Diaspora Matters

There are very few platforms available for promoting entrepreneurs in Zimbabwe and ZBIN is one of them. We enjoy creating space for unknown entrepreneurs and our Premium Chats helps boost profiles of our members. Getting them known on the forum and beyond. ZBIN has a good number of deaf entrepreneurs and we bring you one of them, Netsai Kembo.

Below we cover her recent Premium Chat.

How I  started

In my hustling, cooking, and baking, I came across many people who were amazed that a deaf person can cook and bake nicely. So they became interested in learning from me….Initially, I lacked confidence as a person without hearing ….how I would interact with the hearing. But then I remembered my job….a deaf teacher who teaches both deaf and hearing students… So I mustered up boldness to teach people from all walks of life to cook and bake.

Building Confidence

To build confidence, I started teaching family and close friends….that helped me note some loopholes in my trainings and prepare for solutions. With the advent of Covid, we sat home doing nothing in the first lockdowns. Later people realised they could be productive in lockdown. So I took advantage of that ….and invited family and close friends….that helped me gain confidence to reach out to other people who wanted to learn cooking and baking.

Digital Marketing

I created, or rather founded a WhatsApp group Empowered Chefs where I would care for my students imomo…..their questions and answers…I also added any new interested persons who were in doubt that a deaf person can train cooking and baking to a maximum benefit of many….they watched posts from the group and many of my students were doing wonders….so the doubting Thomases became convinced and joined the trainings….teachers, police, medical personnel etc Did I lie….Not at all…..I don’t see gains in lies.

Professional background

Professionally, I am a secondary school teacher. I hold a Bachelor of Arts General Degree from UZ and a Post Graduate Diploma in Teaching Secondary School, from UZ again.

I teach at one school for the Deaf in Harare. Ironically the school introduced integration teaching (teaching a mix of Deaf and Hearing students together) and I found myself teaching both Deaf and Hearing students.This gave me some super powers that later benefitted me in my side hustling.

Wait and hear more on this….keep following

Initial Trainings

Initial trainings during lockdowns…..Pics coming…..hanging in network

I trained them, both male and female. Not one not two…..but many kkkkk

How the numbers quickly added up….

I took pics during training and posted on my status….

Also those I trained carried the word that kune mu Deaf arikudzidzisa vanhu cooking and baking….so the trickle continued quickly adding up to amount to over a hundred people..

Group Trainings

But hold….the people in the pics are not wearing their work badges like police, teacher, medicines and all…..NO….They are all wearing Kitchen work stuff…

I made it a point that munhu wese coming for training anopfeka white top and black skirt/trousers and flat shoes. I could identify my students coming for lessons while they were still a hundred metres away….I knew the dressing….I made it code. And the benefits….we all looked professional and into serious business that was.

Totem Cakes

Totem cakes….this particular one has a story…

Had an order for a Shumba cake…when about packing it for delivery I got a message for cake order for someone’s dad…the son was seeing to it to please their dad…so I kind of posted him the one shumba cake I was packaging, for Inspo….and he was like that’s my dad’s cake ….please deliver this one to us. I pointed out this one was for some other dad, and i was going for the delivery right away…he cried and said but that’s exactly my dad’s cake, he is a shumba.

I begged that iro muridzi waro akatomirira. So him too he begged to do the same shumba design for his dad and deliver it to them that same day….I noted time and told him that it would be late. He said time wouldn’t matter…apo he stays in Windsor Park Ruwa, ini Budiriro. He insisted that he wouldn’t get it anywhere but from me. I felt his please and sacrificed to make the 2nd Shumba cake and delivered it @CBD @2030Hrs of the day …what a client.

One of the businesses you could start up in Zimbabwe is that of buying and selling phones and accessories. A big market awaits and dominated by young men. One would need a physical space for selling them and then augment with digital marketing. A registered company helps to boost legitimacy in the long run. Of course typical of all businesses, do enough researches before plunging head on. Get insights from professionals already in the business. From ZBIN our official phones trader is Mudomeni and we will be bringing him to the Premium Chat in the coming weeks.

To help you appreciate the tricks of the game, we bring you comments from a recent discussion.

Smart Marasha: Market research ,the product ,durability, pricing system

Keith Mufarowashe Kachikira::There are 4 types of phones

1. Original

2. Refurb

3. Imitation

4. Fakes.

Ziva difference and why they are different ndo zvinhu zvino kupi kuti uno target sei ma customer ako. Otherwise ukaita zvekungonhonga unochema chete.

