Diaspora Matters

On second line do take note of 2 beds, on third line do take not of 2 buses.

Congrats if you got 5!

So its looking good! Yesterday was our final day for logistics planning and we met at Paramount in Hatfield Harare. Thank you Clara Mapfumo ‘Ntombi Yekanyi’ for a well organised meeting and website launch.

For those not aware of the purpose of the gathering-the group ZBIN has a Mozambique Business Opportunities Group which was formed in October 2015. The group is made up of Zimbabweans from across the globe and we share business opportunity information about Mozambique.

We formed the group after realising that no one is talking about business opportunities in our eastern neighbour. Whenever Mozambique is covered in the mainstream media, they are mostly concentrating on the negative side of Mozambique-wars,poverty and natural disasters. So this specific ZBIN group identify opportunities that abound in Mozambique despite the challenges that exist there.

A lot of foreigners especially South Africans are busy investing there, a lot of Portuguese, Brazilians and Chinese are in Mozambique. If there are no opportunities, so what are they doing there?

We realised that the biggest hurdle when it comes to Mozambique opportunities is that of INFORMATION. There is a vast knowledge gap that exist and our group is trying its best to ensure that we remove the gap in information. We have already toured Mozambique twice-In March and April and our next trip is in December to Tete.

We were therefore putting final touches on logistics for the trip and the good news is that all is now inorder. Inorder to be inclusive, we have incorporated members from outside Harare. Two members will be from Mutare, One from Masvingo, One from Zvishavane and Botswana. A total of 20 ZBIN members will make the trip to Tete which is less than 350 kilometres from Harare.

The purpose of the tour being identification of business opportunities in Tete,  tour of companies, business ventures that are run by Mozambicans and Zimbos. A group Admin called Kiva will be helping the group in terms of logistics in Mozambique. So all is set and we hope to hear from this group when they come back.

We are unfortunately not able to add any new member to the Tete touring group at the moment.

Website Launch

We also launched our website yesterday-Thanks a lot for the support to everyone who managed to come. From Clara and her husband, Odetta Savieri, Tariro Kutadza and everyone. I will not forget our 2 loyal group members who drove from Nyanga. Thank you guys for the support. The website is just over a week in operation but the response from members has been overwhelming. We still need to improve in a lot of areas though and we believe that more will be achieved when we recruit a Forum CEO.

So Mwashuma yaambo, Thank you guys for the support.

This week we will be interviewing Julie Musix a Zimbabwean sister who is based in Angola. This is your chance to know more about Angola…Feel free to ask any business related questions. She might not answer all of your questions but she has promised to do her best

Mdala Wa Rue My first three questions are :1) How long have u been in Angola?2)What sort of business are you doing in Angola? 3)Kwakawanda vanhu here maZimbo ku Angola?

Isaiah Williams What about Angola to USA business. Is their anything Angola offers that could be sold here in the US? I’m from NYC

Blandina Mutero Are people from Angola friendly. ..no xenophobic behaviour. ..do they speak good english…do need a visa do come to angola…is life there expensive

Julie Musix Makumbirofa Anything Angola can offer to USA mmm tricky but i think USA can offer clothing n vanoita mari

Julie Musix Makumbirofa Angolans are very friendly, tolerable,open, helpful not jelousy they are just good

Julie Musix Makumbirofa Sinc they wer collonisd by portugues they dont speak englis bt vakutaura english ndevarikutodzidza now th th rest iportugues

Julie Musix Makumbirofa Yes  visa is needed its100$ &ticket its $685 return.

Julie Musix Makumbirofa Life here is very very expensive. accomodation food everything

Julie Musix Makumbirofa A plate of sadza recasava & kalulu (mixed fish ,ockra vegies etc)10-15$ pasi pemuti

Blandina Mutero So basically mabasa anowanikwa hawo easy here?

Julie Musix Makumbirofa yes its easy bt unofanira kutanga wagona Portuguese

Julie Musix Makumbirofa salaries r ok teachr pay yake its $800

Masibanda Sibs Shumba Yohwee sadza radhura pa Angola

Ps* Interview originally appeared on Zimbabwe Business Ideas and Network Facebook page in April 2015.

