Zimbabwe Business Plan

Surviving and thriving in Zimbabwe isn’t impossible. Challenging – yes. Impossible – No. It does however call for ideas and strategies beyond the scope of most academic and business textbooks. You’ll need “extraordinary measures in extraordinary times” – just ask Governor, Gideon Gono. It’s in his new book.

 An example of extraordinary measures is the Zimbabwean Business plan. If done well, it will include a number of considerations that you wont find in any generic business plan template. Whether for investors, partners or yourself, answers to these questions could make or break your Zim biz.

 Every Zimbabwean business plan should consider:

1) If you can’t charge in a stable currency, how do you intend to maintain the value of your money? (barter trades, a quick cash to asset conversion, stocks and shares etc)

2) If your business is not a cash cow, for example high priced goods, how will you meet the daily cash requirements for your business? (Can you change the shape and form in which your payments are made? How creative can you be with suppliers and payment schedules? What fast moving related (or not) products can you sell to keep cash flowing? etc)

 Another example of this is the obvious need to setup multiple bank accounts. If you have 10 employees, each should have a bank account with 5 banks. Same goes for the Directors and the business itself. Also, develop a ‘Withdrawal strategy. How can you get employees paid without the downtime?

3) Territorial defense against imports. Remember what happened to Delta? They lost mega market share because they weren’t ready for the competition from imported brands. Are you? If your competition from SA (and beyond) come round, can you survive? What’s your game plan? Don’t procrastinate on your strategy.

4) Shorten Your Time Frames. What would conventionally be considered medium term planning overseas, would Long term here. The environment is a little more volatile, and dynamics change a lot faster. Your plan needs to be more fluid or flexible. Surviving and succeeding today is more of a factor here than it is in most places. Take this into consideration.

5) Recruitment and replace plan. We have one of the fastest employee turnover rates in the world. Acknowledge this and plan for it. How can you keep employees longer? If you lose one do you have a plan for quick replacement? Flexi-packages and employee policies could prove useful. .

Is this list complete? No, it’s just to stimulate your thinking. It’s meant to empower and inspire you to be practical and unconventional. Zim biz can work, just not in the same way as elsewhere. For Zim business, throw away the Cambridge text book!

Yours for smarter business

 Max

Looking for a smart, practical and proven approach to setting up your business? Checkout our business setup kit. It’s fast, affordable and ‘Zimbabwe Proven’

Cash Baron Secrets

Download Cash Baron Secrets FREE

Struggling to make ends meet? Cant quite get business going?

Take a look see at my latest e-book. In there you’ll find real world, proven to work anywhere tactics. I’ve used these secrets to do all kinds of things – get free advertising, cheques from strangers, use resources of other businesses, put together results oriented marketing and more.

Fact is, you don’t have to struggle when you know these four leverage points. Don’t be left out – download your copy NOW, no sign up required.

cash-baron-book

Max Soutter

How to Choose the Right Business For You

Some weeks I get to talk to between 10 and 20 entrepreneurs, one on one, all at different stages of their business development. Inevitably there are going to be two or three people who really want to be in business, but don’t know which one. Are you in that position? Here’s my advice – just three points.  

1) Self Analysis. Explore yourself first. There are hundreds of businesses, products or services you can get into in Zimbabwe, more than most people think, but not all are suited for you.

 What natural skills, knowledge, talents, passions do you have? You love numbers? You’re a good communicator? A brilliant sports person? A flair for art? Are you a good organizer? Love to travel?

 Look at what you’re good at and enjoy, then ask yourself “Can I package this and sell it?” In other words, can you turn it into a product? If not, can you combine it with something or someone else to turn it into a product that can be sold for profit? Last resort, can you turn it into a service? (I say last resort, because in a service business you will be forced to sell your time for money, which limits you.)

 Don’t commit to anything just yet because next you’ll need to do some…

 2) Market Analysis. Is there a demand for what you can do? Where’s the pain your product can solve? Where’s the problematic opportunity that matches your talent/ skill profile? In what form? Which market opportunity represents the greatest need for what you can do?

 If there is no demand for what you’re trying to do, just forget it, don’t try to generate hunger unless you have an endless budget and really thick skin. Just move on to a different idea, or a different twist on your current one.

 Once you’ve found a match between your talent profile and a market need, you’ve done most of the work. By the way, you don’t necessarily need a massive demand, just an intense one.

 Also, in Zimbabwe you’ve got to be careful of going into business to service the latest trend created by Gideon Gono or some new political development. You may end up devoting time and money into something, just to see everything change and render your investment useless.

3) Competitive Analysis – How will you differentiate yourself from those offering something similar? If you’re meeting an established need (as you should in most cases) then you’ll most likely have competition. How can you position your solution as better?

 If you’re just another commodity, selling exactly the same thing to the same people in the same way, you’ll always have to compete on price. Competing on price makes your business extremely vulnerable.

 It means no matter how long you’ve been at it, someone else can wake up tomorrow morning and steal your biggest customers by charging less. You’re trying to get rich, he’s just trying to survive, so who do you think can afford to charge less?

 You’re also competing with big businesses that can buy in bulk and therefore get discounts you might not be able to afford. That means they can also sell for less than you. You best bet is to differentiate your product/ service.

 Offer something extra your customers consider valuable. A free something, a longer guarantee, unique service, different flavours, colours, brands or whatever. Don’t be different for it’s own sake, do it in a way that’s profitable. Do it by answering the question “Why should I do business with you, even though I have so many other options?”

 Going through all these steps is a lot harder than just randomly picking something or following the crowd, but the rewards are also much greater. Take the time to get a feel for all these factors before you choose your business. Don’t take too long though, don’t fall procrastination, perfectionism or ‘analysis paralysis’.

Take action, and you’ll be well on your way to a successful new business.

Max Soutter