This week I travelled all the way to the small and surprisingly busy town of Binga to facilitate a workshop on nutrition gardens. Usually when one hears the word Binga the first thing that comes to mind is poverty, malaria and malnutrition, I like the rest of my team was surprised to find a well developed and still growing urban center with all the facilities that you can think of banks, market, etc. Like most Zimbabweans out there who are always seeking for that extra dollar I took a little bit of time from my busy schedule to explore for potential business opportunities that are available and in line with the main objective of ZIBN share with the rest of the forum to benefit everyone.

Vegetable demand

Naturally as an agronomist with a strong bias towards fresh produce, I headed for the market and there I had a very interesting conversation with one of the ladies amaiShumba selling her produce. It is quite interesting to note that all their fresh produce which includes tomatoes, cabbages , onions, covo, rape vegetables, comes from Bulawayo which is about 400 km away there is literally no other supplier. Let us use cabbage as an example in order to simplify the numbers game which we are all interested in, the average price of a head of cabbage, a small one is 1 USD, and the bigger size is 1.50/head, on average each one of them sells about 80 cabbages/week and they are about 4 dedicated ladies in the market who sell these. This translates to about 320 cabbages that is 320 USD, taking into consideration the biggest variable which is transport cost of which these women are charged roughly 5-10USD to transport 100 cabbages that is 15-30USD the average profit that one stand to gain is roughly 250 +, from just 300 cabbages. Another interesting point to note is that even the local boarding school/hospital and orphanage purchase all their fresh produce all the way from Bulawayo meaning a huge market and in my mind as the lady was speaking, I was already busy calculating and seeing my pockets getting healthier.

Fresh fish business

After the lengthy and fruitful conversation with AmaiShumba, we then set off for Mlibizi which is more of a resort and fishing area. It is here were I saw how innovative Zimbabweans can be inorder to get that extra dollar but first things first. I am sure everyone is interested in the numbers so let me not waste time and let me get right into it, here fresh fish from the mighty Zambezi river mainly breams is sold at 1.50/kg wholesale price and if you have established a good relationship with the fisherman you can even negotiate to 1.20/kg. Considering that fish is sold at about 4USD/kg at your local supermarket that is a huge profit margin of more than 100% even after deducting your variable costs such as transport and fish transporting license which will cost you about 10USD at the local authorities office. Some would prefer to transport their fish illegally at night to evade the veterinary inspectors to Bulawayo, I do not encourage this practice as you run the risk of losing out if caught. I was reliably informed by one of the fisherman that they are usually booked before they even bring in the catch of the day, this means the “big shots” as they call them come and buy their entire catch exclusively each catch worth about 800-1000 USD. The buyers range from the big shots to your average entrepreneur lady who buys 2 buckets of fresh fish to sell murayini.

The locals have also taken advantage of the booming business and are now providing fridge for hire business, they will charge you on average 2 USD/20kg sack of fresh fish to store overnight and keep your fish frozen and ready for transportation. The local civil servants who have electricity at their houses have not been left out as well as they are also renting out their fridges, those who have been in the business long enough now have even purchased the L.P gas powered refrigerators or the kerosene powered ones in order to get that extra dollar.

In conclusion ladies and gentleman lets not spend most of the time complaining about how bad things are, I challenge you to take the initiative hunt for that extra dollar.

Emmanuel DN Dube is the senior agronomist at Agro Aid Trust, if you have any questions please email him on agroaidtrustzimbabwe@gmail.com+263783 495

Our Facebook Page of 29,000 was specifically formed in order to provide a platform for our members to discuss business issues. We realised that a lot of Facebook Pages that exist only cater for adverts with few tackling issues such as business discussions or enabling members to ask for advice and getting it.

Below we feature an inbox message from a member seeking help and we have posted the responses from our members.

 I own a restaurant in Zvishavane. Iam selling a plate of sadza for  dollar per plate. I have two employees who help in running the business. My rent is $200 a month, my employees get $100 each per month. On average, I sell $ 60 plates excluding week ends . My revenue ranges from  $80 to $100 a day.

My problem is that I have never received profit from this venture. I keep on pumping money especially for the employees but am not getting profits to  justify my continued investment.

Responses from the ZBIN Community

Fidelity Nkomo why achiti haasi kuita profit, of which his average sales per month are around 1800 and his monthly wage bill and rent combined is around 400 not including his own though, so pa 1400 inosara anoita sei nayo, does he buy raw materials worthy that much every day

Teacha Mudzana you can’t balance the overhead expenses unless &until you get access to his financial books but as a small accountant I will preview firstly on lack of financial discipline as someone said but remember we are talking of 60 plates equivalent to $60 ,so in essence the bill might be slightly higher than expected

Nyasha Mat Jax Jay Max Twosixthree hupfu 10kg is 7.09 the cheapest which is silo, cooking oil 2litre is 2.85, bundle mavegi is 1us you need 2 or 3, onion 1us, tomatoes 1us 4 20 you need aleast 40 tomatoes for the soup, kaylites , salt etc trust me I understand this fella been there you get 10/15us profit after a hard day work

Netcle Trish Mhlanga Look to getting cheaper ingredients and pa chicken ye $ 1 how many pieces do u serve per plate? Wher do u get ur beef? Do u buy wholesale hindquarter or whole mombe? Chickens u cn rear ur own…. buy bulk …

Tori Elles Mum I think this kind of business will only give you profit when you rear your own chickens, buy a whole cow from kumamusha, stop buying raw materials from supermarkets but from wholesalers and manufacturers, use gas if you were using electricity etc. You should have listed your expenses in detail though, hidey. If you have competition find out their source for raw materials. Also get a “contract” with companies to supply lunch and get paid end of week or month. That way you may realise some profits that’s if you lacking financial discipline from getting cash daily.

Comfort Maeresera The profit margin is very low in that king of business. Deal with the supply side, buy maize instead of mealie meal, slaughter your own beasts and rear your own chickens and train your employees properly

Lorriet Wekwa Madore Iwe huku 1 vanhu 20 wakaita sei usavape bacos

Makadho Norah Ngwarira vaseenzi avo. Be very very carefull. Vanogona kunga vachiba chikafu Chisatichabikwa, Oro kutotengesa dziri 100 plates iwe uchifunga its 60 Check mumabin pasi pasi vanoviga imomo. Fire them and get new ones and train and tighten.

Tawanda Maphosa part if not all of your solution can be found from answering two questions: Question 1: Are you making any profit per every plate sold? If No, then you may need to work on reducing your direct overheads e.g costs of ingredients, try finding cheaper sources, If YES, then move to the next question, Question 2: Are you breaking even? If NO, then you may need to check the varience & calculate the number of extra plates you may need to sell to break even and eventually make a profit, If YES, then it’s most likely you are misappropriating the funds, what you would then need to do is to make sure your personal finances​ are kept separate from your business finances​, keep proper business records, account for each and every business transaction (even mushandi akatenga domasi rimwe re 10 cents record it down), reduce costs by all means but also maint

Watson Midzi Budai pachena. Tipeiwo cost echikafu tione kuti muri kusara papi. Ndimi here kana kuti vashandi venyu vari kuita maths. Tsvagai a cheaper place. Or also cut manpower to one and yourself. Do you have a record of your sales cost and sales gaining quality standards (kwete kuzo cutr macosts kusvika pakutengesa mbodza nekuda kusaver gas) this is jus a bit i could help with, i hope t helps you grow your business well. All the best