Diaspora Matters

The Zimbabwe Business Ideas and Network forum is continuing with the women empowerment initiative that seeks to create hundreds of jobs for women in Southern Africa. The target is to train women who can be self sustainable by making carpet rugs for sale-the whole programme is on arts and crafts and combining it with business skills.

To date we have successfully launched the programme in Malawi, Zimbabwe and South Africa. In South Africa, we have been to Nelspruit, Durban, Johannesburg, Mthatha and East London. We have a training that ends today in Pietermaritzburg.

Below we feature some of the photos from our East London Training.

One of the fastest growing business in the country is the Solar Energy Business. There is high demand in the country especially in new residential suburbs which may not be connected by ZESA. Most home owners are therefore resorting to solar energy as an alternative. Below we feature one solar product-solar street lights. Visitors to Mrewa Town Centre should have seen the nice street solar lights that are installed there. The Rusape Town Council recently flighted tender adverts for solar street lights. This shows a growing business by city and rural town councils for solar street lighting.

Prices of the solar lights range from $350-$400 per light in China. You can refer to various trading platforms from China such as Made-In-China or Alibaba.

Solar street lights are fresh alternative to traditional street lamps such as LPS, HPS, or MH street lights. LED lighting provides a multitude of advantages over conventional incandescent light: LED solar street lights are environmental friendly, energy efficient, and cost-effective. This smart, ‘green’ option for outdoor LED lighting has emerged on the green scene due to the recent technological advancements of LED illumination.

The system is mainly composed of solar panel, light source, controller and battery. In daytime, when there is sunshine, the solar panel can convert the solar energy to electric power and store it in maintenance-free battery. At night or rainy or cloudy condition, the controller can control the lights automatically on when day off, auto-off when day break, and the battery shall supply the power for lighting.

Major Applications:

Special Features:

Are you interested in exporting goods from Zimbabwe for the first time? Are you aware of the requirements of applying for an Export Licence? You need not worry any more, the information is copied below. We have also attached a pdf document for download, it comes courtesy of Zimtrade.

Requirements for Application for Export Licence by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce
1. An application letter addressed to the Secretary for industry and Commerce stating the following:
• Brief company profile indicating line of business
• Product description
• Tariff code
• Quantities (e.g. tonnes, litres, metres, kilogrammes, etc.)
• Purchase price per unit
• Selling price per unit
• Total value of the consignment
• Country of origin/destination
• Justification for importing/exporting

2. Attach copies of the following documents
• Certificate of Incorporation
• CR14 showing company Directors
• Tax clearance certificate
• Copy of Standard Development Fund levy receipt
• Proforma Invoice (for imports)
Applications should be separate for different products

We are a Diaspora friendly forum and have more than 20 articles on our website on diaspora strategies. We have been making a lot of noise since last year imploring Zim entities to seriously consider the diaspora as a rich market place of ideas, products and services. This is a crucial sector which at its peak was remitting close to a Billion Dollars a year. This implies that the Diaspora funds a quarter of the national budget! A  lot of people in the diaspora still want to invest back home-there is a strong connection between them and the motherland. The diaspora holds the cash! In an economy where we are experiencing hard cash challenges, the diaspora holds the key in helping the nation in solving the hard cashflow challenges. Most in the diaspora have no worries about accessing cash and credit facilities, some are even willing to take out loans and invest back home. The current inflow of $1billion is an understatement-i t can even be doubledor trebled if attractive packages are offered to this important sector of the nation.

Diaspora Investment Zones

Dr Gono is leading the establishment of the Special Economic Zones which will be crucial in attracting investment in the country and this is good but how about including the diaspora too in this arrangement? Is it not easier to work with our own so that they can invest and assist the nation in creating economic opportunities?

Local Companies and the Diaspora

Most companies are still to grasp the importance of the diaspora. They are internally focused and concentrating on local customers or clients-what they are forgetting is that for every dollar that is in the economy, a sizeable percentage of it is coming from the hard working sons and daughters of the soil. Some of the decision to purchase goods and services by locals are being influenced by the diaspora. Given the uncertainties in the economy, local companies are being advised to have a review of their corporate and marketing strategies and find way to engage a critical sector of the economy. The big question is what are you doing to tap into the diaspora market?

