Diaspora Matters

At one time the local media reported that about US$2 million circulated in Mbare on a daily basis! We do not have recent stats but still the figures could be close given that the Mbare Vegetables Market is the biggest one in the country drawing suppliers and clients across the country.

A lot of fruits and veges go to waste everyday and cumulative figures could run into several tonnes per per year worth hundreds of thousands or possibly millions of dollars.

Good folks, opportunities presented for startups that can collect excess products and process them for sale.

Requirements

# Buy or rent a home in Mbare or nearby industrial sites of Graniteside, Ardbennie, Workington or Southerton.

# Procure drying machinery from China with price ranges starting from US$10k

# Procure a truck for ferrying produce from Mbare and for delivery purposes.

# Learn about branding from a Zbinite Blessing Shumbakadzi based in Bulawayo. She has world class branded products.

# With time sensitise farmers to deliver material to own premises whenever they encounter market flooding. Instead of throwing away produce, they can obtain a return that may help in cost recoveries.

# Have collection centres at Mbare and even add Chikwanha vegetables market with time.

Of course these are the basics which needs to be followed after an extensive market research which factors the quantity of vegetables and fruits going to waste, the prices farmers would be willing to pay, the costs and revenues involved and in summary–viability of the venture.

The market includes local shops, tuckshops and leading brands such as Food Lovers.

Additional Benefits: The area of food recycling topical and attracting donor funding and prizes.

The future of business opportunities is right there in the communities! With the forum having 100k members, the challenge is to effectively link up everyone so that they can support each other in business!

This is no doubt a tough initiative as it involves holding small meetings in areas where our members live and developing quality business relationships. We are proud of the small steps we are taking every month and we are confident of success.

So over the past weekend we held 4 meetings in 4 areas namely;

Ruwa, Kambuzuma, Waterfalls and Kempton Park in South Africa and we would like to thank everyone who attended. If you missed out, then try at the end of the month or in December.

When planning on startup logistics, more focus is placed on access to capital—managing the related stress, premises acquisition, access to markets and operations. For startups, this is a daunting task as the learning curve is quite steep. Remember our recent post on learning curves—its costly to obtain experience on the rugged terrain of entrepreneurship.

So you get to wear many hats—CEO, Accountant, Marketing Manager, Operations Director, PA, Auditor, Cleaner and more.

How do you balance these roles which will be exerting different forces requiring your attention sometimes simultaneously? This often results in you being overwhelmed!

One of the most complex area that is often ignored and yet bring so much stress when things go south is inventory control. Quite often relegated to the bottom of the pile and yet the opposite should be true—many have closed their operations due to inventory control oversight.

Ideally the role should have a full time employee involved in procurement, monitoring movements, issuing out stock and then reporting. However in practice this is often a peripheral function but only taken seriously when the horses have bolted!

The more the products you deal with, the more the risks,

The wider the geographical area you have to deal with, the more the risks,

If the owner is often absent from the battlefront, the more the risks,

The more the personnel that deal with stock, the more the risks,

If the person involved in sales is also responsible for inventory, the more the risks,

If there is no system for record keeping, the more the risks,

Let’s take for example a new farmer involved in maize farming. The components of inventory likely to be the following;

• Seeds
• Fertilizers
• Herbicides/Pesticides
• Farming implements or tools
• Maize output

Unless one has experience then they are likely to have a rude awakening when they encounter losses from the above components.

Transporting inputs to the farm is stressful, so is the preparation of the fields and planting crops. Then the monitoring of the crops, applying fertilizers and herbicides till maturity. Add stress related to droughts and by the time the crop is ripe for harvesting, the farmer will be totally exhausted.

Now where will the farmer get time to be recording inventory, counting it, checking expiry dates etc? Truth is there is hardly time as one would have spent all the energy on the key activity—getting the crop ripe and ready for the market.

