Diaspora Matters

The Newsday reported last week of a Mutarean based businessman Mr Simbarashe Charamba who launched a program to supply retailers in Manicaland with goods for resale and save them spiralling transport costs.

The concept is called Wholesale Van Selling which is a moving vehicle delivering different sort of goods to all peri-urban and rural areas. It will cover all the 7 districts of Manicaland.

What can we learn from this?

Economic challenges and the Covid-19 pandemic have opened new opportunities for some.

Entrepreneurs solve problems at a premium: What are the top problems we need to solve as a nation?

• Energy: We do not have sufficient energy for the whole country: Solutions? Solar power opportunities.
• Transport: Kombis not able to operate: Solution: ZBIN Ride, Vaya, Hwindi etc
• Drought: Second consecutive season with below average rainfalls. Solution? Borehole drilling, water tanks, water tank stands, dam construction and irrigation systems.
• Access to capital: More than 8 million entrepreneurs in Zimbabwe but facing challenges of access to capital from banks. Solution? Crowdfunding.

Homework for the week

What other challenges do you see around you? What innovative strategies can you employ to solve them?

ZBIN Ride Members

Sterling job going on in terms of parcels movements across the country. Our forum initiative has become the leading small courier startup in the country. We will upscale the model in the coming months.

How about lessons learnt from the province of the wise—Manicaland? Members should think in other terms and introduce more services. What are the needs of the remote areas? How about arbitrage opportunities of goods that can be sourced cheaply in other areas and fetching a great profit margin in others? This should not only be restricted to Zimbabwe but should be regional in nature.

We hope our members innovate and unlock opportunities during these economic challenging times.

Later during the week, we hope to cover mining opportunities.

Kea leboga

We witnessed the talented Barcelona star Lionel scoring his 700^th goal this week and coincidentally we also posted our 700^th article on this website….what a feat!

We formed the forum after realising that there was no effective platform for small businesses in Zimbabwe where entrepreneurs would easily access opportunities resources. No platform for small businesses discussions, resource sharing and networking.

Our first port of call was the creation of a Facebook platform which was anchored on business ideas or opportunities. The rest of the business Facebook pages focused on adverts, members posting as many ads as possible with no platform for business discussions.

Our forum has now grown to 75, 000 in Zimbabwe and 95,000 in South Arica. We linked the website to the Facebook platforms and also created various Whatsapp groups with more than 10,000. A complete cycle of information was therefore formed linking active platforms allowing members to have access to information and other resources, market places and networking.

The biggest small businesses forum in Zimbabwe was therefore formed and the forum is growing at a rate of 1000 new members in Zimbabwe and South Africa.

When we launched the forum in October 2014, only the ZBIN Mozambique members preparing for a tour of Mozambique attended and we are sure they did not know of the future impact of the website not only in Zimbabwe but across the region. When we redesigned the forum in 2015, we lost more than 300.000 views but if we are to add the tally to the current one—we have close to a million views of the website from 2016-2020!

We would like to thank everyone who supported the website which attracts hundreds of readers every day. Our innovation on Facebook of consolidated ads has resulted in monthly views of more than 700,000 with top posts attracting a viewership of 20,000.

The future of the website

• We are now ramping up our Youtube channel so that we can convert most of the articles into visuals and audios. This means readers will take less time viewing them than written content.
• We are also in the process of creating a mobile app and an E-commerce platform so that our members can have a secure market place for their products and services.
• Creation of a ZBIN Approved member list to reduce risks of scammers on the forum
• We have selected the top viewed posts and compiled them into 3 books
• Creation of a subscribed section with polished articles.

We would like to thank you all for the support including the ZBIN Board which funds the operation of the site. Our first website registered locally was inexplicably pulled down but this did not damper our spirits as we created another one.

As for the diaspora, we realised that there was no site to update you of local opportunities development….therefore this site came in handy.

