Diaspora Matters

ZBIN is going to feature some of the inspiring stories from our ZBIN community. Starting a business in no easy stroll in the park, you face many hurdles and if you are not strong  enough-you will give up! In this article, we cover one of the ladies I witnessed starting the entrepreneurship journey a few years ago. I remember our mentorship meeting at Garwe Restaurant in 2012 when we discussed about business and her plans for her newly established company. The good news is that at the time her future looked uncertain, the future outlook was bleak, however she persevered and her business dream has flourished resulting in her creating several  job opportunities for Zimbabweans. We need more of these inspiring young people in business-they need support from government initiatives in order to help the economy grow and create many jobs. To our readers especially young women here is our advice:

YOUNG WOMEN CAN DO IT IN BUSINESS

Pauline did it and so can you! As a volunteer of ZBIN, Pauline will be assisting other young women  persons interested in pursuing the entrepreneurship journey.

ZBIN will be travelling with Pauline to Beira in Mozambique  next weekend as we explore more opportunities in the coastal region . Below are a couple of questions we posed to her and her responses.

1. Tell us about yourself
My name is Pauline Mkosi founder of Reactive Property Maintenance and Managing Director of Ecochem.

2. How long have you been in business?
I stated doing business since 2008 doing buying and selling. I once ventured into gold, had boutique shop, etc. And in 2012 I registered Reactive Property Maintenance that specializes in electrical installations and repairs, plumbing, welding, carpentry and construction. Today I am going to talk about Ecochem only.

3. Tell us about your business, opportunities and challenges
Every business has its challenges and opportunities.
Challenges
a) Access to funding
b) Debtors
c) Lack of mentors to show us the ropes
d) Work and life balance as a female entrepreneur
e) Lack of leadership experience
Opportunities

a) Export opportunities for example to other countries like Mozambique, Zambia, DRC and Malawi
b) We want to venture into contract cleaning services as a vertical integration strategy since many companies that offer cleaning services do not manufacture cleaning detergents.
c) We want also venture into retail industry and introduce environmentally friendly products.

4. Where did you get capital?
Nobody was willing to give me a start-up loan and if you do not have anything to your name, it is more difficult to get a loan. I was fortunate enough to have a supportive family, they helped me with startup capital and at first we sold our products on cash basis doing small packaging e. g 2L

5. How is it to be a young woman in business?
The road is bumpy and difficult but no one will stop or take away your dream and passion. Detergents manufacturing Industry is male dominated. It is difficulty for a female entrepreneur to succeed in a male-dominated industry and earning respect has been a struggle. But remaining true to yourself and finding your own voice are the keys to rising above preconceived expectations. One of the best things I’ve done to help myself in this area is joining a women entrepreneur training, Proweb Virgin Unite. Proweb has provided me with a mentor and peers to inspire me, hit me with reality checks on my capabilities and successes and help be grow and learn from their outside perspectives and experiences.

Work-life balance is a goal of many entrepreneurs regardless of their gender, but mothers who start businesses have to simultaneously run their families and their companies. And in this area, traditional gender expectations often still prevail. Being a mother while running a business is very challenging. “Mompreneurs” have dual responsibilities to their businesses and to their families, and finding ways to devote time to both is key to truly achieving that elusive work-life balance.

I have stopped worrying if people will treat me differently in business because of my gender and have stopped comparing myself to others, including men. The bottom line is, if you’re successful, no one cares whether you are man or a woman. Treat yourself as a business owner so others treat you the same way. Stop waiting for permission or recognition from others in order to feel entitled to your success.

6. Any plans to expand to other cities?
We are already in other cities. We deliver our products everywhere in Zimbabwe. For example, we supply MSU in Zvishavane, Rio Tinto Agric College in Gokwe, Mlezu college in Kwekwe, Chikangwe High School in Karoi, Kariba schools etc.

7. Many people are wondering why they should register their business, what is your message to them?
No one wants to deal with an unregistered person. For example when i started Ecochem,I didn’t have the SPB and no one wanted to do business with me and that was a barrier. I then started to sell to creches because no one wanted to buy from me. I managed to raise the money needed to register for vendor number and then for SPB. That’s when opportunities opened up and managed also to supply Zimbabwe National Army, Attorney General’s office and many other government departments.