Recommendation

• Your business plan should factor in inventory control systems and should also cover audits,
• Budget for a secure place, have someone responsible for inventory control,
• Create systems for recording your stock movements, also regularly audit the system,
• Funds permitting, engage experts for inventory systems set ups and audits,
• Inventory reports should be part and parcel of your financial reports and should be reviewed,

There is of course more you can do to strengthen your systems. In reality inventory control is one of the toughest tasks for entrepreneurs as the results of losses are often not immediate but come at the end of a long period. A break in of the store house is likely to be concealed and perhaps come to light at the end of the farming season.

How do you deal with staff turnover and inventory? What if an employee just disappears with stock? How do you deal with staff selling own products in your shop?

This is complex science although at face value it looks like a peripheral role. And remember too that some of your employees could be fighting with you with an ulterior motive to sell some of the inventory. This is why its critically important for the owner to be 100% present especially during the  first days when internal controls and systems are weak.

To business plan developers, on the risk management schedule–do not forget inventory control risks

Having been around the block for close to a decade, ZBIN has reached a stage of reaping from the relationships dividend. We have sowed and nurtured solid business relationships over the years and the greatest output is crowdfunding with the following companies formed by our members;

1. Rabbits International (Zw)
2. Agrivolution (Zw)
3. Big Ideas Galore (RSA)
4. Nutricio (Zw)
5. Patsime (Zw)
6. GlobalRunners.com  (RSA) and
7. Vagutta (RSA)

The latest Vagutta company was registered recently and is composed of Zimbos based in SA who pooled resources inorder to start market gardening! A major shift by Zimbos in diaspora as they venture beyond the workspaces looking for entrepreneurship opportunities.

We wish them well in their baby steps, we know it’s not going to be easy but you will not only get there but help inspire other diasporans to unite, pool resources and join the train.

Meanwhile the forum also registered success as our women’s forum got registered as a trust under trust deed MA0000222/2021. We wish them the best in their journey to full emancipation.

In Chitungwiza, they recently established a roundtable and we will update you of progress at the end of the month.

When many first undertake the long and winding journey of entrepreneurship, there is one critical component often taken for granted—Experience!

We have countless inquiries of members who say they have x amount of capital and asking what sort of businesses they can undertake? Yes there are plenty of opportunities around but unless you have experience of running an enterprise or the x enterprise, your first days will be tough.

Statistics do show that for every business started, the success rate is 20% after 5 years!

In other words the failure rate is 80% over 5 years.

Dear reader, are you prepared for a 20% success rate? And with most of you used to scoring As and Bs at high school and colleges but when it comes to business, your As and Bs turn to FAIL#

Welcome to the Learning Curves which are also called Experience Curves.

Below we illustrate how the learning curves work;

You attend a cake baking training and the trainer demonstrates how cakes are baked and takes 45 minutes. Now let’s see practically how long it will take you to bake your own#

• First cake: 2,5 hours
• Second cake: 2,0 hours
• Third cake: 1.5 hours
• Fourth cake: 1 hour
• Fifth cake: 50 minutes
• Sixth cake: 45 minutes

Not only did you take longer to reach 45 minutes with 5 attempts but chances are high that your first cakes were not up to standard. You may have thrown away the first 3 cakes which translates to a heavy loss on materials. This is money lost but the good thing is you were persistent and kept on improving till you successfully managed to bake standard cakes within reasonable times.

These are the losses you encounter when you join entrepreneurship—learning costs or losses. Because this is actual money lost, it hurts lol

Due to poor recording, these costs are likely to go unrecorded and in most cases some just abandon projects at the earliest losses and move to the next.

Shifting from one project to the next due to learning curve losses means you are forever learning and losing out.

So take a project to full completion, document lessons, review performance and improve.

Business Planning and Experience Curves

Is the business new?

Is it your first time to run a business?

Then your learning curve is going to be very steep. Farming for the first time? Its safe to say you are going to be burnt in the first year or years. Do thorough planning, engage experts but be realistic, you are going to be sinking your capital with little to nil returns.

If you would like to short circuit the experience curve then visit other farmers, network, learn and farm on a small piece of land. Slowly improve and increase area                 farmed over time.

The problem with most newbies is they want to get rich quick!  You just want to plant 50 hectares of sugar beans for the first time because you saw someone who successfully made money from it the previous season.

So every business plan should factor in learning/experience curves and these should be reflected in cashflow and operational projections.