Posting 700 articles on a constant basis for 4 years is not any easy feat as there is no rumeneration associated with it BUT we did it anyway as a patriotic way to uplift and inspire not only Zimbabweans but a lot of African entrepreneurs dotted across the globe.

Thank you all, keep visiting your site and giving us feedback. We also welcome talented correspondents to be part of our team as we upscale to the next level.

Zikomo

We witnessed the talented Barcelona star Lionel scoring his 700^th goal this week and coincidentally we also posted our 700^th article on this website….what a feat!

We formed the forum after realising that there was no effective platform for small businesses in Zimbabwe where entrepreneurs would easily access opportunities resources. No platform for small businesses discussions, resource sharing and networking.

Our first port of call was the creation of a Facebook platform which was anchored on business ideas or opportunities. The rest of the business Facebook pages focused on adverts, members posting as many ads as possible with no platform for business discussions.

Our forum has now grown to 75, 000 in Zimbabwe and 95,000 in South Arica. We linked the website to the Facebook platforms and also created various Whatsapp groups with more than 10,000. A complete cycle of information was therefore formed linking active platforms allowing members to have access to information and other resources, market places and networking.

The biggest small businesses forum in Zimbabwe was therefore formed and the forum is growing at a rate of 1000 new members in Zimbabwe and South Africa.

When we launched the forum in October 2014, only the ZBIN Mozambique members preparing for a tour of Mozambique attended and we are sure they did not know of the future impact of the website not only in Zimbabwe but across the region. When we redesigned the forum in 2015, we lost more than 300.000 views but if we are to add the tally to the current one—we have close to a million views of the website from 2016-2020!

We would like to thank everyone who supported the website which attracts hundreds of readers every day. Our innovation on Facebook of consolidated ads has resulted in monthly views of more than 700,000 with top posts attracting a viewership of 20,000.

The future of the website

• We are now ramping up our Youtube channel so that we can convert most of the articles into visuals and audios. This means readers will take less time viewing them than written content.
• We are also in the process of creating a mobile app and an E-commerce platform so that our members can have a secure market place for their products and services.
• Creation of a ZBIN Approved member list to reduce risks of scammers on the forum
• We have selected the top viewed posts and compiled them into 3 books
• Creation of a subscribed section with polished articles.

We would like to thank you all for the support including the ZBIN Board which funds the operation of the site. Our first website registered locally was inexplicably pulled down but this did not damper our spirits as we created another one.

As for the diaspora, we realised that there was no site to update you of local opportunities development….therefore this site came in handy.

Posting 700 articles on a constant basis for 4 years is not any easy feat as there is no rumeneration associated with it BUT we did it anyway as a patriotic way to uplift and inspire not only Zimbabweans but a lot of African entrepreneurs dotted across the globe.

Thank you all, keep visiting your site and giving us feedback. We also welcome talented correspondents to be part of our team as we upscale to the next level.

Zikomo Kwambili

Kwambili

You would expect no one to be investing in a challenging economy like ours but guess what? There are some who are setting up businesses or even expanding!

In Graniteside opposite Sunningdale, a new wholesale is almost complete with the opening date expected soon. In Norton a Chinese tile making plant is ramping up production. Of course the previous article covered what is trending in Mbare!

Now lets look closely at interesting insights into those who are investing despite the headwinds.

First Key Insight: Entrepreneurship support—are you supplying goods to the ultimate consumer for consumption or you have incentives for entrepreneurs ingrained in your business model? The Peach Metro wholesaler is targeting entrepreneurs and a few ordinary consumers. They know entrepreneurship is the fastest expanding sector in the country and are targeting it.

The Mbare water tanks are mostly targeting farmers interested in making an extra dollar. Seed houses in Zimbabwe are opening new branches, veterinary products distributors are expanding in every town. In this tough economy, can you assist others to make money? If yes then you have plenty of room for expansion. Selling trucks, tractors or sedans?

Second Key Insight: Basic goods—the time for luxury goods is essentially not now. The population is going back to basics such as food, accommodation, clothes, transport and education.

