Thread by @mentorshipzim

Salibonani/Makadii/Hello

What a pleasure this is.

Let me get right into it but before we do I would like to say just as with all my speaking (in this case tweeting) engagements, I always make mention that if you want to know what is truly awesome about me in detail-google me!

My time here I am not going to be talking about all the awesome and wonderful aspects of my entrepreneurial journey. I am going to share the ugly and not so glorious aspects of my entrepreneurial journey and how I have pivoted those challenges as best as I can to still be here.

I am not here to sell dreams but hopefully inspire you through the reality of entrepreneurship in Zimbabwe.

Who is she?

Some of you who might have missed the earlier introduction are asking.

My name is @LindaKSibs!

HANDEI!!

”Follow your passion” has always been a very strange mantra for myself as a Zimbabwean 1st generation wealth creator.

Do you think Dangote is passionate about cement?

I don't think so to be honest.

I am sure as most 1st generation wealth creators what we are truly passionate about does not in most times create the financially empowered life we seek.

I realised this very early on in life that I am passionate about making my own money and the freedom it gives.

A bit of background.

Growing up I remember doing extra chores so I could get more pocket money if I needed to buy myself something that my parents necessarily couldn’t afford at that time.

I did everything extra for money that was outside the pocket money they would give me.

In my primary school years from freezing my tiny hands in winter washing my dad’s car right through to polishing his shoes on Sunday for that extra dollar.

During my teen years my mother moved to England and all I saw was opportunity for £££ from the first time I visited her.

I was unrelenting during the school holidays when I used to visit her in chasing shift after shift. I did housekeeping and moved from hotel to hotel.

This was all in a bid to make that extra money.

That financial empowerment I did not know the words too but knew it felt good.

My desire to be financially empowered then was to finance purchase of Greg’s donuts when I wanted, to get myself the best hockey sticks and whatever else that I deemed a priority as a teenage girl.

I would say that those were the formative stages of my entrepreneurial journey.

After my A levels I joined Grant Thornton Zimbabwe (formerly Camelsa) for my articles of clerkship. I decided to do articles because I wanted to understand the intricacies of businesses and how businesses across various industries run.

I believe, there’s no better way to understand a business other than from an audit perspective. As auditing gives you the full picture of a business.

I didn’t do articles to become a CA.

I did articles so that I could establish businesses that would eventually employ CAs.

During my articles in 2008, (a very challenging year for Zimbabwe) as inflation rocketed and business collapsed. I got into sugar, I was moving loads of sugar, selling 50kg bags of sugar from the boot of my car and selling fuel coupons as well.

I was a low-key dealer of sorts.

The only thing that stopped me from completely quitting articles and joining those at Ximex mall is that I had not become sharp and quick enough to understand the money-changing deals by the time Zimbabwe dollarised.

Dollarisation indeed saved Zimbabwe and ME in particular.

Articles for me continued, (a relief for my parents) and with my December 2009 salary and bonus, I registered my first company - @AMAZIMZIM_ZW .

There was no KeDezembe that year for me.

I made my first batch of 20 t-shirts.

AMAZIMZIM is a clothing brand that mainly focuses on t-shirts and more recently our new addition to the brand our happy socks line @thabanisocks.

When I started AMAZIMZIM I had these very big dreams of expanding into all and every other clothing lines as soon as possible.

So I launched a winter collection called, “The Muchando Collection” we had quality beanies, scarves, hoodies all things winter AMAZIMZIM had you.

Enter my first harshest clothing industry lesson and just like your first heartbreak you never forget this one.

I had launched into another product line without giving my main t-shirt product line enough room to grow.

With each new line in the clothing industry it's as almost as if you are launching a micro division that needs it’s own resources just as much as the main product line.

A zikuGWATI riya rekwa Enzo Ishall - right across my face I had been hit with this reality.

I had to painfully shelve the winter Muchando Collection.

A key lesson here is that scaling prematurely can have adverse effects on your business.

