IN CONVERSATION WITH TREVOR – 30/11/2020
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Widow’s day YOLK
June 23rd is recognized on the UN calendar as International Widows Day to raise awareness of widows’ silenced voices. Poverty and injustice are also faced by many widows and their children. International Widows Day 2022 theme being “Sustainable Solutions for Widows Financial Independence” is a topic I was very happy to share with my fellow widows as the Key Note speaker. Yes, you can, as Yolk Africa theme is was my central message. So we begin with the mindset- just believing in oneself and your capability that you will do it. So the only thing between that you so wish for is just you. I encouraged the widows to move away from boxing themselves as widows who are not able to provide, wallowing in pity parties hoping people will feel sorry for them, yet they still have their 2 hands and the God given brain to excel. Roll up your sleeves and get out there and do something, as the opportunities are there. I shared a bit of my being widowed at 41 years of age. I had a huge family to look after – my own widowed mother, my children, my siblings and my late siblings’ children. I mourned my husband for a week and had to go back to work after 5 days. Same week I lost my husband in 2001, our only manager at SECURICO was attacked by thieves on his way home, and he died a few days later. SECURICO was still a small company employing around 120, and I had no choice, but to go back to work as there was no one else. Also shared on what I consider my biggest achievement – fighting and advocating for the acceptance of women in the security sector. I had to fight for the security industry to accept women as capable practitioners. We have over 900 women – mostly widows and single mothers. Pray for WISDOM, I told them. I pray for Solomonic wisdom every day, not material things. Wisdom, Wisdom, not anything else, has taken me this far. What a Happy Widows Day it was!!! Many of them were inspired and encouraged. Thank you, Yolk Africa and UN, for enabling this platform.
THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP – Series Part 3
Look at Obama, and you find Leadership + Character were his hallmarks hence he won the 2nd term when it looked almost impossible. Human nature is that people want to deal with people they trust hence a track record which is beyond reproach is essential.
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THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP – Series Part 2
From Series 1 one of this topic, I will share some of the practical nuggets on the practical building blocks that have also helped me on my journey as an entrepreneur and building in a harsh economic and social environment. Social as well as there are social aspects to it. Want to make more money??? Provide more value. Want to beat out your competition? Provide more value than they do. Want to make lots of money quickly? Provide lots of value quickly! So, the more value you provide, the more profitable you should become. My team and I always Think of all the ways we can currently help our customers and look for ways to do more. Try to get a better understanding of what their most pressing issues are and then help them with solutions is a sure way of winning their hearts. The costs can stifle and certainly can kill a good business. We chose to grow our business organically, with very little borrowing, retaining all profits into the business for the first 6 years of the business – no dividend – zero – as we had our eyes on the vision. Our policy on dividends is very conservative. I sold a house 2 years after I started the business, to create cheaper capital, and moved into a rented one with my sister with all our 8 kids, and took over 2 years to build a modest house that I live in now as we were not receiving any dividends as we reinvested the returns into the growing business. Not that the money was not there, but I know it was not my money yet. That takes serious discipline. Discipline is probably the most critical quality possessed by successful entrepreneurs. I chose to cut back on life style choices so that the capital could attain longevity. I Focused on creating the right mindset. I always try to Show up with an open mind and a positive demeanour. I am informal and try to have a sense of humour. That has an element of making anyone feel they belong and that is just magic. The connection with people and the business has helped in inspiring excitement and sets the scene for an execution culture in the company. When you come to our offices and interact with any of our team members or anywhere, they may be, you see this great sense of purpose in all of them. We call this a “rush to the scene of the crime” culture. That has given us the competitive advantage and are always ahead of the curve.