8. How do you market your business? Is it effective?
We have Sales Reps who walk door to door to companies selling our products and doing demonstrations. We also market our products through our website, facebook page, and classifieds. We also market ourselves through word of mouth, referrals and networking.

9. Any message to the RBZ Governor who is busy with the Mid Year Monetary Policy compilation, what should be done for the small business
Mr Governor should include a budget for upcoming entrepreneurs and business people so as to encourage businesses to grow and to improve our economic challenges and reduce unemployment.

10. Do you have a website
www.ecochem.co.zw
www.reactivepropertymaintenance.co.zw

11. Lastly any advice to young people interested in setting up businesses
You need to have massive failure to have massive success. You may need 100 ‘NOs’ to get one ‘YES,’ but that one ‘YES’ will make you more successful tomorrow than you were today.” Fight for what you believe is right and have confidence in your ability to succeed despite adversity.” You too can do it, you just need to take the first step and never look back.

Do not miss a Facebook Live feature of Pauline on ZBIN at a date to be advised after the Beira Trip.

The last official census of Harare puts the number of Hararians at 2 million. The figure is divided as 1,4 million for Harare urban and 600k for Chitown. Now this is a massive number for business if you look at aspects such as who feeds Hararianss, who clothes Hararians and also who entertains Hararians! Talking of entertainment, we only have one major lake and it is Lake Chivero. There is very little entertainment at this lake and its a shame.

This week witnessed ZBIN making a regional history, setting new records in terms of digital marketing. Earlier during last week, we had written about Facebook Boosting and we are sure that  most members just read  the article in passing without much analysis-perhaps it  sounded too academic or theoretical! Anyway the good thing is we  decided to go an extra mile and showcase our skills on digital marketing and the results are exceptional!

On Saturday afternoon, we decided to find out whether we can promote a legitimate ZBIN program to Non Zimbabweans and covered the following countries:

1. Botswana
2. South Africa
3. Malawi
4. Lesotho and
5. Swaziland

We had 24 hours to promote our product/service using social media using no budget. The results are outstanding, your favourite forum went viral with more than 1500 likes in Botswana and 800 comments. No doubt a record for a Zimbabwean organisation with no presence in that country. Malawi had more than 700 likes and 800 comments, Lesotho had 120 likes and 110 comments. South Africa had 300 likes and 350 comments. Swaziland had 50 likes and 40 comments.

Outstanding results and we believe we have set a new regional digital marketing record in terms of marketing in the region within 24 hours. As the country pushes for exports this is what researchers and scholars should be concentrating on-are you able to sell or promote a product or service beyond Zimbabwe’s borders? Are you able to speak the language of foreigners, be part of them and convince them to support of follow you?

We hope to see competitions on digital marketing being promoted by organisations supporting business in Zimbabwe, we hope to see a lot of noise on digital marketing because this is the way to go in a fast changing economy! If we are to promote exports then we need to research on markets, analyse trends and involve everyone.

Regional Expansion

We are excited with the addition of new members from South Africa, Malawi, Botswana and Swaziland, we have created groups for them where entrepreneurship information is disseminated and business discussions conducted. In August we will be visiting Malawi and Botswana to conduct training if all goes according to plan. Adding 1000 Malawians, 800 Tswana Nationals, 100 Lesotho nationals, 500 South African nationals and 50 Swazi nationals makes us a truly regional platform.

We hope to replicate the ZBIN model in the region so that we have different trusts opened in all the countries where we have members. This is our target for the remainder of the year so that more Southern Africa citizens can have access to business information for free and take advantage of the emergence of the digital economy.

 Facebook Live Updates

We continue to use the Facebook Live facility for information dissemination, analysis and capacity building. We had a South African citizen becoming the first citizen from Mzantsi to carry out an update on a Zimbabwe business forum. The information she shared is relevant to Zimbabweans and South Africans as well. A great way to connect the region on a digital platform and sharing inspirational stories and giving advice that helps thousands of others. We are looking forward to having Tswanas, Sotho and Malawian nationals participating and spreading the gospel of entrepreneurship to their nation and the region as a whole.