I was still doing my articles, thankfully and AMAZIMZIM was still an after hours business. I was able to go back to the drawing board and raise more money to re-invest in my business seeing as I had blown my initial capital by scaling prematurely.

A very painful setback.

I am a big believer in starting with what you have.

Hardly ever are people interested in an idea.

Use whatever you have even if it means you don't start well but you are determined to improve you will most likely be listened to by those that can help you on your journey.

AMAZIMZIM then became strictly a t-shirt company and I in some circles dubbed “The T-shirt Queen”.

Many times I was pushed and asked why don’t I add this or that product,I would simply say it was not time and cite that I had actually attempted to scale and I failed.

Corporates wanted to work with AMAZIMZIM but I would refer them to fellow industry mates. My focus was t-shirts!

In order to at least maintain some relative sanity in whatever industry you are in, try and make friends with those that would be said to be your competitors.

Faithwear used to make my t-shirts up until I got my own machines.
Tinashe from Harare Tees (may he continue to rest in peace) used to assist when I had large orders or I didn’t have a particular t-shirt colour.
Taf e Taylor (Kidd Hunta) made a lot of t-shirts for me as well.

My response to those that questioned my “business savviness” by having healthy relationships with supposed competitors was, “I myself do not wear nor own just AMAZIMZIM t-shirts, my closet is full of other t-shirt brands so why must I expect my customers to only wear my t-shirts"

At a certain point I decided to purchase my own machinery and had tailors make my t-shirts it’s very important to control your production in business as I had read and had been taught.

SIGH.

What we seem to forget, as sometimes excitable entrepreneurs we know ourselves to be is that controlling your production comes with labour and factory costs as well as a large spoonful of dealing with the human element of staff and no textbook can prepare you for that.

In the period 2013/14 I made another tough call of shutting my factory doors. As the cost of running a factory was now too high and I simply was struggling to break-even.

Main reason was due to our cotton industry being virtually dead and Kadoma textiles failing to meet demand.

For months on end past the time I knew I had to shut doors I kept going. Any entrepreneur will tell you that at the first sign of trouble you don’t run, you actually dig deeper and push back.

Sometimes the push back is successful, sometimes in the Zimbabwean case it is not.

Fortunately this second lesson and bitter pill of closing my first factory was not so painful as based on my first lesson I had learnt the importance of ring fencing my capital.

I shut doors, my capital in my pocket and back to the drawing board I went.

Another failure.

I went through one of my worst depressive episodes. I suffer from high-functioning depression.

I will share a bit about the importance of mental health as an entrepreneur at the end of my time here as your curator.

During that time when I could, I tinkered with my business model.

I encourage you to learn to recognise circumstances beyond your control in Zimbabwe very, very quickly and adapt your business accordingly if possible.

AMAZIMZIM went on a long hiatus, I was actually amused by the emergence of fake AMAZIMZIM t-shirts during the hiatus. I was told issue a cease and desist, sue, shut down those that were making the fake t-shirts.

I didn’t.

Why?

Because they kept the brand relevant and visible when I was re-working my business model during my hiatus. So much such that not many ever noticed my hiatus.

Do not be afraid to re-work your business model when what used to work does not work anymore.

AMAZIMZIM is now a brand company that outsources production and I have way less headaches.

The labour and factory costs are no longer mine to contend with.

I have learnt to work smarter not harder in this particular business.

You actually do not need to control production in some of these industries.

My main duties now are quality control and marketing.

Based on the success of reworking my business model I was able to finally introduce an additional product line in 2018 to the brand - @thabanisocks.

After 9 years - "progress"

I do plan on introducing additional product lines as and when it makes financial sense.

Your entrepreneurial journey might have slow progress but it is still progress.

Heck it might include failures like mine but even when enduring failure learn to take pauses not quit.

I believe I have exhausted AMAZIMZIM to the best of my twitter summarisation.

The next chapter of my entrepreneurial journey is by far possibly my best and most wild!