So tomorrow is our big day, we will all be going to Paramount in Hatfield Harare for our special meeting. The meeting will help members of ZBIN Mozambique group  travelling to Tete next month with logistics planning.

After the Mozambique Group meeting will come a Special, Special Occasion-the launch of our forum website! A first of its kind in Zimbabwe, the forum will officially launch on Harare soil this fastest growing website that was launched last week. We have already hit the 3000 visitors mark per week and hope to improve in the coming weeks.

So what can you expect at our official launch? Business ideas sharing and how you can benefit from the many free platforms that ZBIN is creating.

Paramount is located along Seke Road near Maruta Shopping centre. Its a family friendly venue with plenty vehicle parking spaces. Entry to the venue is free and we start at 2:30 to 4:30pm. Get in touch with Clara Mapfumo on 0779 330 095 for more information.

Did you know that Munemo does not operate alone? ZBIN is not a one man band. There is an admin team that helps in providing strategic leadership to the 28,000 member group. The admin group is made up of the following people;

1. Chamu; Chamu (ACMA, MBA) is a finance professional based in USA
2. Polite: Polite (MBA) is a business entrepreneur based in Plumtree
3. Kiva: Kiva is a logistics professional based in Tete, Mozambique
4. Rudo: Rudo is a medical field professional based in UK
5. Laureen: Laureen is a medical field professional based in USA
6. Tavaziva: Tavaziva (CA) is an accounting professional based in UK
7. Clara: Clara is an engineering professional based in Harare
8. Hannah: Hannah is a university student based in Namibia

As you can see ZBIN leadership is drawn from different fields and backgrounds. Most of the admins are Diasporans (60%).

We also have 3 main WhatsApp Group Admins. They are responsible for the management of our Watsapp platforms with more than 5000 members. Our Watsapp Admins are:

1. Catherine Shava : Catherine is based in Bulawayo (0776 196 313)
2. Theresa Sithole: Theresa is based in Bulawayo (0772 215 695)

Plans in the pipeline: Forum CEO Recruitment

Munemo is just around for a short while. Iam just an interim CEO, I hope to disappear from ZBIN forum in the coming months. A forum CEO will take over the operations of the group and will work closely with the forum leadership and other key stakeholders. The forum hopes to launch a regional online business newsletter in the coming few weeks.

So who is willing to become CEO of the group? Send your cvs to vicmunemo@yahoo.com if interested.

Here is how:

One horse =10

One horse shoe =2

One boot =1

We then need to evaluate the value of the boot plus (horse × horseshoe). This is 1 + 10 × 2 = 1 + 20 = 21.

(The 10 × 2 is evaluated first by the order of operations because multiplication takes precedence over addition).

Congrats if you got 21

A lot of people continue losing their hard-earned monies to Real Estate Fraudsters every year. My own estimate is that up to $2m is lost every year to con men who sell non existent residential properties.

Having been studying real estate fraud stories that have been appearing in the local press I have realised the following trends.

1. People are losing money through buying from individuals
2. Loss of money through buying infill residential stand

I would have wanted to give more trends but for now let me concentrate on the above 2 trends/observations. So why should you avoid buying from individuals?

1.The Risk with Individual Real Estate Players: Buying stand kubva kumunhuwo zvake is looking for trouble. Munhuwo zvake haana chaanotya pa reputation yake. Anyone can place an advert in the local press and dupe people and manage to run away without fear of damage to reputation and the resulting repercussions.

2. Infill Stands: They are the easiest to sell it seems. First time residential buyers are likely to go for nice suburbs. Mt Pleasant, Strathaven, Mabelreign, Marlborough, Avondale etc. Now in these suburbs there are no new developments but instead you are likely to find Infill residential stands. These infill residential stands pose the greatest risk when it comes to real estate. Most of these infill residential stands are fake.

So how can you reduce being conned?

1. Avoid buying residential stands advertised as Infill Stands, even involving lawyers in the purchase process does not help. A close friend was duped together with his lawyers when he wanted to buy an infill stand in Marlborough.
2. If you can just avoid buying from individuals-even close friends and relatives cannot be trusted when it comes to buying real estate.

So what do we recommend?