Justice Mungwini: Go do ka 1 month course ke phone diagnostics and repair first…

Raida Linda Jojo: Consistency and discipline

Progo Mhazi Simbiso: Masecond hand anopisaa

Ryan Salis: Keep it up bro munenge muchienda kuno hodha ku gulf complex or kwandiri inbox me for more information but unotenga data

Rememberance R Cheez Chikwasha: Wanza ma Itel

Andrew Antonio: 200 percent profit

Smart Marasha: Market research ,the product ,durability, pricing system

Prosmac Prosper:Usatora chimbadzu/chimbadzwa kutenga ma Accessories coz ukabhaiza order mamwe unomarasa asingatengwe n don’t just buy before market research unotorerwa midziyo mari yavekudiwa nevaridzi

Sheikh Ishe Anotida Nyakudya: Itahu shamwari ne police…… woziva zvino sanganikwa mukutenga nekutengasa ma phone

Simbarashe Kevin Nyamande: Swap n top wongwarira zvipadagu unodhurwa neyakabiwa

Edge Victor Scofield Zireva: Haaa rinopedza iro. Inini on my 13th year now zvinomborwadza hazvo bt we are pushing.Aunyure coz of technology, latest phones,ipads etc……

Trymore Tryazz: My advice:

Be Honest & Be True

Moses Gutu: Inga tiri kusaririra tichingoti zvakawandirwa

One of the biggest benefits of joining ZBIN is access to premium chats where we bring a lot of experts from the forum for presentations and sometimes trainings. We generally prefer inhouse expertise and this helps our members to know each other well and network. Our first Premium Chat of the year focused on equipping our members on Artificial Intelligence overview and testing basic tools.

We bring you the initial presentation minus the question and answers and the trials by members.

………..

Ntate Victor: Good evening esteemed Zbinites,

And it’s my pleasure to present to you our first host of the year, Silas.

And he has an interesting topic of AI.

Over to you Silas

Silas: Wonderful

I’m grateful there’s someone. So I decided to put this presentation in writing so that our fellow friends that could be busy at the moment won’t miss out.

Silas: Before I go any further. Let me start by introducing myself

My name Silas Takunda Chidlamakonho. I’m a certified drone pilot who have worked with different schools around the nation to educate students on drones, robotics, artificial intelligence and internet of things. I’m also a student currently studying aircraft engineering and I’m passionate about farming; Mmmm seems like a recipe for disaster right

Anyways today I’m excited to share on how AI can transform business operations and decision-making in today’s world and explore how we can leverage technology to drive growth and innovation, but before that we have to understand what is AI.

Silas: So what is AI or Artificial Intelligence?

AI, or Artificial Intelligence , is the field of creating computer systems that can perform tasks that normally require human intelligence.

In simple terms: AI is the making of machines that can think, learn, and make decisions as people do.

 Many people have bracketed AI into robots and self driving vehicles only but that’s not it, AI is a broad term.

Moving forward

Let’s just get a brief background of AI .

Artificial Intelligence began in the 1950s when scientists started exploring whether machines could simulate human intelligence. In 1956, the term *Artificial Intelligence* was officially coined by John McCarthy at the Dartmouth Conference, which is considered the birth of AI as a field.

During the 1960s–1970s, early AI focused on rule-based systems and symbolic reasoning, producing programs that could solve math problems or play simple games. Progress slowed in the 1970s–1980s due to limited computing power and unrealistic expectations, leading to periods known as AI winters.

In the 1990s–2000s, AI revived with better hardware, more data, and improved algorithms. Notable successes included IBM’s Deep Blue defeating chess champion Garry Kasparov in 1997.

From the 2010s onward, AI advanced rapidly due to machine learning, deep learning, and big data. Breakthroughs in image recognition, speech processing, and natural language understanding led to modern AI systems used in healthcare, finance, transportation, and everyday digital services.

Don’t worry much if you are not getting the jargon; stand still, all will be well after the presentation.

What can AI Achieve?

Now that he have a brief background of AI “Artificial Intelligence, let’s see what it can do.*

AI can:

1.Learn from data: recognize patterns and improve over time. For example Netflix, YouTube recommendations, haaaa does it ring a bell?

