Leonard Ncube Victoria Falls Reporter
ZIMBABWEANS are arguably among the most educated people in Africa and have a reputation of being hardworkers both at home and abroad.
The major challenge is limited job opportunities at home which has seen thousands of graduates roaming the streets.What should be done?

Mhangarayi Tivatyi, 39, a Victoria Falls-based youthful entrepreneur, who runs Lucky Joy Enterprises, answers the question.

He says the answer lies in educated Zimbabweans creating their own jobs as opposed to waiting for formal employment.

“A man can’t be blamed for being born poor but can be blamed for dying poor. The moral of it is that we can’t go to school to be employed. We should develop ourselves into employers so that we drive our economy forward,” said Tivatyi in an interview.

People should continuously upgrade themselves through research to understand changing trends in life so that their skills remain relevant, he said.

Just a look at Lucky Joy premises and the company profile, confirms that the business is properly run and therefore there is no reason why it should not be viable.

The company is the sole supplier of fresh dairy products, fruit and vegetables and mineral water to hotels, lodges and retail outlets in the resort town.

Tivatyi won the Zimbabwe Institute of Management southern region second runner-up manager of the year accolade for 2014.

The region covers Bulawayo, Matabeleland North and South, the Midlands and Masvingo provinces.

“We’re really happy that we’re running a company in a way that’s recognised nationally. That’s motivating for the whole team. To us this is just the beginning of a very long journey and I dedicate this award to the team, including my wife,” he said.

Tivatyi says he started the company from his house in 2004 and later set up ice cream making machines at shops around town.

He now concentrates on selling from the factory where hundreds of cones are made daily.

Tivatyi apart from the factory, now owns a warehouse, cold room and 18-tonne refrigerated truck.

He runs the business with his wife, Tinomuda Thandiwe.

“We make our own icecream and outsource some of the products such as cheese and bigger containers of ice cream, water and yoghurt from bigger towns such as Bulawayo and Harare where there are bigger firms.

“We supply Matabeleland North province and have set our eyes on Zambia, Botswana and Namibia as we’re already getting inquiries owing to the quality of our products,” he said.

“All we need is capital injection. The government should start a revolving fund so that we can access money to enable us to produce enough for the local market since there is no industry in the resort town.”

The company has five permanent workers but engages many vendors who operate pushcarts selling ice cream on the streets and are paid on commission.

The young entrepreneur subscribes to the ideals of Zim-Asset, the government’s economic blueprint that emphasises value addition and beneficiation as the panacea to economic growth.

“Our biggest challenge besides funding is that our customers delay to pay us and that makes it difficult to pay our suppliers. We source supplies from big companies in Bulawayo and Harare and since our trading season is only eight months or less because we deal with perishable products, it’s important to have readily available cash,” said Tivatyi.

He paid tribute to local banks, customers and local hotels for facilitating the growth of his company.

Tivatyi was born in Gutu, Masvingo province where he did his primary and secondary education before relocating to Victoria Falls as a teenager in 1995.

He got a job as an accounts clerk at Interfresh, the company that moulded him into a businessman.

Driven by determination, Tivatyi started doing professional courses resulting in a dozen of diplomas covering diverse fields such as marketing, business administration and management with different colleges locally and abroad.

He is doing an executive diploma in leadership and a Masters Degree in Business Administration.

Tivatyi also worked for Willsgrove and Cairns where he held positions of sales representative and branch manager before leaving formal employment in 2008 to focus on his personal business.

All the firms he worked for – Interfresh, Willsgrove and Cairns – have closed shop.

Tivatyi has done some charity work at local schools where he has adopted a number of children, especially girls that he pays school fees for.

In their company he focuses on marketing while his wife, a nurse by profession is responsible for health and safety.

The couple has developed a workplace programme that some well established listed companies do not have.

“Every week on Wednesdays we dust the premises to prevent cobwebs and mop the floors daily to ensure cleanliness. We disinfect machines regularly while staff is constantly trained on health and safety so that we maintain a clean environment. Besides, we also give them condoms as part of workplace safety and health in line with labour standards,” said Tinomuda.

 

You Might Also Like

Comments