Diaspora Matters

The reality is when you complete college education, you are not guaranteed of landing a job. If all colleges are asked to track what happens to students who are finishing college some could be shocked to find that more than 90% of their former students are unemployed! What is worrisome is that most colleges are still using the same syllabus and same teaching methods that are producing little results.

Our colleges need to shape up and develop curricular that is relevant to the needs of a modern world. When developing curricular they need to consult relevant stakeholders such as :

1.The Government

2.Business Sector

3.The NGO sector

4.Informal business associations

5. Religious bodies

6. Members of the public

7. Diaspora groups

Consultations will help them develop relevant material that will produce graduates who have options upon completion of studies. They do not necessarily have to sit at home when they find no jobs upon graduation. From our forum we have examples of college graduates who have veered from careers they studied at college. Examples include:

1. An accounting graduate from NUST who is writing O level and A level exams study guides in Glen Norah.
2. A mechanical engineering graduate from NUST who opened a shop that sells steel products in Workington.
3. An accounting graduate from UZ who opened a maputi shop in Randburg, South Africa.
4. An engineering graduate from UZ who is involved in carpet making.
5. A masters degree graduate from UZ who is involved in writing study guides for primary school pupils.
6. A law graduate from UZ who is involved in writing business proposals.

A look at the above graduates shows that they have veered off from what they studied at college, so college education was not adequate and will remain inadequate as long as colleges do not review how they are operating and bringing relevant qualifications that are required by society.

Extra skills for graduates

Lets take an example of an accounting graduate from local colleges. The student may need the following skills for empowerment.

1. How to run own small accounting firm
2. Digital marketing skills and unlocking business opportunities
3. How to write business plans for sale
4. How to use research skills and earn money
5. How to write books | blogs | newspaper columns
6. How to use digital platforms such as crowdfunding to mobilise resources
7. How to take advantage of emerging online opportunities
8. Provision of marketing services/human resources/business management to the SME sector
9. Graphic designing and other emerging opportunities
10. How to identify opportunities and take advantage of them
11. How to register companies

All of the above skills will ensure that students have options when they complete college. If an accounting student fails to land an accounting job then there are options in terms of forming own businesses. Graduates can leverage on their financial skills and can even start businesses during their college days rather than finishing college with high hopes of getting jobs-finding no jobs and then start thinking of what else to do.

Lack of consultations of local colleges and relevant stakeholders such NGOs means that most accountants interested in joining the NGO sector do not have financial skills such as donor rules and regulations, donor accounting, grants management, resource mobilisation and risk management in the donor context. With these skills not covered by local colleges, an NGO recruiting an accounting graduate has to start from scratch teaching students how to do donor fund financial management.

A law student from our forums says  law lecturers at UZ could do better in teaching students how to form and run own law firms, how to write blogs, taking advantage of online opportunities and disruptive technology initiatives.

Lessons from Prince Edward School

Covered below is a post from Mono Mukundu an ex black spirit band member who is a prolific writer who has published a very useful book that helps artists and entrepreneurs.

SCHOOLS SHOULD NURTURE CHILDREN’S GIFTS

If you at the exclusive brass section video that I posted on Saturday morning & these pictures, you will notice that 99% of the boys in the band are former Prince Edward (P. E ) students and they are already making a living through  music, some are music teachers, my son is one of the busiest session guitarists right now and is getting paid good money. Mr Mapiye from P.E always boasts”Hapana mwana wedu anogara pamba apedza chikoro“& that is very true, by the time the boy reaches form 3 he would be a pro already, even able to pay his own fees.

The young lady playing sax’s father is a member of the P.E Old Boys Association,s o he is very active at P.E shows  so he always took his daughter with him to play with the boys all the time so she benefited from P. E too.

That alone tells you something about P.E,its a school that finds where the child is talented,then nurture that talent, whether its sports, music or academia.

The school I went to
1:They believed education ‘yema’ books was the ultimate purpose of going to school, anything else was kutamba.
2:If you are not good at academics then the one and only solution was corporal punishment,sometimes the teachers would beat you up for very silly reasons, they kept sticks, sjambocks & ropes in the cupboards. That was the nature yema colonial group B schools, you were supposed kugona Maths so that wozoshandira vachena, vana vevachena were treated like kings isu tichifa nekurohwa.

