Startup Story
Marylou Bawden is the founder and owner of Clear Path Senior & Speciality Moving Managers in South Africa. The business assists seniors to sort, downsize and move from their family homes into retirement villages. It also assists the family when their loved one passes away to sort and clear the family home. Marylou was retrenched at the start of Covid after being in the exhibition industry, and having previously been a business owner in the retail space she was looking for something new to start up. While the business is not a charity, the aspect of assisting and helping seniors in what is an enormously stressful time in their lives is the key purpose of the business and is enormously important to Marylou.
LoA spoke to Marylou Bawden this month to learn more about this impactful business and what inspired her to build a business helping others.
What does your company do?
We assist seniors to sort their family homes and to downsize into a senior living community. We oversee and take on any number of aspects of the move from drawing up a floor plan to overseeing the unpack on moving day and anything else required in between.
“We assist seniors to sort their family homes and to downsize into a senior living community.”
“My future plans are to build this business nationally. There is definitely a need for our services in other centres around the country.”
What inspired you to start your company?
We assisted my mom in law with the process of moving out of the family home after 52 years. This posed the question of how do families and seniors manage this process when the children either don't live close by or just don't have capacity to assist their parent. Moving is one of the 5 most stressful events in a person’s life. The move from the family home is often initiated by the loss of a spouse, an illness or an incident of crime making it even more stressful. We essentially take on the role that the child would take in assisting the senior in any aspect of the planning and move that is required.
Why should anyone use your service or product?
While there are a vast amount of moving companies and there are a few companies that assist people to sort and organize their homes we believe that we unique in that we take on the clearing and sorting to reduce the seniors belongings, we draw up a floor plan to assist with what will need to be discarded or sold and we then assist with the process of selling, donating and discarding what the senior will not take with them. We also assist with readying the family home to resell, if required and oversee all aspects of the full pack, move and unpack process.
Tell us a little about your team
Our team includes myself, Marylou as the founder, owner and manager of Clear Path. I am the initial contact with the client and am on site for every interaction with the client. My team on the ground at a sorting, packing or moving day includes Nozi Moyo as the supervisor. Nozi and I have worked together in the exhibition industry together, she is my right hand lady and is fantastic. While I am working with the client assisting him or her to make decision on what to do with each item Nozi then actions each item once the decision is made. Nozi is organized and efficient and has a quiet and gentle manner that seniors appreciate.
Also part of our on-site team is Peter Dlamini and Sibonokuhle Moyo. Both are quiet and hard workers and we all work well together as a team. In the office is Karen Scheepers. Karen has a background in social work and so is empathetic and caring. Karen oversees the admin of each job to ensure that each process is continually moving forward and that each project runs smoothly and efficiently.
“Entrepreneurship and business ownership is clearly in my blood and having had a marketing background I understand the importance of building a brand and an image around that brand.”
Share a little about your entrepreneurial journey. And do you come from an entrepreneurial background?
I grew up in a home where both my parents ran their own businesses. Both businesses were started by my grandparents and my parents took them over from their parents. After studying marketing I began my career working in my mom's antique shop where I spent close to 10 years. After a time I opened my own gift shop focusing on products that were locally sourced from small businesses, community projects and job creation initiatives. My shop successfully ran for 10 years before I moved into the exhibition space, feeling that it was time for a change.
Entrepreneurship and business ownership is clearly in my blood and having had a marketing background I understand the importance of building a brand and an image around that brand.
What are your future plans and aspirations for your company?
My future plans are to build this business nationally. There is definitely a need for our services in other centres around the country. The focus of the next 18 months or so is to build a network of relationships with people in the industry and to prove ourselves to be honest, reliable and trustworthy. Our second focus for the short term is to perfect our systems and processes. Once we have these securely in place we intend moving into other geographical areas that we have identified and building our brand there.
What gives you the most satisfaction being an entrepreneur?
Being in control of my own destiny. I can decide exactly where and how I want to build my business. When I am making a decision my thoughts are 'What do I think is the best decision to make" and not "What would my boss do in this situation?"
What's the biggest piece of advice you can give to other women looking to start-up?
You have to know these things about yourself…You have to be a self-starter - you have to get up every morning and go out there and sell yourself and your business. If there is not enough motivation to do that then don't even start. It takes grit, energy and lots and lots of determination. The satisfaction of seeing it work and succeed is something that no employed person will ever understand. It is not the easier road that you are choosing, but it is the one where you will know that you are alive!!
Kevin O'Leary said - 'Salary is the drug they give you to make you forget your dreams.’ I believe this to be so so true!
Contact or follow Clear Path Senior & Speciality Moving Managers
WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | EMAIL marylou@clear-path.co.za
Why LoA loves it….
Building a business that focuses on solving a key challenge is always a good starting point, and Marylou Bawden is doing just that with her business, helping seniors to downsize their homes and lives. She is providing a much-needed service for those who are at a vulnerable and emotional time of their lives. Her ambitions to take her business national means that seniors will have greater access to support when they most need it. We look forward to seeing impact driven businesses such as Marylou’s continuing to grow and thrive in order to meet the increasing needs of an older population. — Melanie Hawken, founder & ceo, Lionesses of Africa