Enter POPPERS BRANDS! (2015)

Pane maputi atichakupayi!!

A little unknown fact about me is that I actually do not like maputi. LOL. So this is by far from a “follow your passion” business.
Why I say this is the most wild part of my journey is because maputi is the business that made me gain enough confidence to finally leave the firm.

Maputi business introduced me to a whole new market and the most important influencers and voices in the FMCG market of Zimbabwe - the vendors.

If this is your industry know that very well, vendors have the ability to either fast track your growth or derail it completely.

When Poppers Brands was established I only had two employees and no packers. So what used to happen was after my 8-5, I would rush to the factory in Waterfalls and start packing maputi. Target was a 100 day so that we could make deliveries of fresh maputi everyday to the vendors.

It was winter months, June to be exact, and I'll never forget these very humble small beginnings. For a season I drove between Waterfalls and Greendale every cold night. I used to get home well past midnight some nights.

As we progressed we got packers, I left the audit firm.

The demand in the maputi industry can not be matched I tell you!

Zimbabweans LOVE maputi!

This is one industry that has not even begun to have enough players.

So jump in if you have the resources to. I am available at a fee of course to walk you through this industry.

PopperZ maputi was never in the major retail stores or wholesalers. Besides the 30-45 days payment period, you were expected to sell at a discounted price.

Maputi is a volumes games. The profits are marginal however the cashflows are so good.

Maputi is a cash product.

My business model involved cutting the retailers and wholesalers out of my equation and servicing the vendors directly and tuckshop owners directly.

Maputi introduced me to the inner most and deeper parts of Harare.

It gave me exposure.

I had a whole vendor-network across Harare and surrounding areas

That spanned from Domboshawa to Hopley and in between it included your local neighbourhood vendor in Greendale, Borrowdale, Mount Pleasant, Vainona.

I was always guaranteed CASH from my dear vendor community.

So much such that I too was now deeply invested in vendor-city council wars, LOL! #VendorsMatter cause when the City Council officers inconvenienced my vending community that meant my profit was inconvenienced.

During 2016, the local price of maize kept going up. I was fortunate enough that my father had a permit to import and for a while we operated as such up until importing of maize was banned.
Basically a lot of red-tape, that was now proving to give me more headaches than profits.

You see because maputi profits are marginal there's a certain maize purchase price you can't go beyond otherwise you are consistently making losses no matter what you do.

The maputi price is determined by vendors and it does not move.

See why I say this community has POWER!

I had already learnt my very first lesson from AMAZIMZIM to consistently ring-fence my capital.

When my financials were now consistently in the red and the maize import ban was not being lifted.

I was not going to bleed out and I closed factory and put my machinery in storage.

ANOTHER FAILURE!

As you grow in your entrepreneurial journey you begin to take the punches to the gut and groan for a minute and make going back to the drawing board a habit of yours especially in the Zimbabwean operating environment.

The only solution was for backward integration. I had no land to grow maize in Harare to sustain the tonnes I needed plus I am not a farmer. Farming is the champions league of entrepreneurship - only for the brave.

I went back to the drawing board.

PopperZ maputi was on pause.

In 2019, a farmer friend of mine began having interests in value addition with regards to his produce.

THERE WAS MY OPPORTUNITY!

I pitched PopperZ maputi to him,part of my machinery is now at his farm and maputi is now being made there and services the areas around the farm.

The PopperZ maputi business model has evolved.

I no longer manufacture maputi.

I am not involved in the day-to-day activities. However I get a dividend from profits every now and then and I provide expertise from time to time.

No experience on your journey is a waste.

The PopperZ maputi journey ends here but I will tell you this business gave me the best memories of my entrepreneurial journey.

Nothing else I have done has given me so many alone moments of laughter and rich memories unlike the ones the vending community of Harare gave me.

Please bare in mind that I am never working on one business at a time. If an idea I believe I must pursue hits me.

TINOTOCHIMHANYA!

