Diaspora Matters

Baboons can be a menace to farmers. They can reduce your yield by a high percentage if you are not careful and therefore one needs to manage these animals well when you farm in an area where they exist. Killing baboons in most parts of Zimbabwe is taboo and in most cases one can be fined by a village head for killing them. There are many ways of managing baboon problems and as ZBIN we reached out to the community to help one of our members who was facing a serious baboons problem on his farm.

We cover below some of the responses from the community which may be of assistance to others:

Charles Majoni Go to the parks and wildlife authority…they will issue you with a permit on either translocating the baboons or poisoning because they are being a pest…poisoning permit $20.

Richard Chashamba Get a permit to cull them from National Parks and then donate or sell the meat to people who eat them, the moment they know they are being hunted makudo anochinja nzvimbo

Admire Chihwa Mwasenhu Teya 1, kana varibata tora paint yeRed neye White voripenda, vorisiya, parinoenda kune mamwe aro, anoritiza iro roramba richimhanyira mamwe aro kusvika avakure

Thembani Elmon Jnr F They’re a menace for sure I feel the pain but is poising them a good idea?

Thembani Elmon Jnr F I think the Parks guys have better and human ideas other than mass killing.Imagine 30+ baboons dead at once in an area?Zvinotyisa pachivanhu chedu it might bring karma coz gudo aiwa munhu uya.

Netcle Trish Mhlanga Put realistic scarecrows inoita kunge munhu around it works for some

Nancy Zisengwe Makudo anokuburitsa mubusiness very destructive and stubborn. Haatize vanhukadzi anotomira waiting kutokudzinganisa. One farmer dressed as a woman. He managed to fire at them ari padhuze, killed one. They fled

I have a weakness for gardening, I just love seeing my well kept garden but of late i have been frustrated with the City Council who send me a huge water bill which does not tally with the usage of water at my home. The bill shot up by 400% and it is not making sense at all. Visits to Rowan Martin Building have not yielded positive results as they insist that the bill is legit and that perhaps my water tap could be faulty.

Perhaps they could have seen my green lawn and by default estimated that i could be using a lot of water? But i do have a borehole and therefore something should be grossly wrong with the billing system of the City Council, i wonder how many people have been affected?

Anyway this week we have a free business idea for our members and it has a garden connection! No need to worry about gardeners, no need to worry about high water bills. A good way to cut on gardening costs and it looks fabulous too-dear readers, allow me to introduce to you artificial lawns!

It is currently available in China and costs $5-8 per square metre. You just install it in your garden and not have to worry about any maintenance costs for a couple of years.

If you can demonstrate that this works, if you can highlight the benefits to potential customers, then you may have hit a jackpot! Your customers to be individuals, the corporate sector and sports clubs.

Official description

Artificial turf or artificial lawn is a surface of synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass. It is most often used for sports that are normally played on grass. However, it is now being used on residential lawns and commercial applications as well. The main reason is maintenance. Artificial turf stands up to heavy use, such as in sports, and requires no irrigation or trimming. Covered stadiums or shaded residential and commercial areas may require artificial turf because of the difficulty of getting enough sunlight for natural grass to stay healthy.

Advantages

• Maintenance free : Artificial lawn is nearly maintenance free (no watering, no mowing, no fertlising). Ideal for locations when maintenance of lawns is difficult or not practical. Artificial turf can be vacuumed, broom cleaned or hosed over.
• Rugged usage: Artificial turf can withstand significantly more use than natural grass and can therefore be used much more frequently.
• Lush green all round the year: Artificial turf can be a better solution when the environment is particularly hostile to natural grass (example, low light, extremely dry seasons, etc) Artifical lawns stay green all through the year. These are also fade resistant.
• No standing water: As the turf base is porous, it allows water to drain off and water does not stagnate in the lawn.

Below we show you some photos of the artificial lawn.

One of the best assets that a business can possess is ethics. Ethics can determine the sustainability of a business. There is a close relationship between good ethics and the future of a business. Get your ethics culture wrong and this may jeopardise the future of your business.