Let me talk about corporal punishment, iwe… schools were prisons,proper torture camps, we were beaten up like hell,i was not good in Maths so ndakarohwa hama, everytime i fell sick i would rejoice internally knowing I was gonna miss school and our parents would give the teachers permission to beat us, hanzi “rovai sterek”& takarohwa,male teachers are the one who were notorious panyaya iyoyo, so basically i hated male teachers.

As a result 
1:I hated school with a passion,
2:When i got to form 1/2 i couldnt stand the beatings no more & started resisting, so i was a constant visitor at the headmaster’s office, for some funny reason kwa headmaster i sort of won all my cases,of course zvanga zvasangana ne anger ye my parents’s divorce and I was now a reggae fanatic, listening to all the “stand up for your rights”music.

But, my son when he was at P.E he couldnt miss school,like father like son he is not good in Maths, but still he loved school,even when he was sick & bedridden if you told him you cant go to school,he would say”Im ok now”so that he could go to school, because his talent,zvaanogona zvacho was being nurtured so he did not feel like a dofo, manje isu tainzi ukatadza Maths uri dofo, so you would end up feeling im a dofo on anything even stuff that you are good at.

I also believe too much corporal punishment & kutukwa makes a kid dumb & less confident,isa mwana we P. E apa woisa vakadzidza kwatakadzidza isusu, vekunana P. E somehow have this American style of confidence & respect wrapped on one,because they were taught kuti since you are good at what you do uri shasha.

So parents, nurture your kids’talent and support them, attend their events too, ukaona ma group A schools aine ma events panenge pakazara mota, kwedu kwaisauya kana 1 parent.

Mono Mukundu can be contacted on 0772 303 736

The country is not short of business opportunities. The list of opportunities available in the country is unlimited and our forum has played its part in exploring them and sharing with you. We have conducted numerous trainings, business researches and also covered most of them on our forums including this website. Top areas where locals and diasporans are interested in investing include the following:

1. Real Estate
2. Mining
3. Education
4. ICT
5. Health and
6. Agriculture

Preparation

By now you should have done the following:

1. Identified an area of interest
2. Developed a business plan
3. Registered your company
4. Solid plan to recruit staff and set up shop

Your current status

If you have not done any of the action points above then you have problem. Remember you are not the only one interested in investment. You are competing with thousands of others and they include locals, diasporans and foreign nationals. They all want a piece of the cake. As for foreign nationals, their advantage is that of doing things formal and this includes getting all the relevant documents, legal processes in order and getting down to serious business. Locals are likely to take registrations for granted. In fact some are going to join when it is already too late.

Funding hurdle

Psychologically it is going to be difficult to come up with solid business plans when you do not have available funds for the projects. However money is not the biggest issue in business, market is. This is why you should start with identifying a business area, a gap and then researching about it more till you are satisfied that there is a ready market and you have a potential viable business. In order to help you solve the problems of capital, you may need to consider the following options:

1. Crowdfunding
2. Partnerships
3. Stokvel concept of pooling funds with colleagues, relatives, friends or others

The Trigger Point

The trigger point for investment in Zimbabwe is going to be the holding of free and fair elections. If elections are not contested and are endorsed by the international community then expect the floodgates to be opened especially with multinational companies competing for a piece of the cake. Most would want to benefit from first mover benefits.

Confused?

Are you still confused of areas to invest in? Have you found an area to invest in yet? If you are not sure then visit our online shop on this site and invest in a Business Opportunities for Zimbabweans book. The book covers more than 50 opportunities and also allows you access to a subscribers platform where specialised investment and opportunities information is discussed.

Are you aware of the good news from POTRAZ? Are you aware that they have funding available for startups? Yes POTRAZ has funding available for you provided you meet their requirements. Through their  Innovation Drive Project  which is a brainchild of the Ministry of ICT, Postal and Courier Services they have a project that aims at promoting the culture of creativity and innovation among Zimbabweans with the aim of creating employment by development of local ICT applications, hardware and related innovations which are rooted in the realities of Zimbabwe.

