Diaspora Matters

By Kate Marsden

Asking questions is a very powerful tool for a business owner and leader to help drive the business.

1. Why? My favourite question is “Why?” It gets right to the heart of things – even those things that you take for granted. Kids ask it all the time – much to the irritation of their frazzled parents, who suddenly question the basics in life again! Sadly though, it’s a question you don’t hear enough in many businesses and it is often drummed out of new people without anyone realising the positive impact it can have on a business.
2. What would make us better? Push for excellence on everything and force people to come up with new ways to make things better. Make it your mission for a week to look at everything in terms of how it could be improved, rather than what the problems are.
3. How does the customer feel? Take time really see things from a customer perspective. If you can, become your own mystery shopper. Or just watch and listen to how staff deal with customers and ask how you would feel in their shoes.
4. How are we different? Being like everyone else is just not enough. If you can’t explain – and back up – why you are better or different to your competitors, you are missing a massive opportunity
5. Where does our profit come from? You may think you know this, but you may be surprised. Do you know which customers make the most money? Or which products? Do you know which 20% of effort drives 80% of your financial results?
6. Where does all the money go? Again you may think you know this, but look again. Where does all the money you take in sales go before some of it drops to the bottom line? Is it all worth it?
7. Who is critical to the future of the business? If the answer is only you, you have a serious problem (or you need a dose of reality!). Every business needs a critical few who are driving the future – and then you need to work out how to hold on to them at all costs.

A sister based in UK would like to open a crèche in Harare in one of the medium density suburbs.The crèche will be run by her mum and her brother. She would therefore like to find out about the current creche fees in Harare and  general information about profitability of this sector.

Responses

WeNyasha Tee look for a 3-5 bedroom house with a big outdoor space furnish it well up to outdoor play equipment.
look for qualified ECD teachers 2 or 3.
provide transport a taxi or kombi depending with number of kids and charge $5-$20 depending with radius/ distance.
fees kids around Hatfield, Waterfalls pay $60-$120 a month
grocery a month $15 per child or you charge your fees inclusive of grocery

Yemurai Nhongo-Thepe The house needs to be for commercial purposes and you need to get permission and licenses from ministry and city of Harare

Lloyd Chidamahiya Prices vary from 30 bugs in the ghetto, 120 to 200 medium density, up to over a thousand dollars in low densities ,monthly. Obviously that also depends on what u offering. Who is ur target market. Hw gd is ur marketing skills etc

Mai Anashe Tagwirei I have picked up a couple of points, am about to start a creche business. Thanks guys

Mel Sibbs like the page Kindercare-Zimbabwe Nurseries and Preschools

Sithole Rubie Be fair in terms of pricing .. it’s ludicrous and exorbitant these crèche in Harare charge 30_40$ for extra activities like swimming, gymnasium, worse when it comes to travels ..
Creche owners need to understand that yes I want my child to get the best education and experience but the prices need to be fair and rational .. considering the economic situation

Tapiwa Mubonderi Creches are becoming defunct due to formal schools offering ECD. Quite a number of creches are going out of business. It would be advisable to look at setting up a school, you can partner with council and government to develop a school. The margins will be lower but the volumes will make it lucrative. There is a requirement to establish and build 2,500 schools at present. An injection of $400,000 upwards would be sufficient.

Memory Rumbidzai Chikowore Marongwe The schools can not absorb all children for ECD A and B. So creches are still in business The only thing that creates a sustainable project is offering your best above the rest go an extra mile. For more deatails you or your mum can visit me at my Pre School my number is 0774 249 693

Hope Lunga Murombwi I’m in agreement. I have a 3 yr old still in nursery school. I have no plans for taking her to school for ECD because of the personalised care I am getting at nursery school. Some schools are not yet equipped for these little ones e.g. installing toilets their size. Thats my personal preference

*PS Post first appeared on Zimbabwe Business Ideas and Network Facebook Page on September 11, 2016

On ZBIN expect investment ideas targeting the Diasporan Community. We will try our level best to ensure that you stay connected with business developments on the ground. We will cover areas that are not normally covered by the mainstream media. All of the information will be availed to you free of charge. To date we have given you investment advice on Water Parks, Open air venue in Westgate and now this morning we cover real estate in Melfort, a place near Harare which is developing at a fast rate.