The definition of business ethics can be summarised as  the study of proper business policies and practices regarding potentially controversial issues, such as corporate governance, insider trading, bribery, discrimination, corporate social responsibility and fiduciary responsibilities.

Ethics and our website

In March 2016, we advertised for a consultancy for the development of our website. One youngster responded and did a fabulous job in developing our site. There was one problem though, he pulled down the site without notice. When we approached him, he promised to fix the problem. We gave him information to upload onto a new site which he had created. How did he fare this time around? He converted the site to his own, created a Zimbabwe Business Investors Network instead of Zimbabwe Business Ideas and Network. We simply ignored him and went on to set up our site with Hostgator and have not had problems since.

The opportunity cost was huge on his part-he lost out on business from our members. We highlighted the fraud he had committed to our thousands of members and he instantly became an enemy of small businesses in Zimbabwe. He went underground-tried to resuscitate his career by engaging us later on. The damage had been done and any attempt to salvage the situation did not help his case.

Someone had possibly paid him to derail our project and the result is that he lost more than what he had been paid! He may have been greedy and decided to convert the site to his own-this again backfired as he lost more than he could gain.

He could easily have gained hundreds of clients from our members and followers. The guy whom we later on engaged ended up getting good contracts including employment with one of the leading donor agencies in the country.

There are a lot of stories concerning ethics and we will cover them in future. The bottom line is just do business the correct and legit way if you are thinking of the long term. Kiya-kiya business can only work in the short run and should be avoided at all costs.

Whats Up this week?

We did well in Lilongwe, trained Malawian nationals who will be working as a consortium. We will provide support and ensure a successful project which should cement business relationships between Zim and Malawi.

Botswana Tour-We have a tour to Botswana during the week where we will be following up on a training that we conducted in Harare  weeks ago

More Volunteer Action: We are going to be putting more energy on our volunteer programme which had taken a backseat as we concentrated on regional initiatives. We will be inviting some of them to carry out Facebook Lives as they engage with our members.

So stay blessed for the week

Wa Mdala

Our city feature of the week is a beautiful city located in the Warm Heart of Africa-Malawi! Our forum has some representatives who live in this beautiful city which is located in the Northern region of Malawi. We tell the story of this beautiful place by showing you selected photos of this city which is near Lake Malawi and Tanzania. We will cover investment opportunities in this beautiful city in the coming few weeks-do not miss out!

Meanwhile, are you based in Malawi? Do you supply Kilombero Rice? If yes then leave your details below.

Did you follow the Money Fight? The record breaking fight between Floyd Mayweather  and Conor Mcgregor? The  fight had hundreds of millions following across the globe and in Africa we were not left behind with most people supporting the American boxer. Now there is a strong link between business and sport and it is no wonder that it was dubbed the Money Fight. It was all about money and for this reason, the fight story is finding its way onto business pages.

We asked the Zim Business Ideas and Network members to give us business or entrepreneurship lessons learnt and the responses are found below:

Treby Munya lesson 1 never get a kid to do a man’s job…

Sam Sam-Arzo Muvirimi endurance pays

Sir Emmanuel Angel Dausi less talk more action

Teacha Zefaniah you can do it when you chunk it small and but carefully resisting fatigue all the way to the finish line

Ronald Zidana He is a good bussinessman who knows how to make money by making people believe they are attending a sports event when it is actually just scripted entertainment.WWE needs this guy on their management team.

Kudakwashe Goromonzi TMT guaranteed 100m mcgregor 30m they is a serious shortage of big name boxers thus the money team had to bring a boxer from another different sports..making lemonade from lemons.hes a serious entrepreneur Floyd always breaking his own targets,semuno muzimbabwe the Floyd mentality inotodiwa zvakanyanya

Yananai Chiwuta McGregor still made a guaranteed 30 million. In every situation even if you’re on the losing end, find a way to benefit.

Kudakwashe Goromonzi Strive Mssiyiwa is also following the boxing millions,with charity begins at home..we had our own fighting night at the hicc

Liberty Toro Hard work is overrated

Liberty Toro Connor trained his behind off and still lost

Kudakwashe Goromonzi 600 million dollars,Americans and Irish governments have their share

WaMambo Machingura Experience will always win.