The deadline for application of funds is 30 May 2018 and you can apply on their website www.innovationdrive.gov.zw.

All the best

Zimbabwe has a lot of entrepreneurs with a lot of brilliant running projects that however faces capital challenges. The good news is that with the country being open for business, a lot of people are showing interest in investment and this includes locals, the diaspora and foreign investors. Some are interested in investing in viable business ventures and will only do so if the ventures are visible.

Inorder to help entrepreneurs, we are creating a database that registers and showcases local viable opportunities that need investors. This is a free service and those registered will feature on our Crowdfunding Page which will be accessible to more than 8000 unique or regular visitors to this website. They will also be accessible to our more than  40.000 Facebook platform members and 8.000 Whataspp members.

So how does crowdfunding work?

Crowdfunding is a method of raising capital through the collective effort of friends, family, customers, and individual investors. This approach taps into the collective efforts of a large pool of individuals—primarily online via social media and crowdfunding platforms—and leverages their networks for greater reach and exposure.

Inorder to attract investors, you need to fill out details on the form below which we will capture and place on our database.

In early 2012,  like all the other graduates, I found myself unemployed. I had finished writing my last exam in November 2011 and  remember this exam explicitly, it was a communications exam. I then, like all the other graduates who come to the big city to study, went home for the December holidays. I only started hyperventilating about my no work status in January when I had to make my way back to the big city to look for employment.

By Oluchi B Carter

I would like to paint the sad story about my poor parents having to use money they didn’t have to get me to Johannesburg and having to financially support me until I could find employment; and having to use all my money and time in internet cafes and subsequently remaining unemployed for four months.  I cannot put in words the amount of frustration and depression I endured during that time period. However, this is not the article for that. The article aims to give direction on how to avoid that and be pro-active in looking for an organisation before you even graduate so that you can avoid being part of South Africa’s unemployed graduate statistic which is getting bigger every year.

I thought I would work for Draft FCB after my graduation, little did I know that things would turn out so differently. First, as an undergraduate, you need to identify industry players in the field you are aspiring to work in. Identify at least 10 players and follow them on all social platforms including but not limited to company website, Facebook, twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. LinkedIn is one of the best platforms for budding careerists; please use it as frequent as possible. Do check employees and senior management profiles on Linked in, specifically their qualifications as well as previous employment. This helps you get the gist of the organisational structure and its culture. It may seem like a lot, but as a tertiary student, one of the few things you have in abundance is the internet.

Take risks, find a manager in the department you want to work it and send them an email asking if you can job shadow for at least a week at no cost to the company. This will look good in your resume. The aim of job shadowing is so that you can be familiar with the work environment in the filed you aspire to work in. You might not get a response, you might get a no or you might get a yes.  Life is about taking changes. I was fortunate enough to job shadow for a week at an electrical engineering company in high school. In that experience I learned that I actually do not want to be an electrical engineer. And nor do I want anything to do with the sciences.

The aim is so that you get a job, and get a job that you want. Websites like Gradza etc. are doing a great job in directing graduates to companies that offer internships and learner ships. The limitation is that they only offer direction, like any other regular job hunting site. I was not one to be buddy buddy with lectures but I have learned that some form of relationship with a lecture helps in steering one in the right direction. Pick their brains on best companies to work for, what to expect once you start working, do they have any contacts in the industry and so on.

Last but not least, your CV speaks volumes. Please use a professional template. Also, make sure that your cover letter is at least two paragraphs long, get to the point as well as add a recent professional picture of yourself.

The sooner you start your job search, the higher your chances of finding employment. Start while you are still a student. If you are fortunate to know certain individuals that work in a similar field, ask them for guidance. The more visible you are, the higher your chances of being employed. Again, take risks.

Article republished with full permission from Oluchi B Carter from his page: https://blackchronicles101.wordpress.com/2018/05/01/the-unemployed-graduate/

Are you a car mechanic? Do you want to have more clients than you currently have? Then here is excellent news for you this year, do register with us for free. We have already added 500 mechanics to our database and would like to add an additional 500 to the list.