ZBIN will carry out a live on ‘How to register a company in Zimbabwe’. We will cover why you should register your company and discuss the advantages of doing so. Be sure not to miss it. Our volunteer based in Canada, Ms Irene Samambwa has promised to do a live that discusses living in Canada, the cost of living, education, weather and all issues you may want to know about the wonderful country of Canada, do not miss this one again this week.

Opportunity Alertness, Opportunity Framing and Opportunity Pursuit

Do expect an article on opportunity alertness, we will cover various ways of identifying opportunities and will do this with a focus on regional countries because we have done this for Zimbabwe. So expect opportunities identification articles covering Botswana and Malawi.

Online Newsletter

We had been developing the online newsletter and will resume publication during the week. The newsletter basically summarises all business posts of the week and provides indepth analysis of business issues and covers trends in Southern Africa and beyond.

We wish you are blessed week and hope that whenever you see someone talking about markets the first word that comes to your mind is digital markets. Whenever someone says he or she is an expert on digital markets, ask them to beat the small regional record that we set. It is by beating the record that the region can competitively develop

The future looks bright with Digital Marketing for the SME sector and we have a number of initiatives in our laboratory which we are working on which should help inspire a lot of members on the forum.

We reproduce by popular demand, one of our interviews of our members and volunteers living in Diaspora- Ms Irene Samambwa. We have asked her to do a Facebook Live update for the forum which she is going to share in the coming few weeks. Below are some of the questions that we posed to her and her responses.

How long have you been living in Canada?

I have been in North America for 17 years. Six of those where in the USA. But only three months in Europe, Germany, on a scholarship.

How is the weather in Canada, have heard that its extremely cold?

Canada has 4 seasons but three predominant ones. Coast to coast has different weather patterns/ The summer can get quite hot with temperatures going up to 36 or 39Degrees Celsius. Winters are also cold depending on the region. In the northern territories winter temperatures, can get to -50Degrees Celsius. But on average winter temperatures are anywhere between -15Degrees Celsius to 10 Degrees Celsius.

Coast to coast winters are characterised with snow, ice and rain. Snow levels can reach 5- 10 metres in some cases. In winter the sun goes down around 4 pm and comes out around 8pm.

However, while this might sound scary, Canada has some of the best winter clothing worldwide. If you dressed correctly for the outside you will hardly feel anything. Indoors houses are heated so the chances of feeling cold are minimal. The body has a remarkable capacity to adjust to the weather.

Zim Community, is there a big Zim community in Canada?

Yes there is a big Zimbabwean community spread out in popular provinces where there are jobs such as Alberta and Ontario. The most popular cities being Toronto or Edmonton. However more Zimbabweans are venturing out to the Northern remote parts of Canada

Tell us about education for kids, is it expensive?

Canada has an excellent public education system. The Prime Minister’s children go to public schools. Education is very free and state of the art with smart board, smart pads etc. Kids receive homework online and all kids have school email accounts. They have virtual classrooms with their teachers for homework and revision. College and university is not free but each province has different rates. The students have access to grants and loans and these are available until they complete whatever level of education they want. A Canadian education is acceptable anywhere in the world.

Cost of living, how is it?

Canada is a bit more expensive than the USA but cheaper than the UK in terms of housing. Plus, our standard of living is higher than the UK and US. Canadians have good work times and hours. Parents have maternity vacations for both husband and wives. Pensions and retirement plans are available.

Healthcare is free from maternity to cancer surgeries or treatments. Name the issues you get treaed for free. Jobs for professionals are highly rewarding with popular jobs being in teaching, nursing and social work. Finance jobs are also popular as well as energy jobs. Artisan jobs are indeed very popular. Economic resistant jobs are in the social and nursing fields and if you want to go out to serve the remote communities you get very good packages. The remote communities being NorthWest Territories, Yukon and Nunavut.

Which other African communities dominate the immigrant communities in Canada?