So some of business timelines overlap but I am hoping you are following through well. I will definitely respond to all questions after I am done.

In 2016 I founded Trinity Business Advisory an accounting and consulting firm whose target market was specifically startups and small businesses.

When I left the audit firm and went into full time business I realised that a lot of startups and small business owners had no idea how to manage their basic books let alone have enough money to hire someone to do their books.

I have the impeccable skill, (it ain't bragging if you got it) after 10 years in the firm trust I can do books in my sleep and I have the ability to walk into your business and immediately start identifying loopholes in your system.

I built systems and procedures, audited and reviewed these for way too long of a time. It’s in my DNA I would say.

How many people in your life can explain in intimate detail the costing model of pine and gum plantations in the Eastern Highlands or coal at Hwange Colliery?

Or explain to you in intimate detail the costing model of tea plantations in Honde Valley or the components of a transformer from ZENT entreprises (Zesa subsidiary).

In 2017 I had a pretty decent sized portfolio of clients that included the largely ignored - corner takeaways, flat associations and tuckshops (yes tuckshop owners downtown have better business sense than some of your glorified CEOs in Zimbabwe).

What was also happening during the duration Trinity was growing, my political journey was also progressing and now very demanding.

The MentorshipZim team will have to re-invite me for a "politicians week" if they ever decide to have one. So I will not upack that journey here.

In October 2017 when I announced my candidacy bid to run for Parliament, I had to make a tough call and inform my clients that I was now regrettably handing them over to another trusted accountant.

I simply didn’t have the time as campaigning demanded all of me.

Fast forward to 2018 I lose the election and I realise that I’m going to be stargazing from the outside of Parliament till 2023.

My Trinity clients wanted my attention back.

I was conflicted as any politician will tell you after campaigning you come out a little different.

However I was clear that I was going to run again in 2023 so I told my former clients that I can’t come back only to leave them again in a few years time.

So Trinity became a dream on pause.

Another failure right?

When a dream is on pause it doesn’t mean it’s dead, it actually stays at the back of your mind.

Nagging you and asking is it time yet for my return?

What are you thinking of doing with me?

Have you forgotten that I’m still here?

A lot goes on in our heads as entrepreneurs.

Fourth quarter 2019 a certain banker takes me around the merry go round.

I honestly know better though in all my years and personal experience in business, banks in Zimbabwe have never been truly supportive of startup and SMEs.

If they loan you money they have terms that leave you wondering if they know what an SME or startup truly is?

I have largely self-funded my ventures including crazily wiping out all my personal savings to fund my campaign which is a story for another day.

After what I declared to be my LAST merry go round ride with a bank or any corporate for that matter I asked myself what do I have in my hand?

I still have Trinity and I began restructuring and reworking my business model.

After months of tinkering with the Trinity business model I finally restructured successfully.

Trinity Business Advisory is geared to grow into an investment company that caters strictly to startups and small businesses and offers the much needed patient money.

Patient money is desperately needed by entrepreneurs in Zim to support their activities.

Those entrepreneurs that don’t qualify for VC money or in our Zimbabwean case basic SME bank loans.

One of Trinity’s first objectives is to offer funding to startups and micro-enterprises.

Trinity Business Advisory shall be funding the “DreamHub Revolving Fund”.

A privately and individually funded Revolving Fund whose terms and conditions I crafted based on my knowledge as a fellow entrepreneur who intimately understands the needs of entrepreneurs in Zimbabwe.

The DreamHub Revolving Fund shall be managed and administered by the @DREAMHUB_zw an entrepreneurial hub, I co-founded with @ChaibvaRobin and saw it open its doors in September 2019.

I guess that was a great segue into @DREAMHUB_zw.

In 2017, I had to move out of my shared office space in Alex Park. My businesses were no longer making enough to cover rentals and all other costs related to my business activities.

The ever constant shifting tiles in Zimbabwe and suffocating business operating environment.