ZBIN Adopts Melfort

So are you planning on purchasing residential stands in Harare? Perhaps you may not have sufficient resources to enable you to get that dream residential stand in your dream location. As ZBIN we are saying worry not.  Our advice to you is to try towns that are located near Harare. We all know about Norton so we are not going to waste time discussing about.

Our recommended area is MELFORT! Yeah situated a few kilometres from Ruwa-this is the place to be! It growing fast although we feel that its still not fully developed. The main advsntages f this area are as follows:

1. Close proximity to Harare, Ruwa to be specific
2. Good road network, the dualisation of the road between Mabvuku and Msasa ensures free flow of traffic.
3. Residential stands prices should be very low
4. Melfort is located near a busy highway: Harare -Mutare Highway
5. Residential stands are large so as to enable folks interested in market gardening.
6. If you are the enterprising type-try commercial stands
7. Kumafura mhepo and may suit folks thinking of purchasing real estate with retirement in mind

There should be no middlemen when buying residential stands in Melfort. If you want to buy stands iam sure kufonera council straight wovhunza zvakamirasei.

For now I have no solid information about getting a stand there-vangaite ruzivo vangabatsire chose. I  hope to visit the place next week and show you photos of the place-those building nice houses. Ndinotaura sendine mushonga mukanwa but watch this place…Melfort is slowly developing to be the biggest thing ‘in’ Harare. I hope to get the contact details of the council that administers this small town and share with you in the coming weeks

Wishing you the best.

You must have seen it, that tree-lined driveway leading to an enormous palace worth a fortune atop a hill in the village. The gate is shut and unguarded, the lawn overgrown, the compound deserted and eerily quiet with termites nibbling away at the mahogany door frames.

The owner, a local boy/girl who resides abroad pops in once in a while and save for that visit once every 1-3 years when the place is spruced up and lived in for a couple of weeks, the reclusive mansion is millions rusting with disuse. It’s home for bats and famished cockroaches, mosquitoes, rats, wasps and spiders. Why do diasporans and Kenyans living in the cities sink millions into village residences that they have no use for?

Apparently, some cultures dictate that sons must put up huge edifices back in the village, even when they virtually spend their entire lives abroad or in the city. It is all about cultural attachments and status.

“Why spend lots of money on a property in the village that has no resale value and no rental income? They are largely for prestige and to prove one’s status. When a father gives his sons inheritance, he expects them to put up houses, even when they don’t need them, in the village. So this trend will be hard to shake off, says Daniel Ojijo, the Executive Chairman Homes Universal Limited.

Former Information and Communication Permanent Secretary, Dr Bitange Ndemo, is one of those who regrets putting up a multi-million shilling house that he has used only twice in 15 years.

“I began to regret why I put up a house in my rural home, while I suffered in the city. The house was dead capital. I could not rent it out to anyone, yet I had to pay somebody to take care of it. This is not just my story. It is the story of Africa’s investment decisions and mixed priorities,” Dr Ndemo wrote in a local daily.

While a clique of Kenyans have lived in cities and abroad for decades without even a mud-walled hut in the village, others borrow huge loans to put up ‘palaces’ that remain idle.

Dr Aquilars Kalio, an Egerton University Economics lecturer, observes that whereas it is important to have a house in the countryside which is the final resting place for many Kenyans, having a big, unoccupied house does not make economic sense.

“It is all about yearning for respect from peers and to be conspicuous in the village; to feel good when people point at the mansion and say, ‘That is so and so’s house’,” says Dr Kalio.

Interestingly, Dr Ndemo links what he calls ‘dead capital’ running into hundreds billions to death. Indeed, many spend the better part of their lives abroad or the high-end parts of the city in Lavington, Runda and Muthaiga, as their humongous houses remain desolate for ages until they are hurriedly spruced for burial ceremonies.