Anywhere you go in the UK, US, and Australia perhaps, the biggest African communities are West African and Eastern African namely Nigerian, Ghanaian and Kenyans, Somalians and Ethopians.

Which cities do you recommend for first time immigrants?

Toronto, Montreal and Edmonton

Five good things you like about Canada?

1.Safe. Can sleep with door unlocked and keys in the car. I am speaking from experience!. 2.Family friendly. There are plenty of vacation and holiday spots that are affordable. Plus work schedules are not horrible like the UK and US.

2.Family friendly. There are plenty of vacation and holiday spots that are affordable. Plus work schedules are not horrible like the UK and US

3. Education opportunities: you can advance as far and as wide as you want to go

4.Business and work opportunities: when you think outside the box, the sky is the limit

5.Strong economy and policies. Canada is safe foe everyone 51/2. Friendly people and not too much race issues

So there you are forumites, our Forum Admin is one helpful and friendly person feel free to add more questions and she will answer respond when free.

Twalumba

Have you opened your Facebook Page recently and come across sponsored articles, posts or adverts? Iam sure you have done so but may not have paid much attention since most of the adverts are foreignand international companies pushing their brands on Facebook.

Now slowly Zimbabwean companies are appearing on Facebook with sponsored adverts and we expect most companies to join by end of next year. Sponsoring adverts on Facebook is called Facebook Boosting, you will be boosting(promoting) an advert and this allows you access to unlimited market potential.

How is Facebook Boosting Done?

Anyone can do Facebook Boosting and all you need is enough money to place an advert. Amounts can range from as low as $1, $2 …there is no limit. Each amount gives you access to a specific number of viewers and if you want to reach more people then expect to pay more.

Facebook Boosting Advantages

Unlike traditional advertining platforms where there is no flexibility in selecting the audience, Facebook boosting allows you options such as:

1. Geographic location
2. Age
3. Gender
4. Language

If i have a product that i would like to promote in Venezuela, i can now easily do that by using Facebook Boosting. The facility basically removes barriers or boundaries when it comes to advertising and promotion. Payment terms are flexible too as you can choose from as low as $1 to boost an advert. You can choose to boost everyday or on specific time periods.

Who can do Facebook Boosting?

We have seen a slow uptake by major private companies but predict an upswing in the coming months. The reason of the upswing is due to the continued influence of social media. The population of youths in Zimbabwe has been estimated at 70% and most of the youths use social media for entertainment and source of news. So every company is going to be forced to turn to Facebook boosting for adverts and promotional activities. If you do not, then your competitors will and you will be left with no option but to join the band wagon.

We have also seen the use of Facebook Boosting by political parties who are trying to drum up support for the 2018 elections. One political party managed to boost their posts and attracted more than 20,000 followers within a week! We expect all political parties to join the bandwagon within the next few months as they try to tap into young voters who are the majority on social media.

NGOs are slowly taking to Facebook Boosting however because of red tape this is going to take a while before they fully accept the changing times of the digital economy.

Is Facebook Boosting Effective?

Try and imagine a young fresh university graduate going to the CEO of a major company such as Old Mutual or NRZ and advising the CEO to use Facebook Boosting. The answer is likely to be a straight No, the youngster is likely to be dismissed by the CEO because the CEO did not learn about this new social media during his university days, this phenomenon is for youngsters and worse no enough studies have been done to show that this is effective and provides a good return on investment!

The generational gap is going to be the biggest hindrance in acceptance of this new marketing or advertising platform. Unfortunately, this is how a lot of big corporates will lose out to increased competition from agile young competitors in the long run. Facebook boosting does work and we have witnessed its effectiveness where a number of ZBIN members have used it.

Perhaps the biggest beneficiary of Facebook Boosting is Strive Masiyiwa who has managed to get more than 2 million followers across the African continent within a few months. Using content marketing, he has been effectively using the platform to promote his Kwese TV products by writing influential articles that inspire young entrepreneurs across the continent.

We expect his followers to exceed 10 million in 12 months time. He knows where the money is and is moving fast to tap into the huge potential before others join in.

