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Morris Mpala, MoB Capital Ltd
WE once again open our financial mail and attend to questions as we try to broaden our horizons in the business arena. As they say experience is the best teacher, let’s learn from other people’s mistakes. Life is too short to make all the business mistakes during your life time.

Question: Is customer king in general, Mr Brown? (Bulawayo)

Answer: I recently read this somewhere from a renowned billionaire. He was of the opinion that customers are not the king but employees are. Make the employees happy and it will show with your customers. A happy employee will translate into happy customers. So do not spend lots of money trying to make customers happy just make your employees happy and you have a sustainable customer base that will sustain your business model. I love this take on customer service. Do apply it and do a variance analysis on your service provision. A happy human capital resource translates into a happy customer who you derive profitable business from for sustained operations. In any case charity begins at home and the first customers for any organisation are its employees.

Question: How do we find out how my competitors are doing on the market? And how accurate is the info if it’s available? (Harare)

Answer: Without much accuracy and certainty you may gauge what others are doing in your sector. To some extent you could have an indication of the goings on in other people’s business. Remember theft of intellectual property of other business is illegal you need to obtain the info legally and it must not be classified information or what they term business secrets otherwise statistics of general market intelligence if gotten legally are permissible especially when public disclosure is not the mandate of the said entity.

Window shopping: Visiting respective areas of business, observing and understanding some of the facets of the business from employees, pricing, branding etc gives you limited data that might be useful.

Mystery shopping: You have to pretend to want to consume a service or a product of the respective entity and you could get some information on what your competition offers in the market.

Surveys: A proper survey conducted by gurus in the field of research based on a science of numbers that will give information on competition. A very detailed market survey will avail a lot of information that could be helpful to your organisation for your own benefit. Remember this information if not put to good use is as good as nothing, it’s like giving diamonds to pigs. Make use of it to derive value and the cost benefit analysis has to be in your favour.

Research and development is key in empire building but at times it doesn’t come cheap.

Question: Is this time to invest in Zimbabwe? (Republic of South Africa)

Answer: I think the best time to have invested in Zimbabwe could have been three years back when assets were at all time low. The cheapest assets existed then and now there is a bit of a premium on houses, companies, equity stake, land and the stock is the one that has re-corrected downwards to reflect to some extent economic fundamentals as opposed to paranoia. The yester years gave return on investment, which were a bit higher as margins in most sectors were usuriously high and buying power from consumers was very much encouraging. Despite the political risk and repatriation challenges it is still time to invest in Zimbabwe as Chinese proverb describes two chances in life the now and the yester years.

Zimbabwe is ripe for investments. You need to be calculative, risk taker, cherry pick your targets and wait a bit for great returns.

The assets are still cheap and affordable to would be investors. Political and country risk has gone down. You have to invest for the long haul.

It’s an interesting maze and at times is treading on egg shells but once mastered is worth the while. The time is now or forever hold back your investments.

You need to understand the laws and rules governing investments in Zimbabwe to avoid disappointments once invested.

And your quantum of investments is based on your appetite to increase economies of scale in your areas of interest. The Zimbabwe Investment Authority has guidance and direction towards investment areas and the rules therefore. Look for local partners who have integrity. Good luck.

Question: Do we still need to invest in ICT systems? (Bulawayo)

Answer: ICT systems no longer offer a comparative advantage in business but they are the just now a minimum requirement to compete. It is the basis of competition and it’s now generic to have. It’s like banks saying you won’t queue or we have internet banking.

It’s absurd because I am not expecting to queue nor use pen and paper when I join your financial services. It’s the new era of technology, one has to invest wisely in technology to leverage for sustained profits in this modern era.

It is as basic as breathing and when you are left behind you will find yourself wanting but let it be relevant technology. Once again thank you for your questions keep them coming and for those we publish kindly pick up your merchandise from the office. Together let’s explore dream discover financial freedom.

IF YOU LIVE IN BULAWAYO PLEASE CONSERVE WATER
IF YOU LIVE IN ZIMBABWE PLEASE USE ELECTRICITY SPARINGLY SWITCH OFF SWITCHES (SOS)
IF YOU LIVE ON PLANET EARTH PLEASE PRESERVE THE ENVIRONMENT

Morris Mpala is the managing director of MoB Capital Limited, a Bulawayo-based micro-finance institution with footprint across the country.