What is up this week

Entrepreneurs, are you prepared for the festive season? This will be a big discussion on our Facebook and Whatsapp Platforms. In the meantime, we would like to congratulate a ZBIN volunteer who qualified as a Chartered Management Accountant, she is in diaspora but will be helping local businesses with business information whenever she is free from her busy schedule. Our pool of technocrats is expanding every day and this is good news for the forum!

So we wish you a productive and blessed week and thank you for being a member of Southern Africa’s prime business forum.

The Zimbabwe Business Ideas and Network holds the Southern Africa Digital Marketing Award. We managed to put a free business advert that went viral in at least 5 countries at the same time. In under 24 hours we had thousands of people talking about the forum in Lesotho, Botswana, Malawi, Swaziland and South Africa. We wanted to find whether we could promote products beyond our home country. The result was more than we had anticipated setting new records that will be hard to break. Its not everyday that a free advert (non boosted) gets more than 10,000 reactions in under 24 hours! More than 10,000 were to be added in the following days.

So a lot of opportunities exist for young entrepreneurs especially those that are tech savvy. With social media, there is just no limit! You can sell products and services to any part of the world. Below we give you a free Digital Marketing Guide book for free download.

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Most new entrepreneurs are enamored with product ideas. “I have a new idea for a product,” “a service,” or increasingly, “an app.”

You hear this at cocktail parties all the time. When someone says they have a new business idea, they are almost always referring to a new product idea.

BUT, those who actually run businesses spend a huge amount of time worrying about things that go beyond on the product.

They worry about…distribution.

This topic came up when I was in Austin, Texas having breakfast with members of my Inner Circle mentorship program.

We were talking about what makes new startups successful. I argued that most new companies severely underestimate the importance of distribution.

Distribution is the method by which you will be able to reach your target customer, communicate with them, and ultimately sell to them.

Once you build and introduce a new product to the world, something terrible happens…

NOTHING

Products do not sell themselves. Target customers do not magically learn about your product.

It is much easier to create a product than it is to build a distribution channel to reach a market segment.

There are two kinds of distribution channels:

Direct vs. Indirect

A “direct” channel is when your company has a direct relationship with your customers.

You know their names. You have their credit cards on file. You have their mailing addresses, phone numbers, or email addresses.

This email that you’re reading is being sent via a direct distribution channel known as an email newsletter.

I have your email address. You’ve given me permission to communicate with you.

From time to time, I send you opportunities to buy products or services that I think would be a good fit for you.

Other forms of direct distribution channels include having your own retail stores, an outbound telemarketing center, eCommerce websites, direct mail catalogs, and television infomercials.

An “indirect” distribution channel is one where you sell your products or services through an intermediary.

For example, I use Amazon.com as an indirect distribution channel for my bookCase Interview Secrets.

When you buy my book from Amazon, Amazon has your contact information. They have your credit card on file. They know your shipping address.

I don’t receive any of that information as a result of that purchase transaction.

Other examples of indirect channels include:

• Selling your product through resellers (such as Coca-Cola selling Coke at Walmart);

• Selling your product with a value-added channel partner (such as Oracle selling software through Accenture IT consultants that offer a systems integration consulting engagement which includes Oracle software);

• Selling your product embedded in somebody else’s (such as Samsung mobile phone displays being sold as a part of an iPhone).

Choosing which category of distribution channel to use and which specific channel within each category is a profoundly strategic decision.

These decisions have major tradeoffs.

Indirect channels usually give you access to large groups of customers you have no means to reach directly.

For example, Amazon reaches far more potential buyers of books than I do through my website. This is a huge advantage.

However, indirect channels have a major tradeoff. While you benefit from market access, you trade off a direct relationship with the buyers.

This makes you highly dependent on the indirect channel and vulnerable if your indirect channel ever wants to bypass you.

For example, Amazon has identified its most popular selling products (manufactured by others that use Amazon as an indirect channel like I do) and has created their own in-house brand of products known as “Amazon Basics.”