To reduce risk just buy residential stands from established reputable companies. Try CABS, Fidelity, Old Mutual, FBC etc

Iam yet to see anyone who has taken the above institutions to the courts after being conned. These institutions have a reputation to protect so they is no need to risk by selling fake residential stands.

Iam yet to see in the local press a single incident where developments by these institutions have been destroyed by the City Council or where anyone took them to the courts.

So avoid Infill Stands and also avoid buying from Individuals. Even real estate agents have been known to dupe unsuspecting members of the public. So for safety try established institutions and save your money.

Good Luck

This is a general guide to help you identify business opportunities in your area and not just Harare. As ZBIN we believe that everyone should be skilled in business opportunity identification.

Opportunity recognition means to look at the same situation that everyone else does yet anticipate and predict something different. It is the ability to see new angles, new opportunities, and new ways of doing things, it is about exceeding the limits and go outside the box and think in non-traditional way.

I will try and use Zimbabwe specific guidance and hopefully at the end of the day you will grasp 1 or 2 tips for your own benefit.

Compare and Contrast: Did you read my post about business opportunities at High Glen Shopping Centre? The simple task that I was using is common sense comparing and contrasting using High Glen versus other shopping malls such as Westgate, Long Chen, Sam Levy, Bulawayo Centre and shopping malls from other countries. So one can easily do an analysis and ask why certain activities do not exist at a particular place. Read my article about a music shop at Harare International Airport and see my simple analysis.

Break the monopoly: In every business sector, there is room for more players. You must use your imagination to find how you can break monopolies. Take for instance ZESA; you can enter the Electricity market by introducing solar products, by introducing wind energy.

Knowledge gaps: Are people in an area knowledgeable? Is there a gap in terms of knowledge? Take for example ZBIN, we realised that there was no Zimbabwean Facebook page that promotes business discussions. Most if not all pages on Facebook cater for adverts and not business discussions. We therefore opened a page that helped to promote business idea sharing and discussions. You may have seen us championing the investment by Zimbabweans in Mozambique-reason? No one is talking about Mozambique in terms of business. The current knowledge of Mozambique by Zimbabweans is that it is a war ravaged and poor country where no opportunities exist. As a group we toured the country and discovered opportunities that exist in the country that are being grabbed by other foreign nationals. So the gap in knowledge has enabled us to create opportunities in Mozambique for Zimbabweans.

New Developments: Perhaps the simplest business identification skill. Kungonzwa kuti kune zvinhu zvirikuuya then you should shout Opportunity! New policies,new strategies, new measures etc. Take for example the SI 64 instrument on banning specific imports into the country; whilst the rest of the country was country was seeing gloom and doom, some were busy strategizing on how best to benefit. OK Stores recently showed a 90% jump in profits in their recent financial statements and this is largely due to factors such as SI 64 and even the liquidity challenges. So a new suburb, a new school, a new church, a new currency, a new website like ZBIN, a new manager at your company-they all represent opportunities. Be careful though in the use of this strategy because it is extremely risky

Common Problems: What are people complaining about? Is it customer service? A good example is the current air pollution in Harare caused by burning at Pomona Dumpsite. We already have companies that are advertising face masks to Hararians…Aaah ichi chakanyanya ichi lol. So just list problems that people are facing and in trying to solve them ndipo unowana opportunities. Water problems in Harare has resulted in new companies being formed to help ease the problem. The shortage of Government Schools has opened new avenues for some to open private colleges.

Automate It: This needs a whole page to explain; maybe I should cover it as a separate post. If a process is in manual form, then automate it. If you are a lawyer and you file client files manually, you are not able to access client files when out of time. To solve your problem-automate your filing system and in so doing develop new innovative systems that you can sell to others. At this school where my kid goes we no longer receive newsletters. Last week they introduced an App where you get all updates about school activities, updates about what your kid is doing-homework,sports and online feedback from teachers and other school authorities. Allow me to write a detailed post about disruptive technology next week.

Lifestyle Trend Analysis: Closely related to ‘new developments’ this allows you to have a closer look at any community and finding out latest lifestyle trends. For instance Hararians love to flock to Pentecostal Churches, Hararians love to braai meat, Hararians are now mobile with a lot of cars in the city. The youth love social media. You can even compare and contrast with neighbouring countries and in so doing, identify business opportunities.