2. Understand language: speech recognition, translation, chat bots. Examples: Siri on iPhones etc.

3. See and interpret images: face recognition, medical scans.

4. Make decisions: recommendations, fraud detection, game playing. Examples: computer game players, grammar correctors etc.

5. Automate tasks: virtual assistants, robots, self-driving features.

 Now this AI is categorised into 3 categories.

1. Narrow AI

2. General AI

3. Super intelligent AI

 Of course due to diversity of knowledge, there could be more out there but today let’s focus on these 3.

Let’s start with *Narrow AI

This is the most common type of AI known by many and it’s designed for single specific tasks.

For example Chat bots, voice assistants, facial recognition and recommendation systems.

And this is where we feed on

 Let’s move forward, *General AI

Can perform any intellectual task a human can, it can reason, learn and adapt across domains. In this category that’s where we have the most humanoid robots like Diella, Albania first robot prime minister.

We are not going to talk of third category in this presentation because it’s deep stuff for giants.

Now, so most of us as public we operate on the first category “NARROW AI” and we want to see how we can equip ourselves on this, to rocket the growth of our businesses.

So I realised many of us we only know chatgbt as AI but there are many that can be used for different tasks and they can only perform best if they are used correctly.

For us to better understand and consumption of my package here. I have classified again type of NARROW AI and here are they.

1. Now let’s talk of these in their classes.

1. Writing & Content Creation

These help with drafting text, brainstorming ideas, creating marketing copy, and more:

ChatGPT (Free Tier) – Generate emails, proposals, product descriptions, and brainstorm business ideas.

Copy.ai – AI-assisted marketing copy, captions, blog intros, and sales text.

Grammarly – Checks grammar, improves tone, and enhances clarity in all business writing.

And the subscription costs for those that needs payments is mainly nothing compared to the reward they give.

 So now there’s a problem associated with these. We have to understand that these are machines, they need a clear description of what you really want for them to give the best result.

Are we still together

2. Design & Visual Content*

Tools to create or edit images, graphics, and visuals:

Did you know that a clear description of all those flyer, business cards and many more, these days designers use AI to create them?

A clear definition of a flyer, business card or a poster you want on canva can suprise your eyes with what will see.

So on this we have:

Canva AI – AI design assistant for social posts, flyers, presentations, and basic AI image generation.

Photoroom – Remove backgrounds and create professional product photos for e-commerce.

OpusClip / Pictory *AI* – Turn long videos into short clips suitable for social media.

They are available also for free, but for a better experience a subscribed member like you will get the best experience .

*4. Marketing & Social Media*

AI tools that help grow your audience and improve outreach:

Mailchimp AI (Free Plan) Create and optimize email campaigns with *AI* suggestions.

Wix ADI – Build a business website quickly using *AI* (design + content).

*Canva Magic Studio* – Smart templates and content resizing for multi-platform visuals.

**5.Customer Support & Automation*

*Add intelligent automation to your support channels* :

*Tidio AI Chatbot* (Free Tier) – AI chatbot for FAQs, bookings, and customer engagement.

*Durable AI Website Builder* – Quickly generate a website, including forms and contact automation (popular free option for business sites).

So there’s another one I left out for a reason

It’s called SUNO.

SUNO creates original, full songs with vocals and instrumentals from simple text prompts, allowing anyone to generate music by describing a genre, mood, or theme, or by providing their own lyrics, making music production accessible and fast for users of all skill levels.

In short we are saying.

Justa simple can text can be made into a song and today we are going to make one here maybe for this presentation describing how each and every one who was following felt about it

So for now because of our time I will open this time for questions.

One of the best performing sectors in Zimbabwe in 2025 was Construction. A lot of homes were constructed last year—new shopping malls, blocks of flats, gated communities and more. Even rural areas were not spared. This led to the temporary shortages of cement and resultant price increments. Timber ran out with some resorting to imports.

You needed to be in the value chain to benefit.

And one of the areas that recorded high profits is the hardware sector. Below we share unfiltered comments from a recent discussion covered on our Facebook Group and we hope you will be able to pick out a few nuggets. For full business plans—you are free to engage and we will assist.

The question was—Is it profitable to open a hardware, and what advice would you give to those interested in venturing into it?

