So I have this good friend of mine who is based in Durban who runs a Beauty Spa . She contacted me yesterday  telling me that she was over the moon because she had secured funding for her business. A business partner had injected a substantial amount of money(capital) in her business! As a result of the new capital injection, she had secured a bigger space compared to her old operating space. She was also busy carrying out interviews for  3 additional employees who will be starting work next week. So everything is moving at a fast pace and she needed quick business advice from a trusted friend.

Now here is a catch- this friend of mine does not have managerial skills, she had been operating her beauty spa alone and all of a sudden there is a big unexpected expansion  in her business! When I talked to her I could sense that she is happy to realise her dream of expanding however she was afraid of the responsibilities that comes with leading a team of 3 employees. ‘Hanzi handizodeerwe here? Ko vakazviziva kuti its my first time to lead this team? She has confidence issues and its understandable, many entrepreneurs go through this phase.

So with no business management experience what is a quick solution that we are offering to her? I deally i would have liked to take a lot of time in analysing the Beauty Industry in South Africa, Durban competition, trends in the industry, opportunities and risks. I would have lved to analyse her business plan but dear reader, none of this information is available. I have to come up with a quick solution because new employees will be at her premises next week ready to start work. So lets look at some of the quick solutions that we have quickly drafted for her.

1. Have fun, make the work environment an enjoyable one. Clients need to be happy and for this to happen your employees should enjoy their job.
2. Nothing much has changed, she is still the same person, doing what she knows best. She must not panic or put herself under undue pressure. Everything will be fine-she just need a positive mindset and enjoy working with additional staff members.
3. Make sure you have well developed job descriptions for the four of you. Employees should know the organogram, who reports to who. In her case I believe all the new employees will report to her
4. Employees should know their terms of engagement, how much salary each person is expected to get, operating hours, leave conditions etc
5. The vision of the company-what do you stand for? What is your long term vision? New employees should be aware of the history of the company and where you intend to be in the long run.
6. Proper Induction-The new employees will be coming next week so its important that there is a proper induction in place
7. Monthly targets- her fears of managing a new team for the first time are understandable, to help manage this she needs to set monthly targets of performance for the company and each employee. Ideally this should be coming from her business plan. Monthly targets which sets out the number of clients to be attended to, the monthly target of sales
8. Conducting weekly meetings- meetings play an important role in keeping everyone focused and knowing the big picture. They are important for information sharing, target setting and solving operational challenges. The meetings can be held on a weekly basis especially every Monday Morning, you develop a small agenda of targets to be achieved, review progress and discuss any other business.

So in the absence of a business plan, in the absence of a marketing plan-this is our crash business programme to get her going because she is an experienced beautician with a lot of clients, the only area lacking from her side are business leadership skills. We will come up with a detailed business plan for her business which will cover Finance, Human Resources, Marketing, Administration and Business Development.

Mulibwanji…So ZBIN has a lot of members who are based in the Warm Heart of Africa-Malawi. We have an inquiry from one of the ZBIN members based in Lilongwe, she would like to invest in a business but is not sure of what to invest in.

ZBIN Response

Its important to look at the following factors. Malawi is enjoying stability and a steady Economic growth, there is a rising middle class, tourist arrivals show an increase and lastly Donors are back slowly pouring in a lot of Donor Funding.

Middle Class Analysis

You can look at the Middle Class in Malawi and find out what they are spending their monies on. Building houses, education for children, importation and servicing of vehicles (Malawi has a lot of Ex Jap cars like Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe). Analyse patterns of what is happening with this class of people, change in tastes, new trends and find out how and where to invest in.

Tourist Services

Statistics show that the number of tourists coming to Malawi is increasing. Tourists will need accommodation (currently expensive), they need transportation and a lot of services. Look closely at this sector and find possible gaps to invest in.

NGO Needs

Hundreds of US Dollar Millions are being invested in Malawi on a yearly basis. Some of the monies are channelled through the Government and some through independent Non-Governmental Organisations. Most of the funds brought into the country are being spend on the Health, Agriculture, Energy and other Social sectors. Do take a closer look at who is supplying these donors with supplies. If it is health related then they may need various kits, training materials etc. Who is providing these NGOs with accommodation, transport and other services? One good source of information is newspapers-look at all tenders advertised in newspapers and analyse them. It’s a big sector in Malawi and should provide you with a lot of opportunities. We encourage you to create a list of the major donors in Malawi, find out their plans for the next couple of years and the amount of money they will be invetsting. This information will help you in planning on the NGO sectors to invest in.

We wish you the best