Franchising: Here is one for the lazy types, just look at franchising websites and find out the list of business for franchise, look at all categories and new ones. Have a look at businesses for sale and find out why? Easy way to identify business opportunities.

Move a gear up: So you tell your workmates that you want to invest in baking cakes-what are they going to say? Iwe woda kunyura manje,zvawandirwa izvi-hazvisisina mari izvi. What should be your response? Well I will be baking cakes yes, but iam thinking of moving a gear up. I have realised that no one is teaching folks who are into baking the business side of baking. I have realised that there are few networks of baking professionals? I have realised that there are no Apps on baking in Harare?

So if you start teaching others how to bake then you have moved a gear up, you have entered new territory, if you form a network of baking professionals, then watosimuka. If its Kombi business and you start managing kombis on behalf of others then you have moved a gear up. Allow me to reproduce an article on moving to the next level next week.

So enough for now. I will refine the guidance and give it to the group that will be touring Mozambique in December.

Iam a music man- I just love music from Afrobeat, Kizomba, Afrojazz, Kuduro, Kizomba, Decale, Zouk, Bachata, Smoove Jazz, Semba, Latino, Zoukompa, House, Mbira, Sungura and Jiti.

Whenever Iam at Or Tambo airport one of my favourite place to be is the music shop. There is a big music shop that sells a wide variety of music and they also sell Zimbabwean music such as Tuku and Dembo music.

Now when I compare OR Tambo and our own Harare International Airport, I find a missing gap. Where is our own music shop?

There are a few curio shops, a coffee bar and a book shop but no music shop that helps to promote our own local music, films and documentaries.

Does this mean there is no market for music for tourists and Diasporans? I really don’t think so and my thinking is that someone should explore the idea of selling music at our airport where the numbers of travellers have increased sharply in recent times. Existing shops at the airport can also consider converting some of their current space and sell music.

Hannah I think O.R has the advantage of traffic in terms of numbers of people passing by. It is the transit hub for SADC so many people don’t just drop of there as their final destination a lot of people connect there and usually when they do, they at time spend from 2- 5 hrs there and so have time to look around whereas H. I. A is usually a final destination and I’m not sure of its volumes of people.

Mdala Wa Rue Yep regional centers have high volumes..think of Atlanta..Dubai..Kenya..Or Tambo etc..but kana kadikiwo kanodiwa…tourist figures have gone up too…they also need to take advantage of cellphones. Selected IT products etc which are cheaper in Zim than neighbouring countries.

Fanuel Shamido Chirundu Lodges, Music Pot…m gvng possible trading names…if u c em somewhere someday just know its someone from ZBIN.

Hannah Hapana econet here pa HIA? Do they sell lines chete? Well kadiki kacho would have to be in the duty free section kkkk

Fanuel Shamido Zim Business Ideas & Networking t/a ZBIN Consultancy. In da fullness of time, this is a possible retirement package we can reward ourselves with. Could t be that da time is now? Well, forget t let’s just share ideas n network till one of us is undoubtedly inspired to pursue ZBIN Consultancy.

Mdala Wa Rue Kkk for the nxt 3 years its free consultancy thanx Fanny lol

Fanuel Shamido Imagine ZBIN Consultancy facilitating workshops for Company Secretaries, for da Ministry of Education to all School Heads. For example:- Ministry of Education School Heads’ Workshop: Converting Experience into a PhD.

Mdala Wa Rue We will slowly get there hedu…pano tine solid team yefolks coming from different backgrounds n professional fields.

Fanuel Shamido I got u Mdala Wa Rue, ko panoti mari ka apa… Free for now sure.

Mdala Wa Rue Kk usatye ..i been in the free buz since the year 2003..the fact tht i dont charge motivates me to dream..come up with ideas…i believe that in the nxt two yrs tinenge ta cracker billion dollar idea…i just love the fun of doing it without pressure kk kana usina pressure u innovate zvinonakidza kkk.

Fanuel Shamido Wow…I agree bcoz at Zero Pressure I’m myself.

NB* Post originally appeared on ZBIN Facebook page in May 2015.

Next time when we look at music –we hope to look at various innovative ways of selling music using platforms such as online, apps and supermarkets.