Takunda Victor Mudhumo: Kana usingashandimo mushop yako tsvaga POS machine. Inokubatsira pastock tracking and taking zvese. Uriko kure ikoko unotoona kuti ah panzvimbo iyi panofaya product A or B. You can make refill orders usina kuvhunza mushandi kuti chakati chapera.

Make sure kuti ukuisa margin iri reasonable ukanyanya kudhura unopa competition mukana wekuuya ichikungwangura 2 mins. Dhura but not zvekuzoda kupfuma ne1 day. Ukanyanya kuchipa futi unovhara shop. Simple maths, cover your overhead costs and wosarawo ne a healthy profit.

Display yezvinhu zvako ngaivewo standard if not top notch. Kamurongedzero kema products ako ngakavewo attractive to the eye. Kwete kuti shop inoita kunge murank apa muchinhuwa futi mazimushonga.

At first be master of everything and narrow down as the market dictates. Ukati ini ndiri weElectric hardware wozadza shop nezvima sockets nemacables ah unoshamiswa vanhu vachizvisiya vachitenga havo thinners. So first days spread your items. And be patient huh iwewe usazodawo kudriver honda Vezel nefirst year. Ah maybe after 10 years kwete 12 months, dzikama.

Harry Nyakatonje: Open everyday including Saturday and Sunday, thats when people do DIY, thats when we realise the lawn needs trimming, trees cutting, pipes sealing , fixing blown sockets etc

Wisdom Tamuka Muzambi: Consider compliance and stock management and sales system in your business planning like how you are importing, your pos and stocktracking because eish ma1. Then usaite business pafoni, be the harder worker in that business, mukira kuseni seni vanokubatsira vanofanirwa kusvika uripo on most days

Takura Agostino Chatikobo: You will never go wrong with hardware as long as dzekumusha dzisina kukutevera and go for it.

Pilot Mutsamwira: Unofanira kuita ka course as time goes by ke stock management ne accounting

Papa Ngwasuma: Siyana nazvo uise Staright win pa Man U vs Asernal mari yacho

Shepherd Junior Mudondo: MuShop hamubudiwe budiwe unobhadharira vashandi rent

Charlie Richiez: Ingovhura.Zvizhinji unofunda wavemo

Carryon Funani: Be like online deal 24 hours that way you push your name kind

Walter Munyaka: Tsvaga nzvimbo ine vanhu varikuvaka kuma new stands unotora mari

Anesu Aneldo Chinyangare: Usanete

Nancy Zisengwe: Hardware you never go wrong. Unogona kungoita zvipikori chete. Kuunza 10cbm yezvipikiri chete lol I know a guy who started this pre-covid

Munacho Davison: Kana une US$5k ndibate in 3 months inenge yava 10k

Fadzai Faffie Tawananyasha: Mari yacho inoda discipline because umwe musi sei une stock ye 8k, unoita sale ye $30, saka kana uri munhu anofarisa pamari ma1

Sharmaine Mponda: Bho zvekuti asi wotoita zvose

Macbeth Masuku: Vhura urikunonoka

Tandiwe Matimba: Unotanga somewhere nepashoma pauinapo.

Clemence Smallz Mfunda: 5k zvichiendaa ndomushongaa

Al Takudzwa

1. Start today

2. Niche down

3. Pick a busy location

Shepherd Kohl Mashayamombe: US$10 000 zvichikwira starting capital

Tek Tek: You need to know the difference between stock replacement money and profit

Beloved Mufaro: If possible, mira padoor wega
Garikai Darlen: Wotera kudzimba dzevnhu uchiuraya zvawavatengesra kut vadzoke fast 
Mike Mureyani: Regai vakomana

Ba Seth Synclair: Rova gango (multiple lines

Tasunungurwa Dewah: It’s gonna be HARD IWE Just like the name

Hittie Magombedze: Advertise daily

Precious Mafema: Kunyanyotengesa zvinhu zvinenge zvichidiwa panguva iyoyo eg kwatava kuenda varimi vefodya vaakuuya maseeds efodya ( Kutsaga yr plug) mafertiliser compound C nemafloat trays zvimwe zvinenge zvirimo futi usawane mukana wekuti chakati hapana iva netwese asi focus mainly nezvinenge zvichidiwa nguva iyoyo

Sandra N Baru: Inobhadara

Andrew Antonio: Profit yega yega

The end of employment for some was abrupt. No more grants coming—contracts to be terminated in 3-6 months and you have to go home.