Third Key Insight: Local manufacturing—the Covid-19 lockdown has severely impacted our South African supply chains. Goods are taking longer to arrive and therefore inconveniencing clients. South Africa is also prioritising locals first before exports. China which had become the leading supplier of goods to the region is still hamstrung by transport logistics.

To plug the gap, locals involved in small scale production such as soaps and other detergents. Some are taking advantage of the mealie meal shortages to set up grinding mills and supply local tuckshops.

Fourth Key Insight: Mining Industry Support—One of the fastest growing industries in the country is the mining sector especially gold and chrome. Some of our forum members are involved in the sector directly mining or supporting the sector with critical inputs such as power, processing chemicals, surveys and more. Some are even providing food and clothing to the hard cash rich mining entrepreneurs.

Fifth Key Insight: Construction—You need to conduct a visit to Mt Hampden if you are in Harare. Most brick making plants are operating at full throttle! Even small brick manufacturers in Chitungwiza are working over time! Does it make sense why the Chinese are setting up brick making and tile making plants in the country? No hardware store has closed shop over the past few months…infact more new hardware shops are being opened! The Covid-19 has taught locals about the importance of owning homes—urban, peri-urban and rural.

We hope this information inspires you and that you can add more insights through following the logic in the article. Our books on Business Opportunities and Digital Marketing give you further insights into local opportunities and include experiences from those in the sector.

Mbare gives you a snap shot of opportunities in Harare-trending, changes or new opportunities and you do not need a lot of time studying this-you just need to pass through the area. So what is new at the popular Siyaso?  What is keeping entrepreneurs busy even during the Covid-19 lockdown?

The answer lies in water tank stands! Climatic change is a reality and the effects are being felt countrywide. Most urban councils are not able to pump sufficient water for residents therefore driving many to sink boreholes. The rise in entrepreneurship is the second push factor as many are sinking boreholes at plots, farms and rural areas.

A whole value chain of water supply has been created which involves the following:

• Water tanks,
• Water tank stands,
• Irrigation systems,
• Borehole drilling,
• Borehole water for sale,
• Borehole service kits and
• Solar power installations,

Some with wells are deepening them by hiring experts with handheld drilling machines. Perhaps to confirm this we need to look at our top 2019 imports where an interesting line item caught our attention-importation of plastics and plastic materials.

Do you know how to manufacture water tanks?

Entrepreneurs solve problems at a premium and our current challenges as a nation are climatic, lack of formal employment, energy, food and others. Water opportunities seek to solve them at once-water for consumption and entrepreneurship through food production.

The missing link

There are no companies with one stop shops for the entire water support value chain support. A walk in shop with water tanks and stands, solar systems, irrigation systems, green houses and more.

Demonstration sites where prospective clients can walk in and observe various irrigation models in use allowing them to choose systems that suit their pockets.

The art of selling is a complicated one—a lot of studies have been put into it over the past centuries but still there is some inexplicable stuff that defies science. For instance how do you explain that there are some random clients who when they buy from you, they open floodgates?

Of course we are not talking of influencers who are public figures with a lot of following who can be engaged as brand ambassadors. For instance Trevor Noah, Shasha, Beyonce, Jah Prayzer, Casper Nyovest, Eddy Kenzo and Diamond  Platinumz.

Dear forumite, we are talking about Gogo Mthembu in Motsulu, Nelspruit who buys fresh vegetables from a market and opens up floodgates for Mpho. She buys shoes from a boutique and again opens up the sales valves.

Janet buying chickens from Nomusa and after the sale, Nomusa goes on to sell all of her chickens!

Janet goes on to buy face masks from Tinotenda and Tino sells all of her stock in record time.

Researchers call such people mavens according to the book Outliers. Mavens just have the Midas Touch and in most cases they do not even know that whatever they touch moves.

In a discussion on the forum, we had forum members who witnessed this phenomenon. Sales moving Northwards after certain people have placed orders. We had plenty of case studies and these were ordinary mavens.

