Chronicle Editor
Morris Mpala, MoB Capital Ltd
WE once again open our financial mail box from Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) across the global village with main focus on Zimbabwe-based SMEs with idea of Thinking “Harare” ( very fast) but acting “Bulawayo” (with Ubuntu ).
In addition, we need to be “Hwange” (inclusive) about it and do it with ” Binga” (pride) mentality of going about our business.
Q: The market for my second hand clothes is saturated? — Khothama Boutique.
A: I will not debate on the importation of such because it is happening so, will dwell on the solution instead.
The biggest challenge right now are markets.
Do research on fast moving clothing items compared to what you are selling at present.
Find other designated areas to sell from that are not infested with your line of clothes.
If it is still tricky then diversify into other products not clothes due to saturation on the clothes market.
Q: I need advice on business and business management in general? — Plumtree.
A: Business is a broad try term I will advise you to go and see MoB Capital advisory department, ask for coffee/tea or cool juice and listen to their gospel on business.
Team Money (MoB Capital employees) believe such discussions are better done that way.
By the way this service is still for free as a community service.
Q: My expenses are just too high for my business? —Flea Markets and Gwanda gold miner.
A: There is nothing like too much expense, if it is then that business of selling at the flea market is not viable cut your losses please run.
Look for other opportunity areas.
We need to emphasise to relook the following.
How much are you spending on your airtime or landline?
Your WhatsApp, Facebook and browsing costs and the time you are spending on these social platforms?
Your rental obligation.
How many phones do you have?
How many dependants do you have?
How much are you spending on junk food?
How much of your expenses are just unplanned or based on impulse buying?
How much are your recreational expenses?
Analyse your debt structures.
Are your expenses related to your business or yourself as the owner of the business?
List all your expenses both business and personal and see which ones need trimming and try to grow your income streams by spending more time doing things that help you and your business.
Look at these against all your formal and informal incomes.
Mostly base your decisions on the formal income to avoid disappointments and unnecessary debts due to the fluctuation nature of the informal income.
For our gold miner, look for mergers or strategic partners to increase your economies of scale.
In mining mostly it is the lack of sustained income than your expenses which we believe are mostly minimum required expenses to operate.
Q: Do I need to have a qualification to run a business? — Lupane.
A: This we touched exhaustively on MBA’s do not run companies.
It was well explained; refer to that previous article on website/twitter/facebook page and the various comments on the day.
Or check it out in the Business Chronicle section.
Remember use of technology is the future even for small businesses.
The idea is to be knowledgeable and practical in your business approach.
Be as wise as a serpent in your field of business.
It is good to have qualifications but mostly you need capacity to perform in your chosen business arena.
The ability to get results which is normally based on a lot of attributes from your personality, networking ability, ability to sell, and business acumen, among others. Education has a role among many roles to play.
It is a polynomial but above all integrity is key in your business for you to sustain your operations and in some instances continual learning is key in these areas to be abreast with modern trends and changes on the business landscape.
You need to adapt to the new stimuli and be relevant to it.
We only live once and if we live (financially) right once is all we need.
I have heard people say “life is short ” but what is longer than a living life?
After life there is legacy which defines what you would do as a living soul on earth and that comes with getting great advice and only great advice will make you leave a long lasting legacy.
Embracing Technology
Let’s embrace the use of technology whether it is in acquiring knowledge, accessing research marketing, doing research and development, plain communication and keeping abreast.
It is here where it is meant to aid business management; let’s use it to our advantage, learn about it if need be.
Once again thank you for these questions and keep these questions coming to aid financial freedom and continue learning better efficient and effective ways of doing business .
Together let’s
Explore Dream Discover
Financial Freedom
Morris Mpala is the managing director of MoB Capital Limited, a micro-finance institution with footprint across the country.
Online Reporter
Bongani Ndlovu