Easy to adjust? Not really as some had to be hospitalized due to Blood Pressure complications after being thrown into the fire. Some had become accustomed to regular salaries for years. Taking loans, sending children to private schools—some to foreign universities.

Then all of a sudden from a salary of $5,000 to none. From $1000 to none, and its final.

To make matters worse—most of the skilled manpower,  unable to be shift to the private sector or public sector. So a few left the country to start new lives—but the majority remained—jobless and forced into entrepreneurship.

Some had exit packages but they were not enough with most consumed by paying off loans and trying to adjust to the new life and trying out entrepreneurship.

So what sort of advice can we give to them?

1. Study the entrepreneurship mix: In Zimbabwe relying on one venture is suicidal. Study how one balances short term investments, medium term and long term investments. And this is a new skill and for reference do read our 2022 Business Opportunities for Zimbabweans Book. You could need a consultant for assistance. Miss this topic and you will refer to it with regret.
2. Study the Learning or Experience Curve: The gap between  NGO work vs Entrepreneurship is huge. You are learning from the bottom. You are learning from the bottom how to generate a dollar and it may not be easy. Yes a dollar is hard to generate as there is stiff competition and you need time.
3. Avoid the urgency to maintain previous lifestyle. The urgency will lead to ponzi schemes like sponsoring gomba in gold mining, or anything promising fast returns.
4. Lifestyle adjustment: Very painful but consider areas out of big cities. Big cities like Harare are very expensive for unemployed people. Instead consider relocation to small towns—but maintain Harare contacts for markets access. Bindura, Marondera, Mvurwi, Chegutu, Mrew and Chivu could give you a better life for restarting and slowly rise. Low cost of living and even doing business and then transport products to Harare.
5. Farming highly recommended: First farming helps you with food security—next it helps you find out what suits you. Avoid expecting high returns from the first season. It rarely works that way—and if you succeed from the first harvest—count yourself lucky—but its not guaranteed that follow  on seasons will be the same.
6. Costs of Learning: Avoid delegating work to others till you learn hands on how the business runs. You were a Country Director for a big NGO but if you are to go into farming—Be ready to stay on the farm and get your hands dirty.

Join entrepreneurship forums—do a lot of reading and researches. From our books you also get to learn of experiences from others—the good and the bad. ZBIN provides you with key contacts—and a platform to develop and avoid some of the common mistakes.

Of course there is more to share—but we encourage you to avoid partnerships. You are still new to business, and partnerships  rarely work for newbies.

Wishing you the best—as with time you will find a working formula.

It is extremely complex to get Zimbabweans to work together. We generally prefer riding solo and where we agree to work hand in glove, it is usually for a brief period before squabbles kick in especially power struggles. So we have every good reason to celebrate the Jangano Crowd Fund for showing the light to many small business owners.

And our business model was very simple:

1)Drafting a simple constitution to safeguard investment-it took us 4 months of serious brainstorming,

2)Bank Funds with FBC Amarounds Account: Avoid handing cash

3)Secure land from reputable institutions. No purchases from individuals. Target new developments from small towns. In our case (Rawson Properties)

4)Transfer funds electronically and conclude the deal

Lessons Learnt.

-It is doable although you need tons of patience as decision making is collective.

-Some could reach the final line but decide to leave. So budget for withdrawals.

-Keep subscriptions low and avoid big figures or big land out of reach.

-The game is move slowly, acquire small land-develop and keep moving.

In April 2026 we are expecting our next Crowdfund called Thuthuvaka to also buy land after running for 9 months. Interested in land acquisition? We have a new one coming from mid January 2026.

*Meanwhile we urge you to subscribe as a member to keep this page running in 2026

You will need to network with others for inspiration, mentorship and information sharing. Running solo will complicate your learning curve. So we urge you to search extensively for business forums in Zimbabwe—unfortunately there are very few effective ones. And ZBIN stands amongst the few as the biggest.

