With the economy in the state it is in, the key story becomes business! It is not a coincidence that business leaders met the Head of the State during the week. It is all systems business as the business sector, the NGO and Government all turn their focus on business. The country needs to fix business concerns because they affect every facet of life, business is at the centre of everything in Zim.
Fail to fix business and politicians will be in trouble, just look closely at current political rallies. Fadzai Mahere conducted business trainings in her constituency and it was well attended, Zanu Pf this week introduced a poultry scheme and guess what they also introduced? They introduced business training to complement the poultry scheme.
A number of NGOs have been flighting adverts on Facebook and they are targeting one key area-Business! You see, you cannot talk of HIV and Aids success if business is going southwards, you cannot talk of success of a climate interventions when people do not have jobs.
Fabulous stuff has been done in sectors such as HIV and Aids where HIV prevalence has been reduced, the number of deaths reduced but guess what? If the sector continues with the same approach they have been using, the same methodology or strategy then they are missing a big mark. If you have no business in your interventions then you are telling a tired story!
If you are doing things the same way you have been doing over the past few years, then you got a tired story. The church is not left too, business discussions, business presentations are increasingly finding their ways onto the pulpit too. You cannot talk of gospel in the current set up and completely ignore business.
Churches that are going to be successful are those that read the current mood and environment-if it is not business then its a tired story ! Bishop TD Jakes met His Excellency yesterday and the report in The Herald talks more of business than anything, he met a Christian delegation where they were discussing business, he called for cooperation between Zimbabwe and the US Business sector. The story is unmistakably business. He came to the country for Business!
We have Kwese Tv coming onto the scene and it is likely to take the country by storm, one of the reasons is due to the fact that they have interesting Business Channels. A lot of entrepreneurship stuff that will sway viewers in their favour.
Current DSTV programs have little or nothing on business-they have failed to read the mood, they have failed to read the challenges on the ground. For this reason, iam switching to Kwese when it becomes available. ZTV has a good number of programs on entrepreneurship-unfortunately they use the same tired approach of getting a few people in the studio to talk about business. Sometimes they interview successful business people….hardly inspiring stuff, the producers just like at DSTV definitely out of touch with reality.
Strive Masiyiwa gets millions of views per post on a weekly basis why? Simple –he represents business, he represents entrepreneurship! Africa is searching for entrepreneurship heroes and heroines-what is happening to Zim is not unique, our regional programmes have shown an increase in appetite for small businesses in countries such as Malawi, Botswana, Swaziland, Namibia, South Africa and Lesotho. Everyone has business on their lips, jobs are increasingly becoming tougher to get in the region. Its record high unemployment in Botswana, Namibia hit too…ask for evidence from Zimbos failing to obtain permits or renew them in these countries. They can no longer host foreign nationals on their soil-they must go back from where they came from.
So Strive Masiyiwa Business, Fadzai Mahere Business, TD Jakes Business, The Church Business, Political Parties Business…Everyone Business, the question becomes –what are you doing business wise?
Political Parties:
If you have no solid business demonstrable business models, then cry no foul when you get hit at the polls. When the economy faces challenges those promising and with solid strategies usually get the support of the populace. It is not about lying to people (Zw is an educated nation). It is about practical
TV Stations:
Dstv thought they are an entertainment company and have been dishing infor to us without a lot of consultations. They have been failing to read the mood on the ground where population dynamics are changing with a lot of youngsters having no formal jobs and therefore in search of new opportunities.
Private Companies:
You may be Delta or Old Mutual working in an economy where opportunities are limited for young people, consider business training and opportunities as part of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), this will make you relevant to the current environment. This applies to a lot of entities that are around town, if you are leaving business aside then you are missing the mark!
NGOs:
Strategies in the NGO world are usually fixed and not flexible. If your corporate agreement say you shall deliver 10,000 condoms then you must deliver 10,000 condoms. There is rarely room to negotiate nor discuss changes in the operating environment and tailor make programmes that suit the needs of people on the ground. It is this inflexibility that will render most NGO interventions ineffective-fail to read the mood, fail to adjust and your results may not be as effective.
Churches: Bishop TD Jakes just showed you the new way –business and religion, i need to repeat!
So the story is business, scripted in business and ends in business-ignore business at your own peril.
