Divine Ndhlukula started Securico, a small security business, from the cottage of her small house in Harare with only five employees, little capital and no experience in the security business.
She was determined to take on the big and established security companies who had become a cartel in a largely male-dominated industry. Today, her $13 million business employs more than 3,000 employees and has become Zimbabwe’s most successful security firm.
Before she founded Securico, Divine exemplified a true Smallstarter in her small and humble beginnings in business. During her time as a white-collar employee, she was ordering clothes from factories in Harare and selling them to colleagues.
She used the proceeds from this small business to buy a heavy-duty truck that she leased out to construction companies. And then, she pivoted into the security services business.
Securico personnel during a training session
In December 2011, Divine won the Africa Award for Entrepreneurship ahead of 3,400 nominees in 48 African countries. Her company, Securico, has won 11 national awards since the company started operations in 1998 and is the first Zimbabwean security outfit to obtain the ISO international Quality Management certification.
Divine is a staunch believer in the galore of opportunities and potential in Africa.
According to her Forbes interview, she advises young and aspiring entrepreneurs to:
‘work your plan with passion, determination and diligence, and when a bit of cash starts rolling in, have the discipline to know that it is not your money yet.’
Divine Ndhlukula’s story is another proof that determination and passion are far more important than capital and experience in the success of an entrepreneur.
A key lesson here is the power of starting small. Smallstarters have the hunger, passion and scale needed to create upsets in any industry, no matter how dominated they are by the existing players!
Have you been using your day job, gender or lack of experience as excuses from taking action on a small business idea you’re very passionate about? We hope Divine has inspired you today!
Remember, you can find more interesting success stories and business opportunities like this one in the Business ideas section of Smallstarter.