“It is a home where you will be buried. It is said that you will embarrass the clan when you to die and you have no home. Africa is preoccupied with death even when the living cannot feed themselves. Of what sense is it when someone puts up a Sh20 million home in a rural area only for the relatives to raise money to pay school fees for children after his death? These are houses that no one will buy, sell or rent because graves dot the homestead. What is the value of culture?” poses Dr Ndemo.

But Dr Kalio says some of these homes are built by people who could be disposing off ill-gotten wealth. He says people who steal money get confused and become irrational. They dispose of it by erecting white elephants, a mistake, he says ‘real’ billionaires never make.

This article first appeared on sde.com

Today we will look closely at an interesting community- The Somali community in South Africa. I maybe wrong but I think the Somalis are hardworking people. In Zimbabwe I often see them walking along the Harare-Mutoko Road bound for South Africa. These guys will be having no luggage…Comrades and Friends, these guys will be having absolutely NOTHING in terms of possession.Vanenge vangori mawoko zvavo vachifamba in silence vakananga SA.

Mdala Wa Rue Mukoma Thimothy thts excellent response shuwa there is somthing wrong with us tine mafungiro ekushanda only ndopatirikurasika ipapo

Praise Chabona I have tried to participate in Saving and lending activites ari kuitwa nesome women around the country but ey! kubirana kwacho kwakaoma. I hope we will change our attitude very soon

Mdala Wa Rue Aaah shame,kubatana kushoma pakati pedu maZimbo…i hope these schemes do not become ma Ponzi Schemes…do u remember what hapened in the mid 90s?

Praise Chabona Some have already proved to be ponzy bcoz in one of the groups kwainzi each member contributes $200/month and the group had 30 members. The administrators made sure that they placed themselves on the 1st positions. Saka ndivo vakatanga kuwana mari vachibva vangoshaikwa.

Mdala Wa Rue Is it an online group?Coz pa internet ndipo pazara ma fraudsters

Miriam Rosalyn Pashapa Zimbabweans if we dnt unite we are going nowhere bt dwn the drain,unonzwa some zimbos even ku UK vaitengesana kuti munhu adzoserwe kumba honestly wat kind of a spirit is that?

Rodwell Maoneke MaZimbabweans hatina kubata,godo, kukara, humbimbindoga,ruvengo the list goes on. Ukawana chaunoziva ukadaidza hama kuti huya tibate pamwe unobirwa kana kuti munhu mangwana anomuka akutoshandisa njere dzako kutotanga zvake even without experience. Ukabatsira nemari haidzoke. From what I heard maSomalians vanobatsirana kuvhura maSpaza shop,unotanga nekushandira aka establisher then ozokubatsirawo kutangazvako.

Rodwell Maoneke Munhu iye aitaura chokwadi, hunhu hwedu hauna kunaka,get rich quick mentality ndiyo inotiuraya,patients hapana. Mukatanga musika pamwe kana worshop chaiyo pane ku expander zvamatanga umwe anomuka akavhura kake kamusika, ndipo panotangira kunyeyana

Ps* Post first appeared on the Zimbabwe Business Ideas and Network Facebook page in June 2015

By Cameron Cooper

So we have not covered opportunities in the Small Scale Mining Sector of Zimbabwe but we do promise to bring you more stories from this sector next week. A lot of opportunities exist for serious investors especially in the area of equipment for hire.

Two weeks ago a forum member, Cde Solar did a tour of the rich mining Province of Mashonaland West and below is his brief write up.

Had the best time of my life doing a tour of mining activities around Chegutu, Chakari and Kadoma. I discovered that a day was not even enough for such a tour. Met a number of players who were very inspirational. It is rather unfortunate that I did not get to see any of the Cdes on this platforms’ projects. However, I discovered a few models that Iam willing to share in the next circular. Some of which are too obvious to some of us….but some maybe new to a number of members here and should be able to push them on board.

Ps* Solar will represent the group in more tours and provide us with detailed forum reports about opportunities in this sector. We would like to know areas that need investment, current status of the sector and any opportunities for would be investors.

Part of the group of 23 that will be travelling to Mozambique on December 6, 2016.

Our Answer is 51181, Congrats if you got it right!