Tich Mapfumo …..that pessistence is one of the key elements in building a big business.Most people knew about TMT when the big buck$ started making headlines but a few knew that the guy have been fighting for 2 decades.It takes time to build something special thats the first lesson.The second lesson: TMT is only challenged bu the so called big names only why? it is because he has never lost a match in 50 bouts now meaning the guy has a reputation for winning.If ur in business and always close every big deal at a positive note you attract only big corporates to do business with you.Third lesson expirience gives anyone in business confidence to get any business deal done why? because everything that you do over and over makes you better at it.IF u were following McGregor was shouting a lot but May once said just wait and see i have fought many matches and won i practice a lot this guy is talking too much a match is not won elsewhere besides the ring.May had the confidence to say that in a calm and composed way because he knew he had done it over and over up to 49-0

Mike Nesselbeck Persistence is key. No matter what challenges come your way, strong persistence can beat anything. Mayweathers strong persistence to win gave him a win

SoulObsedian Xiv Africa is were the money is!

Tinos Samutete its all about the MONEY… they rigged the match and CASHED BIG …. SOON a rematch will be on the cards and more ching ching for the innovative

Watson Musenda The whole thing was a fraud, there was no boxing but kutora bag Chete….. let him move to heavyweight if he is serious with fighting.

Its a horror story that is meant for the movies, its a story that is has brought misery to most cattle farmers in Domboshava in Mashonaland East and Musana in Mashonaland Central. Many kraals have been wiped clean, kraals that once had permanent residence now lie empty! Kraals that once represented the wealth and pride of most families are now an eyesore, a constant reminder of a bitter experience for many a farmer. What is worse is that there is no scientific solution in sight, veterinary professionals have totally failed to control the disease outbreak in these two areas.

The horror story was scripted in Domboshava after the end of the rain season, the first cow to die was recorded in Domboshava and everyone thought this was an isolated case. A few days later more cattle were to join the graveyard and this raised alarm within the community.

I stay in Musana Bindura and therefore did not pay much attention to what was happening in the nearby district of Goromonzi. After all Domboshava is some 8 kilometres from my homestead. The Nyaure River marks the border between Domboshava and Musana and we thought that the problem would not cross the river.

I had first heard of this  mysterious disease wiping out cattle in Chinamhora area and did not pay attention because i assumed it was a normal foot and mouth outbreak which was going to be contained within a few weeks.

When i visited my rural area during the Heroe’s holiday i had what i had feared most-the crossing of the scourge to our ancestral land of Musana in Bindura South. First to be directly hit was Chief Chikore area where tens of cattle succumbed to this nameless disease whose origin was Domboshava. It soon spread to Nyakurwa area where a popular farmer with 45 cattle was left with 7 cattle!

After Nyakurwa, it entered my village and like a possessed spirit started moving from kraal to kraal devouring cattle with reckless abandon. Like an evil spirit, the scourge has left many villagers speechless and helpless. Watching your prized possession dropping dead without notice is a bitter pill to swallow, watching your herd being reduced by more than half is not easy to accept. Kumafuro mombe inongomira kufura, yotarisa pasi, ukawona yapedza kanguva yakatarisa pasi wotoziva kuti zvatanga.

Name of Disease?

The disease which has baffled villagers has no name according to the villagers. Maybe there is a scientific name out there but it has not been communicated to the hapless villagers.

To their credit, villagers have been informing veterinary professionals but  this has not helped at all. Vet docs have examined both live and dead  animals but not pinpointed the disease-they have not stopped it either. Unconfirmed reports say they are finding liver problems during postmotems . All prescriptions of medicines recommended by vets have not been helpful as some animals have died after being injected with prescribed medicines. The verdict is veterinary services have not been helpful in anyway!

How are animals dying?

One would expect animals to be sickly in appearance before dying but this is not the case as healthy looking beasts are dying . They are dying without notice-the trend witnessed is that  of a cow that stops grazing and looks intensely at the grazing grass before slumping to the ground-end of story!

