The number of business ideas from the forum is very high-a lot of innovative ideas from Zimbabweans based locally and abroad. Our forum with 34.000 members is growing everyday and every week close to 12.000 active members participate on our Facebook Digital Platforms and over 8.000 on our Whatsapp platforms helping to create a rich entrepreneurship society in Zimbabwe!

Our model, the first of its kind in Africa harnesses all digital platforms so that information is always flowing from one platform to the other. For instance discussions on our Whatsapp platforms help to shape content for discussions on the Facebook platform, the information is then stored on the website for future reference. Information can flow from the website to Facebook and Whatsapp or vice versa. Every minute a business discussion is going on, every minute an entrepreneur is getting useful advice on business opportunities in Zimbabwe and the region.

One of the major problem encountered by entrepreneurs is access to capital finance and in order to help members we will be introducing an innovative approach called Crowdfunding. Crowdfunding enables people with viable business ventures to showcase them and attract funders. If your project is good enough, funders will provide funding and this has been working across the globe with up to $34 billion raised across the globe in 2015 according to www.crowdexpert.com.

The concept is still in its infancy in the country with only one platform doing crowdfunding on a small scale. There is no crowdfunding platform for the SME sector and ZBIN is therefore filling this void. So do expect more information as we help our members to have access to funding for their viable business projects.

Business can be divided into 2 areas, the art of managing money and the art of making money. the art of managing money is a simple one because you learn about it right from high school. Subjects such as Accounting, Commerce, Economics and Business Management help to prepare students in managing finances or managing money. Commercial subjects at under and post graduate levels also significantly help in producing or preparing students for life in managing well business (finances). So what is missing from most people who have done finance subjects? It is the art of making money!

The art of making money is rarely covered and one has to ‘learn by doing’ or learn by observing others. The art of making money or entrepreneurship is a practical subject which was  introduced a few years ago at most tertiary institutions as a standalone degree program from undergraduate to post graduate level. Because it is a recent subject, there are few books written about the subject by  local writers.

Our organisation has therefore compiled a book on entrepreneurship focusing on two key areas:

1. Available opportunities for Zimbabweans and covers more than 50 opportunities.
2. Analysis Skills to empower Zimbabweans to identify opportunities and take advantage of them.

We have avoided the art of managing money because this is comprehensively covered by the current curricular. It is the art of applying for tenders that the current education standards do not cover, preparing your business plan, why you should register your business, how to effectively use digital marketing with practical real examples of success, how to identify opportunities and see the forest from the trees, how to take advantage of opportunities on ‘Virtual Zimbabwe’ by using eCommerce etc

Simply listing investment opportunities by saying there are opportunities in Agriculture, Mining or Tourism is not enough, we wanted the skills so that a reader can apply the skills in other areas. The art of following the money empowers one with skills to identify where money coming into the country comes from, how it is spend and how to take advantage of opportunities coming with money flow. This is not something you will find in your usual finance or business books. We have also studied hard working entrepreneurial communities  such as Indians and the Jews in order to document traits that make them successful entrepreneurs. We also covered our own Dr Strive Masiyiwa, how he is using certain skills to expand his business empire in certain areas.

We have also included an analysis of certain areas, those expanding and providing opportunities for the future. It is therefore crucial for anyone interested in learning new skills on entrepreneurship. We compiled it with youths, women, locals, diasporans and foreign nationals interested in practical skills and opportunities in Zimbabwe.

We avoided naming it opportunities in Zimbabwe because we should be focusing beyond the borders and this is why we included Malawi, Zambia, Angola, Canada, Dubai, DRC,South Africa and Mozambique. Little is written about Mozambique opportunities and yet our organisation has conducted 3 business tours and clinching a purified water deal in the process! Why Mozambicans in Tete import vegetables from South Africa whilst our farmers in Mutoko do not benefit defied logic, why no Zimbabwean entrepreneur never thought of setting up a business in Musina inorder to ‘follow the money’ also defied logic. These are some of the challenging questions that we ask in the book and help inspire readers to think in other terms and take advantage of opportunities.

We list opportunities, we ask questions, we cover our experiences such as trainings and tours, we also cover inspirational stories from the community and above all-we cover necessary skills that we should have learnt and mastered during high school!

Edited by Fungai Mauchi Furusa, an Entrepreneurship Lecturer at  Bindura University of Science, we would like to thank everyone who has supported the compilation of the book. It was not easy to compile a book in a format never done before but we are happy that finally it is out and we hope it will reshape how we view and appreciate entrepreneurship across the region.

The book will be uploaded on the site for ease of purchase. Before uploading, you can get a copy for $25 for soft copies and $35 for hard copies and our contact numbers are +2634339454+263774081808 or +263773055063. You can access hard copies from No 34 Quendon Road, Monavale, Harare Zimbabwe.

Summary of Chapters