• We have been around the block for 10 years, you can verify on group settings.
• We have worked hard consistently over the past decade to reach 150,000 Active Members.
• Active Membership allows your brand to grow within an expanding network.
• Business Ideas, Business Mentorship—Any question you ask has ready experts to assit.
• The Active Membership has a good buyer culture.
• We have various active crowdfunding projects such as the land purchase projects of Jangano and Thuthuvaka with a total membership of 150.
• We have 6 free books which compile opportunities from 2018-2024.
• We produce weekly newsletters with a wide circulation and another opportunity to boost your brands.
• Every new member gets a forum profile across all platforms.
• Membership Access to 30 Whatsapp Groups (Subscribed, Agriculture, Poultry, Rabbitry, Cruise ships, Lima Beans, Mining, Mompreneurs, Youths, Financial Literacy, Byo, Harare, RSA, Cape Town, Hatfield, Midlands etc)
• Premium Chats Showcase and Trainings—Every Friday at 7:00pm. Your opportunity to present and be known—and also learn from others.
• Diasporas: Your opportunity to learn whats really going on back home—networking and getting crucial contacts. Don’t start networking when you return home—plant seeds early.

How much is registration? It has been pegged very low to cater for all classes. Its $10 per year and do link up on 0773055063 (Whatsapp)

One of the best entrepreneurial shows in Zimbabwe is our Premium Chat Show which we host every Friday evening. We invite our members to share their experiences, and sometimes we even reach out to experts for presentations. Premium Chat shows are part of subscription benefits which is $10 per year.

We share below a premium chat done in 2023-therefore a bit outdated, but the content still valuable for your decision making. The premium chat was hosted by our member Tinashe Chingoma.

Today we are going to dwell much on tuckshops.

Recently the CEO of OK Zimbabwe arguably the biggest retailer in the FMCG market complained that they are likely to get out of business due to the influx of tuckshops. When we talk about tuckshops we merely refer to small convenient shops which has sprouted around all towns and cities.

Way back especially 90s they served as convenient shops but of late they have be one the hub of retail and family needs have been able to be met at the same level as OK,TM etc

The major thrust today will be

1-financing

2-marketing

3-product pricing

4-procurement

5-business tactic/season approach

5-growth/survival phases

6-wealth creation

Financing

This is one of the crucial parts in this business. Hakuna Mari Shoma and I repeat hakuna Mari Shoma kuti utange yako tuckshop.

The major thrust is what your customers want. Identify customer needs

• Those needs will determine what you have to put in your shop
• Let’s say hauna Mari une kana $1000 only kana $500
• Look at you location
• Consider what you want on a daily basis
• I am referring to basic needs like bread, milk, rice, mealie meal ,eggs etc
• Those are the things you stock first

If you stay in a high density suburb you have to incorporate maputi,mazepe,sweets etc.The good thing about those products is you are able to put mark ups of a minimum of 10%

If you stay in Harare you are blessed, generally Harare inodhura

Chitungwiza has tough competition. So if you have like $500 unotanga

Target to sell $100 per day

Every cent every revenue ngaidzokere inohodha

You get something like $10-$15 profit per day

Meaning kuti you have a chance of creating excess of $400 profit per month kana watanga nestock ye$500

Please when your capital is so low concentrate on fast moving products

Put all your effort on those products which fly off the shelf

Don’t over stock things like rice,sugar,cooking oil etc

Zvobata Mari apa mamark up azvo are as low as 5%

Right let’s look at those whose have like anything beyond $2-3000

Walk around your area and do a smart survey

Ona kuti vamwe vanei?

Ona zvaunotengawo on a daily basis.

Ona zvaunotsvaga uchishaya.

Put all that together because we will be going to our second part which is the crucial one.

Procurement

Always strive to procure from the manufacturer

Of the manufacturer insists on accounts opening find out the requirements

Kana usingagoni wega Batana nevamwe

Usually indians put minimum orders per item

Please zvegodo chimbosiyai,batanidzai

5% difference in prices iyoyo yakakosha

Manufactures we are talking about

• Delta
• Varun
• Trade kings
• Mega market
• Surface
• Pure oils etc

You also need agents like

• Gain
• Evolutions etc

These companies will be relatively cheaper than wholesalers

If you have access to rtgs at good rates it’s also Ana advantage

Let me give you an example

TM is selling cooking oil at $19900 today…pure drop

A box of pure drop is going for $23.50 in the market,surface is selling at $23 but minimum truck re700 boxes

So if you get let’s say rate re7300 your box maTM rinenge raita $21.80

Wotengesa hako mafuta Ako ne$3

Those basic maths ndodzinoyambutsa manje

Foreign procurement

Major sources dzezvinhu zviri muzim

• South Africa
• Zambia
• Mozambique
• Malawi
• South africa-bulk of the products in Zim comes from SA.Even sugar is now being imported from SA.