In another instance a former icecream man identified certain clients who when they buy, he was assured of a great day of sales. If they do not then a tough day of moving sales.

Yours truly observed this several times whenever he stopped icecream men, stood in front of shops for window shopping or entering an empty shop and within a few minutes more people following suit. Of course iam not inviting freebies from the forum lol

Identify mavens for your business

In 2017 we advertised a forum initiative (tapestry) in 6 countries at the same time. The adverts went viral in South Africa, Lesotho and Malawi sparking a scramble across SADC. Was it a fluke? We tested again in 2018 with a hat-making initiative and got similar results! So for the forum, we have identified these 3 countries as mavens that open floodgates to the region. It saves us time when launching new products.

When icecream men plan their suburb rounds, the experienced know which street to move first, which households open floodgates and they ensure maximum results this way.

Zimbabweans should be familiar with the hero Oliver Mtukudzi launching his albums in certain countries first before doing so in his home land. We hope it now makes sense!

What made your sales move so fast? Is it the time, location, season or certain clients? Document and analyse why sales move so fast. Repeat the process continuously till you get to the bottom of the story.

Why are sales low? Who bought or did not buy? Come up with incentives for mavens and assess progress.

There are also certain social media groups where you post and make the most sales. Have you captured this? It could be possible that you make the most sales when everyone else is struggling. Same advert design, same products and prices but someone making 5x sales than others.

How well do you know your clients? Do you capture their contact details? Do you regularly engage them? Have you identified the mavens? They can be clients, location, digital platforms or more.

Knowing them may make the difference between survival and closing shop.

In finance we have a term called VUCAH meaning Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambigous and Hostile environment. It is one of the toughest environments to operate in and clearly it’s difficult to seasoned skills and expertise with solid track records.

Most financial experts are trained to operate in stable environments. Predictable environments where you can plan for a period of year or more. Most corporate plans and budgets span for a period of a year or more.

Fresh from the devastating impacts of the Covid-19 which plunged the world into a recession, Zimbabweans got shock news of the suspension of the mobile money platform and the stock exchange—no better definition of VUCAH!

Did you see this coming? Had you factored VUCAH in your corporate strategies? It is an open secret we were all caught flat footed hence the outrage by the business sector.

What is the impact on business confidence and operations? This is a long analysis and will need an in-depth research which is evidence based. What is as clear as mud is this latest move will severely impact the business sector. Perhaps the bigger picture is this is a good move which will ultimately benefit the nation at large but only time will tell.

Developing VUCAH skills

Appreciation of Economic History: Unless you have studied Economics at college or other advanced finance subjects at college level, chances are high that you are thin on economic history knowledge. For instance an accountant is likely to study Principles of Economics and to some extend Macro-Economics at college and post grad level but this is not enough. How was the Rhodesian Economy structured? How did they deal with economic challenges? Post Independence how did we fare economically? How did we deal with economic challenges? What are the common trends? How have we dealt with VUCAH challenges in the past?

Political Economics: Our economy is intertwined with politics. What has been the link over the past 100 years? What are the lessons learnt? What keeps repeating ad infinitum?

Benchmarking: Apart from the appreciation of the internal environment, what are the lessons learnt from across the globe? What can we learn from countries that have travelled the similar path? Inflation in Germany or South America? How did other countries dollarize? Did they successfully return to local currencies? What measures did they put in place and are they comparable to local ones?

Financial Modelling: Now that you fully appreciate the historical perspective of Zimbabwe, what are the developing issues? In resolving them, what are the chances of plucking some strategies from history books? What are the scenarios for solving inflation and forex challenges? Book strategies and off the hook? It is not the first time to suspend the Stock Exchange, it is also not the first time to close banks. What are the signs that led to closures in the past decade? Did we notice similarities in the run up to the latest closures? How many corporate companies developed financial models so as to guard them against economic shocks?