As a consumer, I’ve purchased the Amazon Basics brand for iPhone cables, dinner plates, towels, and batteries.

There is no always right or wrong answer as to what distribution channel to use. Every choice you make around channels involves tradeoffs.

The only de-facto decision that’s always wrong is to have no distribution channel what-so-ever.

If you spend 100% of your time creating a great product, you’ve spent 0% of your time choosing or building a distribution channel.

The next time you hear someone (or yourself) talk about a great product idea, ask them what distribution channel they plan to use to get their product to market.

If the only response you get back is silence, that’s a serious problem.

Distribution. It’s important.

Thanks,
-Victor Cheng 

Founder, CaseInterview.com 
www.CaseInterview.com

The nation is going through an important phase of voter registration, a new voters roll is being compiled and it is going to be used in the harmonised elections that will be held next year. A crucial exercise that all citizens should participate in especially young voters. Young voters play a crucial role because they now constitute close to 67% of the population.

The voter registration exercise needs a lot of fun and should be engaging inorder to entice the young voters who traditionally shun politics. ZBIN is therefore inviting innovative young Zimbos who are techno savvy to develop a voter registration app that helps the nation in the following ways:

1. Location of all voter registration centres
2. Times of registration
3. Voter registration requirements
4. Voter registration counter which counts number of days before closure of the registration period
5. Planning schedule to enable users to plan to register
6. Question and Answer Section

So there you are young Zimbos, help your nation with developing an app for voter registration. Lets show the immense talent that exists within Zim. Lets develop a model that can be used by other countries.

It was my first time at the busiest border post in Southern Africa after more than 6 years. I enjoyed the changes of scanners at our border- great move to check on everything entering or exiting our borders!

Area of concern
People can still opt not to use the scanner if they choose! I saw certain bags which did not pass through the scanner with the owners of the bags opting to pay bribes. On the SA side all bags are offloaded and am sure our border control needs to learn from the SA counterparts.

Exit or Entry?
Zimbabwe  has a scanner on the exit side but not entry side
South Africa  has a scanner on the entry side and none on the exit side

Something amiss  here considering that the country’s import bill runs into billions per year! Why do we prefer manual verification of imports? Manual has a lot of inefficiencies plus allows room for smuggling!

Someone deliberately placed the scanner on the wrong side- the exit side! We should place our national scanner on the ‘money side’ where we stand to lose billions of dollars in revenue from taxes.

The South Africans have used common sense by placing a scanner on the entry point, we too can do it and reduce chances of smuggling.

A few weeks ago, ZBIN launched a programme in 5 regional countries and we deliberately excluded Zimbabwe. The reason for doing so was simple-finding whether we can successfully launch a product beyond our borders. The results are that we succeeded –over subscription in neighbouring countries. After the launch we then decided to come back home and what was the response? The response was luke warm and had we initially launched it here then we would have made a big blunder! We definitely would have failed and after failure then conclude that the product was not viable.

So this is the dilemma facing many entrepreneurs in Zimbabwe, if you fail locally then conclude that your project is not viable and discard it. Maybe this helps explain why Tuku launches his albums in South Africa first? It has not made sense for some of his fans why he would launch an album on foreign soil before coming back home, now it makes a lot of sense after what we experienced over the past few weeks. The message is think globally in a local context and unlock a lot of opportunities.

What is coming up?

We formed 3 important groups, the first one is the ZBIN shortages group-its meant to help members know where to find goods and products and not be taken by profiteering retailers. The second group is Dare International-this group helps to connect members from different countries-it is already doing wonders networking locals with neighbouring countries. The best asst in business is networking. Master networking and you will have a lot of benefits when it comes to finance, markets and a lot of other areas. A person who is well networked may not even need collateral for loans, may even get goods supplied on credit! So great group for members to know of regional business trends in Zambia, Malawi, South Africa, Botswana, Mozambique and Lesotho.

Taxation Update: There is exciting debate around tax going on in one of our groups and we expect to summarise the discussions and publish in an article. Interesting stuff on VAT requirements and the importation of goods by locals.