Zambia-few but high return products

• Milkit
• Sweets
• Kombucha
• Joe biscuits
• Shake n sip
• Wildcat etc

 Malawi

• Pads
• Mosquito coil
• Mosquito repelant
• Doom
• Shoe polish
• Hair products like dark n lovely

Mozambique

Almost similar to product from Malawi but they have rice and rice product as extra

*Modes of procurement*

Direct procurement

You decide to buy directly from SA etc

requires hands on

If you are still small you would need to travel to say go to shops like cutlrice ,SA shop etc

So Tuckshops rite those in downtown wats their capital outlay out of interest

You wrap your goods give them to malaicha and come to zim

To survive in downtown you require a minimum of 60k

Option 2 in direct procurement is you rely on marunner

Mambuya anoenda vohodha iwe wohodha kw ari

You can choose to specialise then you would require less capital

T Gomendo: These ones who independently supply tuckshop

If you have access to good rates then you swipe on wholesale markets like Gain,Metro etc

Of late there is a ZIMRA list which clearly define goods allowable for duty waiver

Tuckshops market themselves through pricing and availability of goods

Your pricing should be competitive

Some tuckshops are resorting to specialisation

Eg we are in a very hot season you can choose to specialise on liquids

Drinks

Yogurts etc

Revive

Pepsi products are a hit

You open an account with Varun ,Dairyboad and Probrands

You get on average 3-5% discount

You turn that discount into your mark up and do wholesale

Let’s say you are able to make $2000 sales per day *30

That’s 60k sales

That’s translate to approximately $3000 gross profit

I know of a guy near bakers inn who pushes 5-10k cases of cascade 1litre per week

He puts 30 cents margin

Those guys in downtown put 50cents to a $1 mark up per box

You have to have in mind that all businesses go through dry seasons

When you face your own dry season you ought to have the survival tactic

Major point will be cost cutting measures

Lifestyle management

Salary reductions

Mass sale approach/bulk approach

Procurement redirections

All those who are outside Harare you have a chance to grow bigger as you are able to put up higher margins.

People often ask, ‘So, how’s business in SA?’ The truth is, I’ve never run a business in Zimbabwe. Everything I speak about comes from what I’ve learned — and lived — right here in South Africa.

Thank you so much, Ntata Victor, for giving me this opportunity to share our story. I appreciate it.

My name is Louisa, and I’m opening up about our business journey in South Africa.

Let me take you back to 2016. From 2017 to 2018, life stood still. Nothing I touched seemed to move forward.

In late 2018, I tried again. I volunteered at the University of Zimbabwe, hoping to bring a food innovation project to life. But it didn’t take off the way I imagined. Tired and disheartened, I gave up on that dream too.

That year, I made a bold move — I quit my job as a Food Technologist at Dairibord and took up a position as a security guard in Dubai. Six months later, I was fired. I returned home with nothing but disappointment… and about $300 to my name.

Then something unexpected happened.

Two years later, he paid lobola. Our families celebrated. So did we.

Four years later, I became Company Director of Seasonings and Condiments. Five years later, we bought our first property — and this time, both our names are on the title deed.

My then-boyfriend — now husband — saw potential in me that I had forgotten. He believed my background in food production and R&D could help his struggling business in South Africa. He had his weaknesses, and so did I. But we had nothing to lose. So I packed up my life and moved to South Africa to give it one last try.

We began building together — working in a tough environment, under his leadership. I wasn’t a director, I wasn’t his wife. I was just a woman trying to make it.

Most days were hard. Money was tight. I was undernourished, as you’ll see in the photo. Some days, even good food was a luxury I couldn’t afford.

Then COVID-19 happened. Strangely enough, it saved me. At the time, our electricity had been cut off — we hadn’t paid rent in 8 months. I remember crawling into my 4th-floor room through a neighbour’s window because the landlord had locked my door for late payment. But still… we kept pushing.

Let’s talk about collaboration — the kind that goes beyond just buying and selling.

In our business, we buy from suppliers… and we also sell to those same suppliers. Especially when it comes to paprika and chillies — my husband, Tich, has mastered the art of aggregate supply of chillies and paprika. He is so damn good! It’s become one of our strongest areas, and today, we’re proud to be among the best in that space.

