‘Business is not about profits alone’

Robin Muchetu, Leisure Reporter
OFTENTIMES when a person thinks of a business venture the primary goal is to make profits and nothing else. However, some people go beyond money and have bigger dreams, dreams to assist the community.

Eunice Dlamini (50), a nurse and owner of M&M Joyous Events who was a vendor at the age of five and now a prominent businesswoman says business to her is not primarily about money.

“I see this as an opportunity to help people on a long term basis. I strive to make an impact on the lives of people who give me business, especially weddings. Out there people assume I have a massive bank balance but that is not the case,” she said.

Dlamini does events management and has taken it upon herself as a devout Christian to offer free pre-marriage counselling to couples who seek her services as she values the institution.

“I counsel couples as they come to do business with me, it is because I know and understand the sanctity of marriage. It is my prayer everyday that the couples that I plan weddings for do not divorce. I teach them how to make it in this thing called marriage,” she said.

She says it pains her so much when people divorce because it has a negative impact on the family unit and also it has a bad bearing on the marriages of those children who will have come from broken homes.

Continuity in business relationships is what she longs for. She says once she caters for a wedding or other events she seeks to have the same people use her services in future functions that they may have. This, she said, creates a bond with customers and a circle of customers that are in constant touch with the business.

“Relationships are important in business than chasing after profits only, you need to grow them and good things usually come out of them. Even when one has a challenge I can offer services and we settle later,” she said.

From the counselling that she offers to newly weds, she said some have come back to update her on other life events like childbirth and Dlamini said it brings joy to her that the people she would have helped would have managed to sustain their relationships and sometimes be fruitful.

Others, however, come back with challenges in the marriages and she freely counsels them and she is more interested in ensuring that the people she deals with are happy.

On the issue of the small house she said women must not lose sleep over the “other woman”.

“About the small house issue, women should not lose focus. They must be able to set goals for themselves and pursue them despite destructive challenges of the ‘other woman’. Women tend to lose focus when such things happen and as a result they are frustrated more. Empower yourself for the better once there are challenges in life. Small houses are somewhat critical but trivial if you are to succeed,” she said.

Dlamini took a swipe at young women who she said were entering marriages armed with a lot of controlling tactics over their husbands. She said despite calls for gender parity; there is a need for a woman to know her place in the home and respect her husband.

HIV and Aids, she said, is a reality and women or men should be confident enough to get tested and seek treatment when they are in a marriage.

“People are not honest about HIV, they hide their status from their partners and when it is discovered it leads to challenges. I encourage those that see the potential risk of being infected with the virus to stand up and use protection than to silently have unprotected intercourse with a partner when there is a real risk of infection,” she said.

The entrepreneurial Dlamini has humble beginnings who started off as a vendor at five where she sold her wares next to beer halls, at bus termini and along main roads.

She said she is proud that even at five she contributed meaningfully to the family income.

Now a successful businesswoman and motivational speaker and a force to reckon with she holds the trophy for being the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce businesswoman of the year in 2014. She also bagged the same accolade at the Megafest Awards in 2013 and 2014.

In her parting shot she said: “Owe nobody anything but love”.