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IDG SUMMIT IN STOCKHOLM
Inner Development Goals (IDGs) is a non-profit organization for inner development. They research, collect and communicate science-based skills and qualities that help us to live purposeful, sustainable, and productive lives.The Inner Development Goals framework is fundamental in the work to reach the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).Why the IDGs now? Global Goals for 2030 can only be accelerated by a wide range of issues that involve people with different needs, values, and convictions. Modern research shows that the inner abilities we all need now can be developed.IDGs framework is represented by 5 categories namely Being, Thinking, Relating, Collaborating and Acting for driving change.In May 2022, I was invited to speak at the Inner Dev Goals Summit in Stockholm in a panel discussion chaired by a great woman Asa Jarskog on the Collaborating pillar.I shared on the following:
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MMS Library
I always dreamt of going into business when growing up. One of the things I kept telling myself and asking the Almighty for is that I would use the privilege owning that business to do GOOD. Largely, I have achieved quite a bit of that, and am living that dream of doing GOOD, within my sustainable means. I have championed several Women Economic Empowerment initiatives that have seen the women scaling up their enterprises. Over the past 20 years, I have supported disadvantaged girls from rural Gutu to attain higher education. Some have done well and are already in stable careers, others still at universities, and others in high schools. Due to the challenges that schools in the rural areas of lack of reading material, exacerbated with the effects of COVID19 when most schools stopped classes for long periods, we have been failing to get the learners with right passes beyond Grade 7 to proceed. It is thus I then came up with the idea of a community library. Running under the theme: “Opening New Worlds through Education,” we launchedMbuya Mary Simbi Library and Computer Lab (MMS Centre) in 2021 in rural Gutu for the community. The Centre serves students from 8 surrounding schools whose appetite for knowledge has been evidenced by the high attendance rate. A total of 3000 learners are benefiting from this initiative. The aim of this initiative by the Divine Simbi Ndhlukula Foundation is to bridge the gap between rural and urban education through the following availing curriculum relevant textbooks and other reading material. It is the Foundation’s aim to have a computer lab for STEM activities for the rural folk who hitherto have never had this opportunity. We are currently sourcing for computers and bandwidth to operationalize this much needed program. We are counting on you to support this initiative
THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP – Series Part 1
I will share with you 5 building blocks that are universal and share again another 5 blocks that I have lived practically to build the company I run. For me, as Steve Covey says, first things first: Dreaming big, thinking success is a sure way of going forwards. Vision, which is the function of the heart, provides hope and endurance in tribulation and can overcome all the obstacles. Tribulations will be the order of the day, colleagues. The business idea you form must be very clear in your mind where you want to take it to, how, why, when, Brilliant ideas form every day in most of us as much as our own economic experts come up with the best blueprints to take Zimbabwe out of the quagmire, but, alas, there is one, one thing only that is lacking??? Execution, execution and execution – one of the most critical blocks to building a successful enterprise For me, Execution, simply put is – Bossidy & Charan. “Leadership without the discipline of execution is incomplete and ineffective. Without the ability to execute, all other attributes of leadership become hollow.” We have all the answers, but we cannot implement. Wake up early, plan your work and work like hell. The MAGIC formula: right attitude + hard work = SUCCESS Lack of confidence, especially in women, inhibits us from risk taking, accepting new challenges, leaving the comfort zone, thereby limiting our contribution to the economy. Low self-esteem results in people being less productive.