Our database will be available to the country free of charge so that anyone interested in your services can easily get in touch you. Registration is free. Send us your details and location and wait for the next client through our platforms. Our whatsapp contact number is +263774081808.

The Zimbabwe digital marketing landscape is made up of 1 million locals on Facebook, over 5 million with access to internet and an estimated 4 million connected to Whatsapp. The figures do not include diasporans where an estimated 3 million are based. Many companies are not aware of the huge numbers that exist on the platform and this is an advantage to those that grab a market share before saturation.

So who has been doing well on digital platforms?

1. Nash Paints
2. Marrilier Properties
3. Kubatana.net
4. President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s Page
5. Seedco

The battle is between Nash Paints and Marrilier Properties and whoever is helping in designing their digital marketing campaigns need a half year bonus! Students of digital marketing need to analyse the above top 5 champions and get hints on what works on the Zimbabwean digital landscape.

Raising money to buy residential properties in Zimbabwe is not easy. Some take several years saving money, some get bank loans or mortgages and some use pension savings. Losing all of this investment to scammers can be heartbreaking! So make sure you do everything right from the start.

So how can you lose money in Harare when buying residential stands?

1. Buy residential stands from individuals
2. Buy Infill residential stands
3. Buy from unverified real estate agents
4. Buy from people who are not resident in the area where the stand is
5. Buy residential stands which are still under development
6. Residential property sold for cash

If you are buying a residential stand and you manage to tick 3 or so of the above factors then you sure are on your way to losing your money.

Individuals: Buying from individuals always pose a risk. They may not have a reputation to protect and can disappear without trace! A reputable institution such as Old Mutual, First Mutual, Way Mark or FBC cannot afford to drag their reputation onto the mud buy being involved in dubious land deals. There are no reported cases of anyone who has taken large institutions to the court over dubious land sales.

Infill Stands? Our estimate is over $3m has been lost in fake infill stands sales. Any sale of land in established residential areas like Mabelreign, Marlborough, Sentosa, Warren Park, Kambuzuma, Hillside should immediately raise an alarm. The word ‘infill stand’ goes hand in glove with the word ‘scammers’. A lot of undeveloped residential stands are being sold to unsuspecting members of the public. You will be shown everything…title deeds and in some cases you can even verify with authorities and finding everything in place.

Non Residents: If a person selling a residential stand does not stay in the same city as you then raise a red flag! If you are being asked to go and complete the deal in say Bulawayo or Beitbridge then raise the alarm bell. The modus operandi used by scammers is to sell stands in areas they do not stay. After selling dubious residential stands the next thing in their mind is to flee from the crime scene.

Cash Sale: If it is a cash sale then the risk level rises to 99%. A residential stand in area still to be developed poses many risks as well.

So before buying a residential stand make sure you acquaint yourself with how a lot of people lose money to fraudsters. Check the latest trends fraudsters are using and take your time in verifying the authenticity of the real estate agent you are dealing with. Verification with the Title Deeds Office does not guarantee you anything, a lot have viewed their title deeds only to go back and find them missing. Using a lawyer does not guarantee safety as some lawyers have also been duped by highly organised fraudsters.

We covered more risk on Harare Scammers in our Book ‘Business Opportunities for Zimbabweans’ visit our online shop and grab a copy.

When considering investment in Zimbabwe make sure that you do not forget rural district councils. There are a lot of opportunities that range from tourism, agro processing and mining. When looking at Harare, you may need to consider inquiring about opportunities from Zvimba Rural District Council which has residential stands in the low density area of Sandton which is adjacent to Westgate. Goromonzi Rural District also has a number of interesting commercial stands near the capital city.

The only challenge with rural district councils is accessibility with a good number of them with no presence on digital platforms. The Zimbabwe Business Ideas is therefore assisting our members by featuring contact details of selected rural district councils. We feature four of them below:

Hurungwe Rural District Council

Mobile Phone :0712347918

Email Address:hurungwerdc@gmail.com

Chimanimani Rural District Council

Mobile Phone:0773222016/0735214094

Email: chimanimanirdc@gmail.com

Chivi Rural District Council

Phone:0337 691/286/787/792

Email:chivirdc@gmail.com

Website: chivirdc.net

Kusile Rural District Council

Mobile :0774007829/0717743221

Email: kusileruraldistrictcouncil@gmail.com

Are you completing college this year? If yes then congratulations in advance from the Zim Business Ideas and Network. In this post we look at possible entrepreneurship opportunities which you can pursue.