*To accounting professionals, this brings back memories of P2 isn’t it? How did you find it? Are you still using the concepts in your day to day life?

We all want to live in mansions isn’t it? Imagine a triple storey house with 10 bedrooms, 2 kitchens, tennis court, basketball court, entrance hall, swimming pools, theatre rooms etc.

Who would turn down such luxuries? Eeeh be honest lol

So those who speak against mansions just do not have the money right? To a great extent YES. A case of sour grapes, if you cannot afford it, then speak ill of it!

However within our community of ZBIN, we have a good number of rising entrepreneurs in different sectors of the economy with the fastest rising entrepreneurs involved in mining. So give the forum a few years and many will have joined the multi millionaire band wagon.

So to future millionaires, is a mansion a worthwhile investment?

For bragging rights Yes, however;

• You cannot rent it out,
• It’s difficult to resale as those who can afford to buy it prefer building own mansions,
• Mansions are costly to maintain and quickly lose value when poorly maintained,
• It’s tricky for banks to accept mansions as surety given that they are difficult to sell and recoup lost funds in case of default,

So in essence a multimillion dollar mansion can be a liability which only satisfy your ego but in real sense wasted monies.

High Rental Income Zones

Simple 4-5 bedrooms in Chisipite, Groombridge, Alex Park, Mt Pleasant and Highlands can earn rentals of 10% per annum with most coming from expats and company executives. The close location to private schools, shops and other amenities makes these areas more attractive. However they are unlikely to rent in mansions worth $1m and above.

Investment Options

• Can your mansion be turned into offices in future?
• Can it be converted into a lodge?
• Can it be a conference centre?
• Can it be converted into a school or college?

 In the developed world, mansions especially those owned by celebrities are easily sold, but in Zimbabwe, there is no such a market. So think carefully about this when your time to splurge on a dream mansion comes.

Make sure you have budgeted enough funds to complete the mansion for if you fail to complete it, it can take you decades to sell it.

The author holds no grudges against the wealthy, infact the message is congrats and enjoy your funds.

Its our wish for our members to graduate from small businesses to medium and big businesses. One surefire way to the top is through access to tenders and winning bids! Here are some basics you need to master.

The First Rule=Meet set requirements on tender advert.A look at most tenders reveal the following requirements;

1) Registered company

2) Tax compliance,

3) Evidence of ability to deliver

4) Office premises existence,

5) Other legal requirements.

First Stage of Review

1) Do you meet set advert requirements? Submission on due date, submission in correct format, registration and compliance issues etc. Pretty basic box ticking exercise which thousands of bidders meet.

2) If yes you go to second stage Second Stage:

Quality Review

The over view of tenders is the ability to deliver advertised services or products at the best value. You need to provide proof of your abilities through references. You should also be of good standing in society.

1) Value for money analysis: Can you deliver value for $? Cost & price models. Have you bid with the least reasonable costs? The least cost does not necessarily mean value as someone with a higher price than yours can be selected.

2) Risk Analysis: Are you not a briefcase company? Can we visit your site and case studies too?

3) Presentation: How are your papers presented? Although not part of most checklists, still plays an important role.Remember for each tender advertised, there are thousands of bidders,Some more experienced than you!

4) ISO Certification: Although not a requirement on most bids, but in some cases may hep you earn a few points ahead of competition.

So you have to go the extra mile to win it.This is Olympics Stuff…You vs Serena Williams on a tennis match,Or you vs Lewis Hamilton on a formula 1 contest,Odds heavily stacked against you,

Prepare for tenders

The starting points~

1) National Budgets

2) Company financial statements

3) NGO websites

4) You can add more

You should not wait for newspapers to flight ads, its too late to respond,Later this year, Minister Prof Mthuli Ncube will allocate funds for 2022 expenditure ~ Do analyse allocations and start preparations!If 500 bridges are to be constructed, then be ready,The direction of funds flow is as follows;

Strategy,

Budgets,

Tenders,

If you skip strategy and budget then you have missed the train.