Veterinary Advice

Villagers have been advised to bury all animals that die this way but few are heeding the advice. Since it is not foot and mouth, most are eating the beef, some selling it locally and in Harare. Noone knows for sure the effect of this cow disease on human beings although there is an unconfirmed report of a family  experiencing leg problems after eating the meat from affected animals. One may not completely blame villagers-beasts are dying looking healthy and add to this the fact that cattle represent wealth within the community.

Copying Measures

Some fearing the scourge have been transporting their cattle to other ‘safe’ areas or districts where the disease is still to reach. This copying mechanism is fraught with problems as it increases the chances of transferring the disease to other areas. One farmer had transported his herd of 20 cattle to Madziva and the hope is that he did not transfer a problem and he sought a solution to the disease problem.

Possible source of the problem

I may need to categorically state that iam not a veterinary professional and only qualified persons are authorised to investigate, analyse and issue authoritative statements on animals. However after analysing events on the ground, i noticed something that may point to the source of the disease.

It is the army worm that was brought during the rain season. The outbreak started in Chinamhora after the end of the farming season in March. An analysis of what is new in the area shows that most ‘mazhanje’ tree leaves have been affected. This is history in the Goromonzi and Musana area-the indigenous wild  tree has never been affected by worms and some who have been in the area for more than 80 years can testify. This is a new phenomenon-unheard of and never been witnessed.

It is interesting to note that the dangerous worms not only eat the mazhanje fruits but go on to attack the leaves. All areas where the disease has been ravaging cattle have the mazhanje tree!

The worms climb up trees for feeding during the evening and climb down during the day and stay on the ground. It is highly possible that the cattle affected could have grazed grass that has got these worms!

More is needed to research on the possible connection between the army worm and the mysterious cattle disease. We need scientific write up and conclusion but for now we are pointing our fingers towards the new worm that descended the area.

The worm has wrecked havoc on the livelihoods of farmers with some resorting to desperate measures of selling their cattle at ridiculously low prices, some are exchanging their cattle for donkeys as donkeys seem immune to the disease.

In the Chinamhora area, most cattle kraals have been lefty empty, in Chikore most kraals are empty and the only reminder that cattle once existed is cow dung. In Mupandira, herdboys are herding cattle with knifes and axes so that if a cow falls down-they can immediately cut meat whilst the meat! They want to cut on losses rather than to lose $300-$500 worth of investment.

Awaiting Answers

We are waiting for answers from responsible veterinary authorities. We would like to know the name of this disease that has killed hundreds of cattle and threatening to kill thousands more before it is contained. We would like to know what measures are being taken to address the problem. We also like to know whether there is a connection between the army worm and cattle disease. We are looking for answers as to why the disease is spreading without control. We hope to see the official response informing all stakeholders of how many cattle have been killed, what has been done to date.

All we are asking for is answers before the disease spreads to all areas across the country. So far it has shown an increased appetite to spread at a faster rate. We would also like to know measures being put in place to control the army worm that continues to wreck havoc after the end of the rain season. What is going to b the effect of this army worm on the 2017/2018 farming season?

So i was watching CNN today and there was  a programme of training the memory so that it can remember a lot of things. Interesting programme that shows that most people rarely use the power of their minds! Through the programme, i watched many people doing the unthinkable….verdict? The verdict was through practice, we can achieve more. Through mind training, students improved academic records-even those previously classified as dull.

Iam not an educationist an therefore may not be aware of how our local educators are doing it but believe that this is a must watch documentary. Yes we have quiz championships at high school an i remember representing my former school well during the 90s. I feel schools should launch competitions that train the minds of youngsters and watch the results!

Iam not advocating for students who ‘cram’ but students with an improved mindset and training the mind is one of them. ZBIN will therefore be making a lot of work on the awareness on the power of the mind! It can be a lot of fun and can help many students to improve grades.

History made
As mentioned last week, we have a team in Malawi that arrived yesterday. Our first ever foray onto the region. We have previously hosted regional participants but not gone to regional countries. So we are in Lilongwe and then Blantyre before coming back to Harare. From Harare we are gonna be on a whirlwind tour of the region meaning a temporary relocation of the ZBIN headquarters for the coming weeks.