VUCAH Skills are the missing link in Zimbabwe—missing at college level and also professional levels. Financial newspapers in the country concentrate more on historical analysis and do not use the past data for future analysis. What does it mean when small scale gold farmers are paid in local currency? What is the impact on gold deliveries and forex earned?

What is the impact of the Covid-19 on the local economy especially the business sector? Was there ever an analysis of mobile money especially the risks?

The Covid-19 pandemic was a once in a 100 years event and the world can be excused for being caught in six and sevens but some local shocks should not come as a surprise. Its almost impossible to eliminate risks but they can be reduced through forward planning and analysis.

Do you have VUCAH skills on the board? Were they spot on in predicting the latest move? Do your corporate strategies incorporate VUCAH too?

As leading financial analysts scramble to write lengthy articles analysing the implications of the latest policy move perhaps the public should be asking them where they were in the first place? The world is interested in the future….did you predict this latest move? If not-you need VUCAH skills too like the rest of the population. Your historical analysis not good enough!

After this latest move, what other shocks await us?

Food for thought

On a weekly basis the forum has small newsletters which are mostly shared on all of our Whatsapp groups as well as on our Telegram account. On a monthly basis we compile a newsletter covering all events in the month and plans for the following month.

Our Zim forum now has 74,000 members and growing at a rate of 1000 new members per week.  In South Africa, our members are now 95,000. We have over 50 Whatsapp groups with some of them created more than 6 years ago. The forums facilitate market access, information access and networking.

Advertising on the forum is one key area our members are interested in with a lot of business being conducted on a daily basis.

Our guidelines for advertising on the forum are as follows;

• Include all key details in your advert (Product, Price and Contact Number)
• Keep your advert short as most people have a short attention span of less than 7 seconds
• Adding images of products being sold including a logo is an added bonus
• Have a Whatsapp business account with a catalogue of products for sale
• Engage Graphic Designers to create a professional advert or try out on free graphic designing apps found on www.canva.com

Example of a great advert

Group Rules

• No political messages, divisive topics, nud
• es or porn
• No scams or ponzi scheme adverts tolerated
• No spamming (incessantly posting the same ad to the same group)
• We encourage participation and networking on forums

In April 2020 we conducted a free Digital Marketing training that empowered more than 700 members. It was practical based and if you missed the training our book Digital Marketing for Zimbabweans is available in E-copy for US$1 each.

We encourage our members to constantly review their adverts and benchmark with best practice.

