Isn’t it a wonder that our local universities do not have any formal courses on Kombi businesses? Absolutely no course on running kombis or mshikashikas and yet this is one of the biggest sectors in the economy? Harare alone is estimated to have more than 10.000 kombis and an unknown huge number of mshikashikas(small unregistered taxis).
This is a sector that employs thousands of people and also helps to empower plenty. A diploma in running kombis would be a relevant qualification that ensures one gets employment or start own transport business.
Local colleges…wakey wakey or soon ZBIN will register as a college offering streetwise degrees and diplomas lol On a serious tip, we will grab half of the market share currently enjoyed by leading universities. Most of the local degree programs produce unemployed graduates and yet we have expanding business sectors such as kombis, mshikashikas,malayitsha where no formal education exist.
Will a Kombi Management Graduate(KMG) find no employment? Will a KMG fail to raise own funds to start a business? How many kombi owners are employing unqualified people? Will a KMG not find employment as a driver? Yes drivers are earning more than most formally employed people. Our college professors should think in other terms or they will lose out to street colleges which produce empowered graduates with skills to start own businesses or be employed in a fast expanding sector but lacking in terms professional skills.
Below we cover what universities should be covering.
What sort of advice would you give to a first timer Kombi owner?
Brain Dumira Please be the hwindi!
Simba Mutandwa Bad investment, prepare to suffer from hypertension.
Darlington Makaya When you see a missed call from the driver then know kuti ma 1 atanga. Lol
Frank Kalonde Buy Toyota Hiace Super 16s, ignore Quantums!
Chenjerai J Chikwangwani Takawira I have been in the business
for 3 years now lessons acquired so far : 1. Put your drivers and conductors on
funeral covers 2.always buy a new Kombi
3.enjoy 20% and reinvest the rest
4.have an asset replacement reserve
5.Get all the papers
6.never be afraid to say you are fired
Simbarashe Tafirenyika Also got a qtn on kombi business,zvikubhadhara here these days?
Tnashe Aaron Basira Noone in our country offers a systematic mode of transport, why cant 1 stary a system whereby people can buy monthly tickets then the the transport provider just goes around set routes with set times picking up people. That way we will help employees save money, whilst making money as the transport provider
Rosemary Chiganze You will count cash everyday .invest the profits. know when to “harvest ” the business.inogona kuzodya mari yese yayakashanda.
Charlemaigne Alexander chakatanga ndochakachenjedza🙂.
Wellahz McWellennium My advice is: Be the mechanic, Traffic police, driver and hwindi at the same time, otherwise hapana zvawaita.
Tristan Knill Driver must obey all traffic rules
Ronald Mutumbi Mahwani ako atangidza.
Chenjerai J Chikwangwani Takawira Get all the papers 1) m.v insurance $86(2) m.v license 3) rank disc $75 (4) operators license 5) passenger insurance $204 6)route permit $75
Vickvock Samu make sure you service your vehicle timely, have correct papers (usaite hukopokopo), don’t put high targets or expectations (vakomana vanouraya vachida kubata target), be clear & specific to your employees or collegues, save something on daily basis.
Michael Zemura 1. Just know no matter how strict u a, they will still yawo yemusana. 2. Save save for the big repairs
Matthew Tinashe Nyaguze Don’t expect much, know when to change employees and know when to park the vehicle when it’s not working. Rather, do your accounts well and they will tell you whether to continue or move out of business while your vehicle has a good value. The biggest challenge is HR Relations.
MrWillies Chimuti u need to save a lot so that the kombis multiply cox kuti usagare pasi ivawo neakati wandei and also kana achiri mashoma the bad days anorwadza kupfura kunakidza kunoita the good ones so plix bro or sis save and save and save kusvika wane 10 or more then you can relax cox that business is stressing kana uine mashoma
Nyasha Sundai Dnt give your drivers a big target and always service yo kombi every 5000km and usangochinje chinje ma driver
Mupfumi FX Track your driver&conductor..
Usaite business iri nekuripira gotsi hoping kuti cash will just trickle in
easily…
Have a fund for regular servicing.
Have an accumulating fund to buy another!
Trish Bruins Teach them manners.!!
Elvis Mazumba Service and makesure employ driver ari mature enough
Richard Vari first pinda wega pa road unyatsodoona kuti pakamira sei so that mangeana what ever your drivers bring home u dont think wabirwa. also your staff should be well behaved and should respect ma pasengers ndivo varungu vako..
Ashley Ndlovu tsvaga manager kana makombi ako ava 4 or more
Royel Damson You need to consider the route you want to service how good are the roads vs the money you will be getting… You don’t have to listen to your employees (driver and door men) unless what they are saying is making sense and its a fact. Personally u need to understand the whole transport system, remember that kombi business in Zim it’s not a formal job no matter mota yako ine maPaper ese be in a position to be a street player and deal with different situations accordingly. Have time to talk with other operators to know how they are doing it… Be simple, easy but strict.
Diploma in kombi management? Are you guys serious?! ever heard of transport & logistics? the courses will cover passenger transportation, from mass transit systems to lower volume ones. The dynamics of road passenger systems are pretty much the same, they will however exclude the rogue elements of unregulated practices which aren’t designed to be part of the system to begin with.
Thanx Citizen, this is meant to create dialogue. Of course we know the availability of the transport and logistics programmes at our tertiary institutions but how come they are not popular? How many graduates are helping to run this big sector? How many graduates created ride sharing platforms such as Vaya, Taxify etc? This diploma helps graduates on the entrepreneurship side…how to open and run your own transport businesses. Of the more than 10.000 kombis on our roads, how many were started by graduates with transport and logistics programmes?
Its a wake up call to colleges offering the transport and logistics diplomas and degrees that you have a missing link in your programmes. Yes you are producing skills for use by big companies but there are big gaps in the informal sector such as the Malayitsha where huge volumes of goods worth millions of dollars are being moved but no formal courses exist. How many thesis have you witnessed that tackle the Malayitsha business model?
Unless colleges produce relevant skills for the informal sector, new players will come and plug the gap. They should stay relevant and our informal sector is the second highest in the world and yet the skills the sector require are hard to come by. Hopefully responsible college authorities will review their programmes and produce skills for the formal sector, skills for the informal sector and entrepreneurship skills that empower graduates to start own businesses. If one wants to start a kombi business…the transport and logistic courses should be first preference…so far if you want to start this business you just plunge in with no short term courses providing guidance.