The good thing coming from this is the establishment of a strong regional entrepreneurship community. Through the community developed we are hoping to distribute more products and services efficiently. You want to launch or distribute products or services in the region then there is one platform that can do it for you-ZBIN! You want to study business in Southern Africa then there is one forum of choice for you-ZBIN. We will be pilot testing a number of initiatives and Kilombero Rice is going to be one of them-creating expanded markets for the rice across Southern Africa and help to improve the livelihoods of Malawian farmers and also creating jobs in Maun, Durban, East London, Beitbridge, Phikwe, Maseru or Windhoek! It will not be a tough task to do because we already have 5,000 nationals on our Whatsapp platforms, we are meeting some of them during our tours and establishing linkages and networks. So ZBIN is nolonger a forum that talks of business opportunities in South Africa-now we are walking the talk!

Wa Reng: So what else is up this week?

1.Mining: We have partnered with one of the forum members and we are working on hosting a national conference on mining issues. Should be a unique conference that looks at the other side of mining, what happens after mining companies have finished mining and left? A great conference with a lot of researches and will challenge the way mining is done in the country especially the environmental damage.

2. More Live Updates: We are encouraging more members to participate, 3 South African citizens will be participating giving us business updates. If we are fortunate, we may feature a Zimbo sister based in India so that she can update us on what it is like to live in India-she will cover business opportunities and other general stuff

3. Moz Opportunities: We continue tracking developments in our ‘adopted country’-Moz because this is a country which rarely gets positive business story coverage.

4. Mainstream Media: So we have close to 400 business articles on our website which have been read 180,000 times since the formation of the www.zbinworld.com site. Everyday has a new article coming up and we are proud to have assisted a lot of people with business ideas. From next week do expect to read some of ZBIN articles in your local newspapers as we expand our reach beyond Social Media.

5. Volunteer Action: One of our volunteers, a company based in South Africa that deals in IT products and services has sponsored a quiz which will result in winners getting free Anti Virus software. Expect more products and offers from your favourite forum as we promote local entrepreneurs within the forum.

Stay Blessed.

Re tlaa bonana

We have great news from Guruve, the land where Thomas Mapfumo comes from. Do you remember the classic Ndoenda Guruve? That was Thomas Mapfumo at his best and now we go to this land of the Chimurenga Legend and look at investment opportunities.

We saw an advert in The Sunday Mail this week and decided to share with you the contents of the advert. The advert comes as an Invitation to Tenders: MRDC : 02/2017

1. 1. Fuel Service Stations and Garages at Mushumbi Growth Point : Mbire RDC is calling on investors to tap into uncharted energy sector opportunities in the fuel service stations and garages at its Mushumbi Growth Point measuring 2500 square meters
   2. Upmarket Primary School: Inviting private organisations , churches and trusts to invest in the educational sector for an upmarket primary school. There is 24 hectares in the district with friendly and flexible investment terms

• Mushumbi Pools(lodges): Available is land for the development of lodges measuring 20,000 square meters. Commercial accommodation is needed and is in short supply. Investors are invited to tap into the luxury and hospitality sector along the beautiful Manyame River. A site visit is compulsory.

Submit sealed bids at the Mushumbi Offices by 30^th August 2017 at 10:00 hours when tenders will be closed.

Tender documents are obtainable from Mbire Rural District Council upon payment of a non-refundable fee of $100. A site visit is compulsory on 30 August 2017 starting from Mbire RDC boardroom at 10:00am

Mbire Rural District Council reserves the right to accept the whole, part of reject any tender. Tenders in sealed envelopes must be submitted to:

The Chief Executive Officer

Mbire Rural District Council

P O Box 539, Guruve

I remember this inspirational write up by one of the leading business personalities in Africa. He said if you see a wagon, then it is already too late to invest-in short the field is flooded! When everyone is talking or joining a field or sector then it is no longer profitable.

We are notorious for copying business ideas from each other, if you see your neighbour investing in kombis then you may want to invest too, see your friend doing well in poultry and then ‘sweat the technique’ like what the famous American Rap Music duo of Eric B and Rakim used to sing in the early 90s-sweating the technique is street lingo for copying!