Do look forward to an advert looking for interns to work with ZBIN, we are going to be recruiting 2 or 3 interns to help the forum with finance, human resources and marketing. Great opportunity to work with an innovative forum that thinks beyond Zim.

ZBIN wishes you a blessed new month and new week

We have been carrying out a debate on what is more important when starting a business, is it Capital ($s) or Market? Both are very crucial in business and one cannot do without each other. You need both to succeed in business. Both are part of ZBIN’s objectives, access to markets and access to markets.

We reached out to our  Caribbean followers and we feature their responses below:

Kevin Hosein Starting a business… make sure you have a good capital plus extra savings in case of hard times… and always have determination and dont ever think negative when things bad… doh even think about quitting just keep at it and eventually your clientele will increase week by week… Rome wasn’t built in a day.

Kevin Hosein I started selling bbq in June of this year… its divali time now so sales basically dropped to an all time low… but hopefully things will pick up by christmas time.

Tricia Simone Gaspard I can’t speak for others but for me I always step up to hw the country falls. I am a certified chef decorator and planner I am my own boss as soon as I saw a lot of ppl heading to that same path I went to selling safety gears and some hardware stuff. I am now doing a course in electrical and plumbing reason being everyone is building a house. The road and time is not easy when u are ur own boss but it’s worth it at times I hve built a form of friendship with my clients I try to help them if they can’t meet my price and I also respect them. Hw u treat ur customers in no time they spread the word and u build from nothing to something. I hve never taken out a loan because I started my business by the government grants unfortunately de close it down. So yes a capital is needed and clients. I hope u successfully push forward to become the great person u would like to be.

Ramesh Ramadhar To start a business you need money so capital is the most important

Mdala Wa Rue But if u have no market the capital may not be too useful?

Ramesh Ramadhar The first day I opened my retail business I didn’t sell a pin but you need to advertise properly to attract your clients

Andrew Drax Laing it all depends on the business u plan to start

Ravi Chunilal A product for the type of market you are aiming for and the capital to fund the dream

Manju Gulati If the economy is good and market has the buying power

Divya Maharaj Your market is very important. Can’t open a business you like or want having the money and then no customers/clients. Research the market out there and plan out things before making any purchase. Think about everything possible in and around whatever the business. Many people have the capital to start of businesses whether loaned or self financed and the majority fail eventually. Your marketing strategy should be on point when starting. Capital is vital, you can’t have one without the other, having both capital and knowing/having the market goes together. You can’t want to start a business and leave out any aspect of it. Think and plan thoroughly before starting otherwise you might end up facing problems you never thought of. May not apply to all but it does in many ways

Divya Maharaj Persons would say you need money to make money (profit). For some businesses, you need capital to purchase resources, to advertise, to cover unexpected financial pop ups in the process etc. If you offer a service that gets around through word of mouth and you don’t need any extra resources, then that cuts out your capital for marketing and creating your working environment (e.g. building and infrastructure etc). Depending on your business type, you’ll know what you need to get started, once you acknowledge that money is required to purchase stuff, then you know that a capital is needed. You can get capital either through self, loans from bank, loans from different people, etc. You need to know what your business is, what is required and determine your capital. Another saying is, if you want to make “big” money, you need to invest “big”. Hope I was clear enough.

Mdala Wa Rue Yeah u need a thorough knowledge- the ins and outs of your business! It’s amazing to find a huge no of people who venture into business with very little knowledge of what they will be getting into- result? The result is failure!

Divya Maharaj If you don’t need building/office then focus on advertising for your market. To market yourself you will need money. Example, a teacher wants to teach, maybe open a school but doesn’t have the finances. He starts off by having a small job if he can’t get a job, he uses whatever little he has/ or borrow to advertise his service of private tutoring through media or papers, he then makes money and in time would make more than what was used for advertising (capital) and generates that as a profit. Over time he makes up enough to get a bigger loan to put up infrastructure and building this time for a private school. Understand?

Rajesh Boysie Market is the key to selling products or services . you’ll easily lose your capital without a Market

Paul Newon market…