Advantage Diaspora

There are a lot of unlimited opportunities coming from the creating of Facebook boosting and one of the major beneficiaries is the Diaspora. Now you can set up a company in Zimbabwe and quickly get a following, quickly get clients using social media. You can set up an IT company whilst based in South Africa, open offices in Harare and then start vigorous marketing using Facebook Boosting. An amount of $30 per month can ensure that you reach out to hundreds of potential clients in a month.

So promoting a company has been made easy and you can take on some of the big monopolies who will obviously will be slow to take up the use of the platform.

New Talent Required

Since this is a new phenomenon which will soon blossom as everyone joins in, there is going to be huge demand for talented people who can market companies or products on social media. If you are a journalist then you may need to sharpen your skills on social media because your current employer is going to encounter reduced adverting revenue due to Facebook Boosting. You therefore need to follow the band wagon and tailor make your skills to developments on social media.

If you are a young person, then sharpen your skills with social media marketing skills because this is the future. In South Africa we already have adverts for people who will manage social media platforms such as Facebook and Whatsapp. Such adverts may not come to Zim soon by they will be coming from next year onwards.

One just needs to look at the way smart phones are being bought in town, everyone in urban areas is buying a smart phone that enables them to connect to social media. This is the fastest growth sector in the country. An improvement in the economy should witness an explosion in growth and all of this means new opportunities on social media. Its influence will increase beyond the current levels forcing everyone to adopt it.

So research more on Facebook Boosting, do not research or read in isolation, do look at all social media platforms in totality. Do look for trends, compare Zimbabwe and other countries and then do your own projections of what the country will look like in 12 months or 24 months time.

Most  entrepreneurs fear the word business plan. Mention the word business plan and most will lose interest, to some it is a complicated document that is expensive to produce. It is a document that is required for accessing loans only, after getting the loan then you are done, you put the document in a closed filing cabinet.

ZBIN would however like to assist the SME sector to appreciate the importance of business plans. A business plan should not be viewed as an unnecessary document designed with the sole purpose of accessing credit from registered commercial lenders. It is a useful live document which every entrepreneur should embrace-it can be used for day to day business operations!

With time, one can easily learn to develop their own business plan. You may not need a lot of expert advice on it. ZBIN has therefore developed a presentation as per demand from the ZBIN community. Go through the presentation, feel free to download and use it. Next week, we are hoping to do a Facebook Live update on Business Plans-we will upload the video on the page in case you miss it.

The Zimbabwean economy is a complex one, in your analysis you cannot use the one size fits all approach. At face value it looks like no opportunities exist, it looks like all opportunities have been exhausted but if you dig deep you actually find new opportunities where business is thriving.

An analysis of all shopping malls generally show a decline in business. Look at some of the places we have covered on ZBIN such as the Old Mutual owned Highglen and Westgate . These shopping malls are characterised with empty office spaces. Most shops have closed doors and these malls are virtually empty. The Chitungwiza Old Mutual owned mall is doing better than Highglen when it comes to traffic but still the general trend is that of decline.

In Avondale, a new small shopping mall is being constructed a few metres from the Avondale shopping centre and this becomes the only mall being built in the capital. The Village Walk in Borrowdale being the other where CAFE NUSH is completing renovation for new premises.

So in the midst of all this what opportunities does ZBIN want to share with our members and followers? We can say that business is fast changing, the way of doing business or analysing opportunities is fast changing as well. A  look at one of our top articles we covered which looked at top areas where Zimbabweans are spending money revealed that Food is one area where there is no substitute!

Few companies are involved in Dial A Service business in Harare. The few that are involved in this business are enjoying their time in the sunshine! They are fast expanding whilst other areas of the business sector show signs of distress.

The big question

The question maybe how are they doing it? The easy answer to this question lies in who are you targeting? The high net worth class in Harare is now preferring ordering their food and having it delivered at their homes. Great way to avoid traffic congestion and possibilities of meeting the endless traffic roadblocks on our roads. So money saved in terms of fuel and the added advantage of convenience is leading to the growth of this sector which is still dominated by a few monopolies.