Prepare to fail 1000x Yes you will be rejected countless times but its part of the game,You gain experience although it comes at a cost of time, stationery and stress,After submitting a bid, always ask for feedback ~Who won? Why? Why did you lose?Most tenders have a briefing session where losers are addressed. Newbies often ignore this important feedback session~So how do you learn?

Tenders & Innovations

1) We have covered how to look for information before tenders arrive,

2) Secondly consider partnerships in bidding for tenders~very innovative as it can plug gaps in your entity,

3) There is growing interest in promoting new businesses, youth owned business and gender considerations. So irrespective of experience ~you may dribble seasoned players to the top.

Corruption

As a seasoned reviewer of tenders worth more than US$300m, Iam yet to bump into corruption as I have been part of teams where we have done our best in terms of transparency,However from as far back as 2003, heard of stories of 20% kickbacks… I won’t talk of something I have little knowledge of. I however strongly advise members to avoid kickbacks!

Disappointments

Zim businesses highly regarded across the region and yet few take interest.In one tender worth €9m across the borders, we had a Zimbo firm coming up as the top candidate.Impressive presentation,But when I checked compliance with audited reports submission, they had just submitted a financial report!So €9m went up in smoke for an audit that costs $5000? Unbelievable….I have also been on the side of preparing tenders and its a laborious and time consuming exercise.You can work 22 hours per day non stop, doing so for a week or so and still lose it,Every detail matters; words, grammar, page nos, images, font colour and size etc.

And if shortlisted, cleanliness of premises, staff clothing and demeanor, location, your presentation style etc. This is Olympics Stuff, preparation over years pays off.References:Look for how Strive Masiyiwa won the Mascom licence in Botswana.Weeks and weeks of preps,Tonnes of rehearsals,Kutsanya nekutsanya

Young adults say Its no kid’s games.

So prepare your business for future tenders. Look at basic requirements for tenders and tick them against your current business.

All the best

The 2020/21 agricultural season has been a good one for most farmers as most areas around Zimbabwe received significant rains followed by a bumper grain harvest. However winter horticultural farmers are counting their losses as a significant part of their crop has been wiped out by severe frost in the past two weeks. Images have been circulating on social media showing frozen plants in the field although some can not be authenticated some are genuine. Areas that have been hit the hardest include those around the Harare, Marondera, Rusape and Gweru. Some areas such as Gweru have recorded temperatures as low as zero degrees and -3 degree Celsius in some cases. What is frost?Frost is a thin layer of ice on a solid surface, which forms from water vapor in an above-freezing atmosphere coming in contact with a solid surface whose temperature is below freezing and resulting in a phase change from water vapor to ice as the water vapor reaches the freezing point. That probably sounds all bookish however any farmer who has grown a winter crop will testify how nasty frost can be and the devastation it can bring. A farmer in Marondera recently lost 10ha of peas, another one in Norton lost 5 ha of Tomatoes over night as the plants literally froze. How can a farmer prevent or manage frost? Well the first step if you are growing a winter crop in any area is to always look at your weather forecast and keep a look out for frost warning bulletins, July and early August are generally regarded as frost season. Burning tyres, hay, at strategic locations around the field will create a smoke screen especially during the time frost is expected which is usually between 2am and 6am has been seen to help to some extent. This drift of warm air from the fires is expected to flow over the crops thus reducing the chances of frost. It may seem like a tedious process but it’s worth it, a farmer will go to any length to protect his crop.There are many other ways of managing frost however these will be covered in the next article. Crop insurance really comes in handy in such cases especially if you are a small to medium scale farmer as one would have invested a significant amountof resources in most cases all their resources in the project. Most farmers shy away from getting insurance for their crops as they think it is a preserve of large commercial farmers and most assume it is expensive, however the term expensive is relative why not take the time to ask your regular insurance provider if they have a plan that can cover your crops.

Emmanuel is an Agronomist and Agribusiness specialist with more than a decade’s experience working in the agri-business industry and development sector. You can contact him on edndsep@gmail.com or WhatsApp on 0783495396

The biggest disruptive news of the year has to be the launch of Amazon on African soil and choosing Capetown as a home for its headquarters! Of course there are fights by the indigenous Khoisan group over the historical land taken but this will be sorted in the nearby future.