Some of our newest groups,

ZBIN Group Links

Norton

https://chat.whatsapp.com/BfaMrp5Icj7Hj6ozLmrmhl

Network Marketing
https://chat.whatsapp.com/F3jUC2aq2xCAqxURRLq7jY

Harare West
https://chat.whatsapp.com/BjN9jWKV3irGKILTixzdHQ

Masvingo
https://chat.whatsapp.com/HdbhdXhToqP4B7K8xqQ1HO

Bindura
https://chat.whatsapp.com/FnBbx2Rh38JLa0q49GMZak

Kadoma
https://chat.whatsapp.com/G05pc5PC8YNKl2YeJ45Zdf

Marondera

https://chat.whatsapp.com/HV9auNWmmmK8OV1kuQbMFU

Harare
https://chat.whatsapp.com/C0yYm6Gyps80xJKm3MTRIP

Mozambique

https://chat.whatsapp.com/IRiDR0l1XXyFzUY2yjlNkh

Exclusive Socials

https://chat.whatsapp.com/EJIJMdZIdQS2awn8k8Omy5

Groceries
https://chat.whatsapp.com/HDL9ELW9XiHFdJrb3p22z6

Farmers
https://chat.whatsapp.com/F4FvEMopFkI8YpH11zUadh

Chinhoi
https://chat.whatsapp.com/C6RKjT7yA5M5voxhKDuXK6

Financial Literacy
https://chat.whatsapp.com/IYLFmeSDALVKZ7MAgWSVMb

Eastlea

https://chat.whatsapp.com/KGwcwu2pc4jHcZ5jukI7Bd

Chiredzi

https://chat.whatsapp.com/BS91GEuuxdwDhNJ91PjXwW

Papaya
https://chat.whatsapp.com/DxQKpcnpvpCG70DZ5A8Oti

SA
https://chat.whatsapp.com/C8iYUKXelpc9xRBAWO49Lh

Mabvuku

https://chat.whatsapp.com/ErIeMaK9pM1KY42o741kaw

Trending Opportunities
https://chat.whatsapp.com/Kln1Tjtrf0H2irenMiQrrE

Harare North

https://chat.whatsapp.com/BfwdnETfIrZ1noDKm1kC6d

(ZBIN Financial Literacy series part 2)

The greatest fraud to ever take place on the continent was the non involvement of Africans in the development of the educational syllabi. So education was an off the shelf package delivered and Africans grabbed it with open arms without critiquing it.

When you went to college, did you have a lecture of why you were studying certain subjects, who had developed the syllabi and why? Did you cover the future relevancy of the syllabi?

Did you also cover the African educational system; the advantages and disadvantages?

So we didn’t ask critical questions and now we sometimes get excited of fancy financial terms and yet they have been in existence for thousands of years and our forefathers had perfected it.

Lets keep this post short,

Financial literacy is all about financial freedom. The focus is on acquisition of assets and minimising acquisition of liabilities. You do not put all of your eggs in one basket but spread your assets acquisition in different areas such as;

Real estate, Stocks,Entrepreneurship,Money market,And others,

One shock affecting any sector will not mean you immediately going belly up.

What is an asset: Anything that creates value or add money into your pocket.

Liabilities: Anything that takes money away from your pocket.

Controversies;

The home that you live in is classified as an asset in accounting terms but because it does not bring income, it is not an asset! Is it? One can argue that your primary residence saves you rental costs but the big picture is on acquiring more properties and earn rental income and capital gain!

Is your car an asset or a liability? If it is a truck and you can hire it out, if It is registered on ZBIN Ride or registered with a car rental firm, then its surely an asset. But if not then your car is a liability as it siphons money from your pocket through fuel and operating costs. Throw in sentimental issues and you can have a debate that lasts for weeks.

Is your rural home an asset? If you can use it for farming then why not? Of course in accounting, we do not put much value in this land.

The National Problem:

The economy was structured to encourage liability spending by the majority. Many compete in buying cars (check the value of Ex Jap cars imported over the last 2 decades). Our nation spends more money on imports and most of our problems can be traced to this single cancerous disease.

So are we oblivious to these facts? We surely know but if some are selfishly benefiting from imports, who can stop them? Can we add corruption to the list of liabilities? Yes we surely can….

Liability Acquisition Culture:

We celebrate and honour liability acquisition….At church those with the biggest liabilities get the top posts. Even during courtship, those with more liabilities come first. Some job promotions are based on liability acquisition grounds. In politics, those who cannot showcase their liabilities will get the least votes. Every facet of life in Zimbabwe is anchored on liabilities-even at family level, Mr and Mrs Liability maketh all the decisions.

Its now a sea full of liabilities and it is coming at a huge opportunity cost. Our forefathers and mothers had developed a strong educational system anchored on Ubuntu Values and clearly it was biased towards assets acquisition. We were less corrupt too….

Now the question is how do you survive in a liability acquisition culture when you possess an assets acquisition mindset? You need to be strong as you will experience ridicule from every quarter.  Are you willing to build a resilient and sustainable business model? Then hang around the few people with the same mindset ….

It has been a long process in compiling our 4th book on business opportunities. The field of writing about opportunities is not an easy one as there are no peer books or research material to rely upon. You have to straddle uncharted territory and create history.

We are proud to have completed our first RSA book on business opportunities which we are launching next month.

We have attached for your attention our table of contents of the book which becomes our 3rd one for 2020 after a similar book for Zimbabweans and a Digital Marketing one.