Food being delivered is mostly fast foods but there is a growing demand for traditional foods. The costs of running this business is reasonably low with the use of motorbikes which cost an average of $1,000 each. In some cases there is no need to rent premises as this business can be run from the comfort of your home.

Business Research

Do not just jump and try tis business without sufficient business research-unodonha! Take your time to build a clientele base, work with corporates where employees work during the evening such as Banks and Mobile Telecommunication Companies. Research more on companies that are doing well and find out where their employees get lunch or dinner. For now this business is concentrated in the low density areas but areas such as Chishawasha, Glenlorne lack coverage. Universities which house thousands of students provide huge potential too.

ZBIN wishes you best of luck and if you are in the Diaspora worry not, one day when the economy picks up-do expect this area to expand to all the residential areas in urban areas.

A friend of mine called Emmanuel who had been working in the IT field returned to Zimbabwe  from South Africa a few years ago. On his return he realised that there was no facility to send SMS messages to phones whenever one withdraws money from banks. He took of advantage of the expertise he had gained in South Africa and worked with a local bank to introduce the service in Zimbabwe. The facility had been operational in South Africa for a while but Zimbabwe was slow in its uptake.

So this is the huge benefit that the Diaspora possess-access to superior skills, cultures and technology. Some technologies will take decades to reach this side of the equator and the gap creates great opportunities  for those with an entrepreneurial mindset. I remember getting excited when this school in Harare introduced a school app, I thought the school authorities were being innovative. When I checked with friends based in the States, their answer was that this had been introduced many years back!

So for entrepreneurs especially those based in Zim, the message is clear-make sure that you are clued up on latest technological issues. Make sure you know what is in, what is out, what is coming etc. One way to stay up to date is to join forums where they discuss latest business trends, do watch news or read forums such as www.techzim.co.zw. Just make sure you do not miss out as doing so is perilous!

One can take our post on Bitcoin Fraud which we posted in January this year. We had analysed Nigerian Business Groups and realised that Bitcoin fraud was gaining ground. We estimated the fraud to land this side by mid year and we were not wrong at all! The point here is that as an Entrepreneur , one should always be scanning the environment and the environment does not have to be local only-do expand and cover the region, the continent and all the four corners of the globe.

A trend in West Africa will eventually reach Zimbabwe, A trend in India will eventually come this side. In the past it could take decades but these days the time lag has been reduced. So do check out for trends whether they are on risk management or opportunities. Compare and contrast with the current environment in the country and take advantage of the gap.

Scholars of Management Accounting would call this Benchmarking, a topic we will cover in future but for now lets look closely at what the richest man in Zimbabwe did to benefit from benchmarking. He saw a trend in East Africa and moved fast to take advantage, others who were not following events in East Africa obviously lost out.

By Dr Strive Masiyiwa

Understanding business models (Part 2)
__When you see an opportunity, get STARTED! A case study.

I knew it would be the next big thing. It was time to act, and be a “fast follower…”

The product opportunity I saw: Mobile Money. I’d been watching the developments at Kenya’s M-PESA, talking to friends in the industry, reading about it, and had even made a secret visit there to look for myself. I also knew what was happening in other parts of the world, in places like the Philippines and Bangladesh…

First step (to answer one of your questions at the Tanzania Town Hall): Do your homework!

Next step (yes, you’ve heard it before): #People.

I needed a small team of people of highly-motivated entrepreneurial executives. I plucked a guy working for us in Burundi, and asked him to move to Nairobi, the epicenter of this new Mobile Money revolution. He didn’t report to anyone else, except me. Every week he wrote me a report on his observations. Sometimes we would talk for hours on the phone:

“Sir, there are some smart Kenyans I think we can get…”

“Sir, we can get developers from Cape Town. Can I go see them?”

“I have found a guy in Cape Town but he won’t move to Zimbabwe, can I ask HQ to hire him and keep him in Cape Town?”

“Sir, the best platform for us to use is in India. Have made contact. We need to travel to India to see them…”

Months later:

“We have a system up and running in Burundi. It’s small but we’re learning fast…”

“Sir, I have been working with HR’s talent management team. We’re tracking some really smart young people who we think we could recruit and train to run with this. There are also some people in our system who want to try something new…”

__The #People and #Product were coming together nicely.

Next step: #Process.