So how does one invest in an over crowed industry and still make profits? The answer is simple-in real estate when they run out of ground space, they go upwards. In business one can use the same technique of going up.

To help illustrate this point lets assume you would like to invest in the baking industry-baking cakes and samoosas for sale. This field is over flooded with almost every street having someone who is baking for business. We will break the baking business into categories that go up.

Category One

Category One is characterised by first time entrants to a field. Huge profits await those who join first and the rest quickly join and drive profits down. When people say ‘sector iyi haina mari’ they are in most cases referring to this category. Think of the kombis, poultry and vending.

Category Two

Still assessing the baking of cakes industry, this is a category higher than the first one and includes teaching others how to bake. You need special skill and have to create this category especially when everyone starts rushing in. They say opportunities in Zimbabwe last for 3 months before profits are driven down. So teaching others to make money helps you to stay for a while in the game.

Category Three

Category three is a notch higher than the previous one and one is now looking at the supply side. Supplying baking equipment to those in the baking industry. You will be dealing with both category one and category two. You have noticed that there are a lot of first timers to the industry and they all need equipment-in you come and supply it!

Category Four

Category four may involve you forming an association of Baking Professionals linking up with all those who are doing baking-doing advocacy and capacity building, forming chapters across the country and linking them with regional forums.

What do we learn from this?

Most people (99%) will tell you that baking is over flooded and discourage you. The reason they do this is because their level of thinking will be on category one! If you look at any sector and analyse category one then you are likely to see very little profit margins. Industry zveshuwawo inenge isina chiro….munhu wese achingoita!

However a closer analysis and study will show that if you go up, you may find unlimited opportunities. Someone may say the kombi business is over subscribed with more than 10,000 kombis in Harare alone but tell that to the Nigerian brother running a car parts shop along Kaguvi and he will differ with you. He will say ‘Oga, Kombi business is good…not only good but very good’

So when entering any field think of the categories to enter at, one the flooded one or second level which may be less flooded. Kana munhu achiti hazvina mari izvi mafungiro ake anogona kunge ari pa category one, open up their minds and use the example above.

I even laugh with friends when i say one day the diaspora will come back and grab all opportunities that exist in Zimbabwe. How will they do it? Simple they will start from category 3 and 4 of each sector and make huge profits.

The current operating environment is a rough one for the business sector. It is no longer business as usual and only the innovative and enterprising business people are going to survive . With a shortage of foreign currency from the formal banking sector and a liquidity crunch, the situation cannot be any tougher. The situation is increasing pressure on the business sector  to analyse costing methods as well as pricing. These are two important components in the calculation of your price and your profit as well.

Pricing is one major decision an entrepreneur has to take and this pricing calls for flexibility in order to adapt to a fluid business environment. If you are sticking to old methods of pricing then you seriously risk losing business. You have to adapt and move fast with pricing trends so that you get business in the tough economic times that we find ourselves in.

Some companies are insisting on cash as a method of payment when cash is hard to come by-the result is a loss of business. ZBIN will be covering this key topic on our Facebook Live on Friday as we explore various pricing methods that are relevant to a dynamic environment like ours.

Below we feature a post from Diana Elisha Nheera on pricing. She is a digital marketing professional and a freelance photographer and shares her thoughts on pricing by freelance professionals in her field.

You also meet the young service providers who overrate and overcharge their work much to their disadvantage in a struggling economy. They take pride in telling peers I ONLY CHARGE SO MUCH… They believe their value is increased by exorbitant prices and even go as far as believing potential clients walk because havana mari.. Not at all, things are hard all around, money is not easy to come by, that means everyone is careful how they are spending their every cent. Even big companies have realised this and keep adjusting… Where possible, package such that you serve all budget clients. High, low and medium. Take advantage of the low budget sales as normally those compensate on quantity, but all this without compromising on the quality of service and or product. Invest in some periodic market research and little surveys. The business environment is very dynamic and you cannot afford to be the static one… Grow. Accommodate and Benefit.