Fact is Amazon is now next door and the E-commerce giant means business. They are not the only one with Twitter, Facebook and Google already on the continent with preferred regions being West Africa and South Africa.

What are the implications of Amazon setting up next door?

Sophisticated Logistics: Amazon has well established logistical systems for shipment and transportation of goods. This may mean products ordered today on Amazon may reach a Zimbabwean customer in 2-3 days! They are likely to set up warehouses and advanced value chains in several regions across the continent with South Africa having the lion’s share. Presence on the continent likely to boost confidence in the world’s largest online shop. With Africa having the largest youth population on earth of +600m with most of them having access to smart phones—It all looks bright for Amazon on the continent.

Opportunities for the region: To those who strategically position themselves, good times beckons for listing of various products and services. The logistical value chains will also create plenty of opportunities for warehouses, cargo and also jobs.

Trouble for local E-commerce sites: Unfortunately Africa prefers foreign products—quite regrettable as the continent will continue to be a consumer of foreign products. All local e-commerce sites likely to fold as most Africans will rush for the world giant.

Global outreach of African products: Another big plus for the continent is that Amazon has a world reach and this means stone sculptors in Guruve will list and showcase their products, arts and crafts from Zomba in Malawi will also have a fair chance of market access.

Trouble for local industries: When our forum toured Malawi, we found out the craze on importing from China with some entrepreneurs even ordering wedding gowns, shoes and hats. This of course coming at the expense of local industry capacitation. Amazon likely to push more South African products than other nations and this is where Zimbabweans need to strategically place themselves to push own products.

Goodbye to profiteering: With Amazon right next door and able to efficiently deliver products in a matter of days—its going to be a tough battle for businesses used to extortionist pricing. Consumers will be able to compare prices of goods available locally against those on foreign soil. Profits margins of 300% are likely to be whittled away.

Of course Amazon just acquired a piece of land and are likely to take 2-5 years before commencing full operations but their presence signifies serious intentions on the continent. The future of retail business on the continent therefore headed for interesting times. Its inevitable there will be losers and gainers from their presence.

We also expect Alibaba to follow suit in the coming years as the fight for Africa’s E-commerce opportunities intensify. So study more on the rise of E-commerce in the developed world, impact on small businesses and related opportunities and risks.

The future looks bright for innovative youngsters in Zimbabwe. Traditional ways of making money are on their way out as they make way to tech opportunities. Is this one of the motivational post of starting a poultry with one feather?lol Well not really, lets look at the latest post from our wealthiest national—Dr Strive Masiyiwa,

*******

There are now more than 400m Smartphones in Africa. Within 18 months there will be more Africans who have Smartphones in their hands than there are Europeans or Americans!

That means they are all connected to the Internet.

What possibilities does this open for you as an entrepreneur?

All Apps work only on Smartphones and other Internet enabled devices.

400m is one heck of a market size!

This is why the likes of Twitter are scrambling to open offices in Africa, and more are coming. Problem is; if our own entrepreneurs don’t get in the game, our continent will be just consumers, whilst the wealth goes elsewhere to The USA and probably China!

WAKE UP PLEASE!!!

If you create a Product [an App enabled service in any sector] that captures just 25m customers, it is already valued at a Billion Dollars!

There is nothing else out there that can create wealth at that pace, even if you got all your country’s goldmines, and oil fields.

Think about it!

What do you want me to do with you, my child?!

Whatever it is you are doing just find a way to offer it using the Digital Platforms.

*********

Key takeaways,

Be globally minded: Develop mobile apps that cater for the needs of the continent in general. Zimbabwe is not enough–our population just 16 million. Look at SADC, look at the Swahili market, consider West Africa too.

Test Pilot in Zimbabwe: Polish your app in Zimbabwe and then cascade it across the continent.

It takes time: Getting 25 million downloads does not happen in 3 years, look at the long haul with a horizon of 5-10 years.

Solve Problems: What are the top 10 problems on the continent? Develop a mobile app that solves the problem and in a decade or so, billion dollar industry created.