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Growing your business from good to great
Unapparelled Woman 20th May 2022 GROWING YOUR BUSINESS FROM GOOD TO GREAT Unapparelled Woman Entrepreneurial Summit 20th May 2022 Unapparelled – exceptional, having no parallel, having no equal or match, unique. And indeed we all unique in our different ways. The danger is trying to be someone you are not, and I have often noted that Zimbos we are the greatest asimilados in the world. Going from good to great means finding where you can play your best game. Going from good to great means finding where you can play your best game. Be of value to stakeholders. The amount of money you make will be directly related to the amount of value you provide to your customers. Period. Alongside a good value proposition to the customer, its equally important to give a good value proposition to the internal customer – your team members. They are team members, not workers. Key to attaining growth and profitability lies in finding good and smart people, sharing your vision vividly with them. They should almost articulate your vision word for word to outsiders. That should be done systematically and relentlessly all the time. Empower them with knowledge, skills. Work harder and longer than others. Work ethic is missing from our culture today, replaced with entitlement. Prepare everyday to go the extra mile, make the extra call, have that extra meeting and you’ll soon be on your way to becoming super great, or even a millionaire if you like that sort of thing. ??? Dominate, Don’t Compete. Whatever you love to do, then do it in a way that dominates that space. Don’t be a player in the game, BE the game. Be in so many places and so involved that everywhere your competitors and your clients go, they hear or see you. Read, guys, read. I read to sleep; I wake up to read first before bathing. Reading widens your horizon to a level you can confidently walk into anywhere and be up to speed with any discussion, hence you can make the right impressions to whosoever you want to do business with. Execution, execution and execution – one of the most critical blocks to building a successful enterprise. Bossidy & Charan. “Leadership without the discipline of execution is incomplete and ineffective. Without the ability to execute, all other attributes of leadership become hollow.” Don’t Be Afraid To Innovate Business is an ART – spend time thinking though how you can improve your product or service, being creative in the way you do everything in your business. Go After What You WantCalvin Klein once said “I think fantasies are for the birds,” “Anything I wanted to do, I did. If there’s something I want, nothing stops me.” Excellence And it is Doing whatever you do exceptionally well. Whether its writing a letter to a customer, the ambience of your work environment etc.. Do it with EXCELLENCE. Pay it Off, Don’t Pay it Forward or simply, be frugal. Have financial discipline. If you can help it, don’t borrow as it is huge cost to the business, Added costs of high interests can stifle a business and certainly can kill a good business. We chose to grow our business organically, with very little borrowing initially, retaining all profits into the business for the first 6 years of the business. Avoid the get-rich quick schemes. Don’t chase the easy money. Follow some these steps to growing from good to great, and, to becoming a millionaire, and in no time, the next piece of advice you will seek is how to become a multi-millionaire. A step at a time not five, otherwise You will fall. In the Value of work, Things do not happen overnight, they happen OVERTIME!! A man on top of a mountain did not just fall there, he climbed little by little Be of impeccable character and integrity. Never compromise on this. Honest, integrity are traits that will take you far, the new corporate currency
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Sowing into your business
As we think about what projects (seeds) to plant, I’ve been reminded of the first basic leadership law: You harvest what you sow. To put it another way, to reap the benefits or achieve success, you must first sow. You must act and put your ideas into practice in order to reap the benefits. Those who seed and plant are the ones who reap. You must sow the seed to reap the harvest after taking care of it. After harvesting with care, you then use the harvest wisely. A second section of the law asserts that if you plant well, you will harvest well. If you sow bad seeds, you will reap bad results. This means you can’t sow bad and hope for the best. You can’t hope for flowers by planting weeds. Another aspect of the law of sowing and reaping to consider. You don’t always get back what you put in. That is critical to comprehend. You get far more than you put in. What good is an activity if you merely receive what you sow? But, it does not work well all the time. What is the farmer to do now? He must decide to repeat the process or not. “Should we try again the following season?” Even if the farmer lost everything in the previous harvest, I would advise him to plant again, even there being no assurance, but the odds can be in your favour. In business, the same principle applies. We must carefully choose what we want to sow, and then nurture the seed (project, business, enterprise, etc.) until it is ready to harvest. We will never get the advantages of the crop if we pluck up the seeds too early and abandon projects before they have had chance to establish themselves. This is something a lot of colleagues do. They abandon their aspirations just as the harvest season approaches. And, as the analogy goes, even with our best efforts, the crop (company or project) may still fail. And then what do you do? Like the farmer, I recommend picking yourself up and trying again. After all, the law of probability will almost certainly apply, reducing the chances of failure, given, of course, that you learn from your mistakes and do not repeat them. I have had my fair share of bad harvests before. I almost lost our home in 1995 when I had taken a second mortgage to finance a business that went bad. But I was never deterred to continue on chosen my entrepreneurial journey. So can you!!
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