Job Prospects
Beef up your resume with voluntary work experience working for organisations in your community..small businesses, preschools, churches etc. When you finish college, your greatest disadvantage is that you do not have work experience. So beef this up with a lot of voluntary work which you can do on a part-time basis. You can even talk to your pastor and come up with a small income generating project that gives you and other youngsters practical work experience.

Spruce up your curriculum vitae,writing old fashioned curriculum vitaes  where you have four pages of your academic transcript is medieval! Talk to your guardian and approach Human Resources Practitioners in your area and get skills on writing winning cvs and interview techniques. Cv writing is forever changing and the best way for fresh graduates is to get professional help. Less than 1% of college graduates do this, so gain a competitive advantage by working with professionals. 

A recruiting manager usually has less than 5 seconds to make a decision whether to shortlist your cv or not. The cv above 2/10 and the one below 4/10. Know how to get 6/10 and you are on your way to improving your chances of landing an interview.

Know all the sources of job postings and join. In Zimbabwe The Kubatana.net online newsletter has a number of intern jobs coming out on a weekly basis.

Entrepreneurship Route
It is best to keep in your field of study for the first few years after college. We recommend this because you need to beef up your cv with relevant experience. If you studied Marketing then doing Digital Marketing …helping SMEs, Churches or NGOs with Digital Marketing work means you can put work done on your cv. With the Digital Marketing field expanding, you may not even need to look for work again!

If you study accounting and you get no job, then consider registration of companies (very easy), developing business plans, setting up online stores, developing websites, helping the SME sector with bookkeeping or accounting services. You beef up your cv and also earn extra income.Set up your own registered accounting services company and slowly develop it. Imagine applying for a job with your peers and during the interview.

If you studied Human Resources Management, set up your own HR Consultancy firm. Business is not going to come easily but if you master digital marketing then only the sky is the limit. Think of small companies in need of HR services?

If you studied law but got no job, think of areas that are expanding…business! We have few legal minds entering the corporate law field.Enrol for ACCA, consider CISA, Fraud Examination courses. If you can learn app development then you will get ahead of everyone especially with online legal services being the next big thing. Closely look at areas you did not study enough at college…look at the needs of society and fill the gap. Digital Marketing is not part of the law degree and a good number of legal firms would be needing these services in the not too distant future.

Extra Skills for Graduates

1. Website development: You can learn on your own by researching on Youtube. I developed Zimbabwe’s best followed small business website in 6 hours! No prior knowledge of website development and noone to direct me how it is done. Look at the number of companies or NGOs with no websites or those with no up to date information on their websites. If you cannot learn on your own then enrol for a formal course. Certification is a big plus on your resume!

2. Graphic Design: It is closely related to Digital Marketing, learn how to do graphic designs and charge a minimum of $20 for small company logos

3. Online Store Setups: E-commerce is the next big thing in town, help clients to set up and earn between $300-$500 per client. Also set up online shops for many products and services

4. Dial a Service: Did you read our article on ‘convenience and competitive advantage?’ Dial a Service is gaining momentum especially in the leafy suburbs. Dial a beer, dial a meal…we comprehensively covered this area in our book on opportunities for Zimbabweans.

Last but not least, Learn Arts and Crafts with the regional market in mind. Huge potential in regional cities such as Durban and Cape Town for art and crafts. You can also try  Tapestry which our organisation launched regionally with huge success. Tapestry or shaggy rug making is providing extra incomes for those making carpets or teaching others. You can also make money through the selling of carpet making material such as tapestry mats or knitting yarn. Great demand in South Africa where many of our trainees have made a lot especially in Cape Town, Limpopo, KZN and Gauteng.

So build up experience in your relevant field and do other side hustles such as vending, baking cakes, bead making, mabhero, car selling. Do not lose money on Online Forex Trading, Bitcoins or other ponzi schemes.

Taken and edited from the book ‘Business Opportunities for South Africans’.