We mill spices, herbs, animal feeds, and grains.

What started with one small machine from Malawi has now grown into a setup with eight machines — built from pure grit and vision. And we’re not done yet. Once certification is in place, we’re stepping fully into industrial milling.

Working as a couple

Working as a couple is one of the most rewarding yet challenging things you can do.

When both people share the same hunger, passion, and vision, the results can be incredible. But it’s not always easy — disagreements in business often spill over into the home, and if not managed carefully, they can affect your relationship, your children, and even your team. Over the years, I’ve learned that during heated moments, silence is my strength. I pause. I breathe. Because raising voices helps no one. When the dust settles, we come back to the table and talk things through — calmly and respectfully. We have two young children and also have employees and customers watching us. And we’ve come too far to let a disagreement steal our peace.

On ZBIN and Finding My Own Lane

I noticed something on ZIBIN: two or three people were already marketing their spices there. I could’ve tried to be the fourth — but honestly, I knew I’d be fighting for a market I probably wouldn’t win. So I paused. I stepped back. And that’s when I saw the gap.

Milling services. Chigayo chedu.

No one had claimed that space yet. So I ran with the vision.

As far as I know, I’m the first person on ZBIN to focus on milling — and that is slowly becoming my lane, my identity, my story. I don’t post about herbs. I don’t push spices. I’m not shouting about Malawi rice or Chalimbana peanuts. I’ve chosen my niche, and I’m building from there.

The lesson?

Let others grow. Let them dominate their lanes. Let the industry expand. Why fight over one pie when we can grow a bakery?

Those with big marketing budgets can go ahead — and they should. Because as they grow, they raise awareness for all of us.Some customers will prefer partnering with the big names… but others will choose us because of how we do things at Seasonings and Condiments.

There’s enough room for all of us. So don’t be afraid to step back and find your unique angle. The market is big — but your vision has to be clear.

Louisa Matongo can be contacted on +27 63 431 6872.

Emai: louisa@seasongings-sa.co.za

Louisa a member of the ZBIN Subscribed Group, Mompreneurs and ZBIN SA Group.

In my view every company should have an economist in the boardroom. Someone who is able to assist in decision making looking at past economic trends and projecting the future. But is this possible? Budget constraints do come into play and few are able to engage a full time economist.

Only financial institutions have the luxury of employing them and for good reasons, most engage actuarial scientists. Do we find economists in the retail sector, mining sector, agriculture sectors?

Highly unlikely and in a few instances—they engage management firms on a consultancy basis especially during strategic planning and review sessions.

Therefore the role of economists is assumed by accountants. But do accountants have the depth required in a fast changing economic landscape?

How many accountants can unpack the De-dollarization Roadmap? How many can confidently say this is what is likely to happen creating a scenario analysis for decision making?

How many accountants are able to unpack the history of currencies in Zimbabwe and implications on business performance? For instance to say The Bond lasted for so many months—these were the implications, lessons learnt carried over to the ZIG and the likely scenario is this or that?

Truth is, accountants have a lot on their plate. Financial reporting, audits and compliance do take a lot of time leaving little space for analysis. Yes top companies do factor this and have well developed systems. But how about non listed firms, medium sized businesses and small ones?

How many accountants can predict the next Statutory Instrument and likely impact?

Who can confidently advise on economic impact during the run up to elections? Who has time to be following all draft bills tabled in parliament? Who has the luxury of economic indicators trekking, reading the mood and advise management?

What will management say when they see a senior employee sitting in office and browsing through newspapers and listening to business conversations? They will say—this position doesn’t add value!

Do accountants possess enough depth on economic matters?

· At college (Bacc|Bcom)—Economics briefly covered, micro and macro economics.

· At MBA—Economics also covered but still the depth not good enough.

· At Professional Level—Basically a repeat of Honours Degree level. It is worse for foreign qualifications which do not consider the local complexities. Yes they will master micro-economics basis, macro economics too. But will have scant application skills on local economies.

It is only experience that they will add depth to their skills. Solid Continuous Professional Development (CPDs) will help plug the gaps.

As you review your performance results particularly adverse variences, one of the questions you may need to ask yourselves is—What percentage could be attributed to lack of economics depth?