear on certain occasions, we will also provide wedding planning, giving out ideas for weddings, we are going to cater in the music industry by giving clip ideas for singing groups who would like to make video clips, how to pose during making clips and so forth."
Mr. Leve described his business as "a milestone" in his life.
"Whatever I get out of this business, whether big or small will go back to help our church and other needs," he said.
Mr. Leve said that as a youth settling into owning a business, "this is an eye opening challenge to all other young people out there who have talents that are going to waste".
The young optimist believes that all talents count for success and urge young people to step out and be creative with talents they are blessed with.
"My advice to young people out there is that if you have any talent at all, whether it's cooking, sewing, building to name a few, make use of this God-given talent to start on something."
Mr. Leve said that the beauty of it all is seeing something small grow into a great success.