“We need the ‘Process builders’ to get involved heavily now, because the business plan is looking good!”

“I love it!!”

# Finance systems? Check.
# IT systems? Check.
# Legal systems? Check.
# Marketing? Check.
# Sales? Check.
# Recruitment? Check.
# Distribution? Check.
# Training? Check.
# Logistics? Check.
(What else? You tell me).
Check!!

“Bring on some really experienced talent for process. You can even use consultants. This business will require complex processes for recruiting and managing dealers.”

“We also have a very sensitive product… Money!”

“Sir, our competitor in (x) is rushing to market with a similar service. What should we do, because we’re not ready?!”

“Neither are they, so stay the course. Don’t cut corners, even if it means they get a year’s head start. We’ll beat the pants off anyone who goes into the market with a half-baked idea.”

__Intense meetings took place every day on getting the #Processes right!

Twelve months later:

“Sir, Burundi is looking great. Can we scale to a bigger market now?”

“Not yet. I need to see more data.”

“Bring your team.”

After listening to them: “What do you want to call this great service of yours?”

“Sir, we were thinking to call it EcoCash.”

“I like it. Go ahead.”

Fast forward 10 years:

The executive who set it up is now one of the most senior members of our organization. He runs our financial services business called Cassava Fintech, based in South Africa. Their operations cover every aspect of Mobile Money including Digital Banking, Payment Systems, Mobile Insurance, Remittances, and eCommerce. They are active throughout Africa, and even in the U.K.

__Another question from our Town Hall meeting this week: “If you feel like you want to give up, what do you do?”

There were times when things broke down completely, and crisis meetings. Sometimes I had to fire people who failed or were not up to scratch. Sometimes people resigned or were poached! We lost so much money in the first two years that some of my more senior executives were actually begging me to shut it down. Yes, we almost shut down EcoCash before it took off!

This year the GSMA (the organization representing Mobile Network Operators from around the world), meeting in Barcelona, Spain named EcoCash the best Mobile Money Solution in the World for 2017!

__How did we do it? We kept our focus on the 3Ps.

If you want to find out more about “People, Process and Product” (and much more) go to Kwesé Inc (channel 405 on Kwesé TV). If you want to learn more about Cassava Fintech, visit the website: http://cassavafintech.com.

To everyone who took part in our Tanzania Entrepreneurship Town Hall (from Tanzania, here on this platform, all over Africa and the world via lifestream on FB) and to our hosts in Tanzania: Thank you. I really enjoyed meeting you and look forward to another one soon.

To be continued. . .

The major advantage of being part of the Zimbabwe Business Ideas and Network is access to opportunities. The forum with numbers now at 40, 000 members is growing everyday. We are expanding at a rapid pace, connecting with Zimbabweans and Foreign Nationals across the globe. We are slowly becoming the window of opportunities in Zimbabwe for Diaspora and Foreign Nationals. A lot of inquiries  on opportunities in Zimbabwe are coming from all corners and this is good news for the forum and the country as a whole. To date our site has had close to 160, 000 views in 7 months of operation. An important measure of a website effectiveness is a benchmark called Unique Viewers. These are regular viewers of a site who always visit it for information and resources.

Our unique users number has risen to 5,000 and continues to grow as we innovate and bring new ideas and ways of doing business. What is remarkable is the fact that we have achieved all of this without spending a penny on advert and promotion! When we start using a small budget we expect our impact to be 1000 fold. So as a fast growing forum we have a facility for our members and followers to register as consultants.

The facility is available free of charge and you can email vicmunemo@yahoo.com or whatsapp me on +263774081808 if you would like to be on the list of consultants. The list of consultants is our first port of call whenever members inuire about consultant services.

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We give you the latest prices of vegetables from Zimbabwe’s biggest fruit and vegetables market-Mbare Musika. Latest survey results have shown that up to $1 billion circulates in the Mbare Informal sector and this includes Mbare Musika, Siyaso and Mupedzanhamo. The price tracker  comes courtesy of Musika Solutions.

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