I had to rework my business model AGAIN and either look for cheaper premises or have a pick up/drop off point.
I went with the latter.

For those that first purchased @thabanisocks and t-shirts they picked them from Avondale from my hairdresser's salon.

I can not stress how important it is on your entrepreneurial journey to be kind and in good relationship with even those that you might deem non- factors to your business.

My hairdresser accommodated and served my pick up clients at no cost up until I had my own space.

One afternoon @ChaibvaRobin came to chat about the entrepreneurial life and then during that conversation we realised a mutual need for affordable rental space for our products.

We went space hunting, found the perfect space but alas we couldn’t afford it.

My campaign then kicked off - #HarareEastMoto and we had no time to pursue this.

What we knew was we needed space and from this mutual need of ours we realised that it’s an actual need for most startups and small-medium business.

Fast forward to July 31, I have lost the election. It’s now clear that I’ll be stargazing outside parly till 2023.  

I now have time to get back to my BUSINESS.

We re-look our plan, craft a sustainable business model and we successfully pitch for space and other resources.

We secured affordable space that houses various products from startups and SMEs cause retail space is an actual need for most entreprenuers.
The renos begun in June 2019 to turn DREAM HUB into the space we’ve imagined - A FUNCTIONAL SPACE that startups and SMEs derive value from.

We tried to do as much work as possible by ourselves.

I have never been one to shy away from doing the literal heavy lifting that my businesses require of me at any even given moment.

I don't do my nails not cause I do not want to but because I am a very hands on person.

Most entrepreneurs understand the temporary sacrifices or rather the concept of delayed gratification in choosing to opt for future long term benefits over pleasing oneself in the now.

Don't get me wrong I do treat myself as and when.

Handisi kushandira ngozi ka!

We worked with mainly startups during our renovations.

We have a directory of various reliable and affordable artisans you can work with should you need a painter, a carpenter, a tiler, a venetian blinds installation guy.

Just DM us.

So what is @DREAMHUB_zw?

Dream Hub is an entrepreneurial hub for vibrant SMES and start-ups. DreamHub provides co-retail space that nurtures and releases scalable entrepreneurs and their businesses.

We nurture a community of entrepreneurs who share space to collaborate.

We offer a variety of training space solutions and product launch solutions that can be arranged to fit event needs.

We also offer DreamHub #ArcOfTruth sessions.

Sometimes all an entrepreneur needs is someone to listen to them, someone to dream wildly and boldly with them.

Whether it’s a permanent place to house a product every day, a place to meet with the DreamHub team, to host a training session or product launch, or a place to drop in every once in a while, we offer the best place for entrepreneurs to work and grow from.

DreamHub is unique in that it is a hub that is run by actual entrepreneurs who intimately understand the struggles that a small business goes through on a daily in Zimbabwe.

We are simply a hub that is not divorced from the market they serve.

We just don’t offer entrepreneurs space , tell them how business is done and say good luck when they are done.

We help them successfully scale their business and guide them to outgrow our space.

We want to see small businesses thrive out of our space to create room for others.

Just like all business globally, Covid-19 has affected us and our operations and it saw us shut our doors in March.

We have not yet opened fully and still are operating on appointment only basis.

We value our safety and that of our entrepreneurs and their clients as well.

We will be launching virtual Dream Hub: Arc Of Truth of Sessions #PaChokwadi #Eqinisweni next week.

These sessions will feature various entrepreneurs who will be sharing the real impact of COVID-19 on their business in such an environment like Zimbabwe.

We too as the DreamHub are still honestly trying to navigate through these peculiar times.
We do not profess as a team to know it all as none between Robin and I has survived a pandemic before.
We are not going to be charlatans and abuse people with "5 step programs to adapting"

Business as we know it, all the fundamentals as we knew them COVID-19 has turned them upside down.

I have also been so averse to building a social media business and depicting lies to customers

I call them mabusiness emumhepo.

Yes social media aesthetics are good, but does your product match?

I have PopperZ maputi that business was never on social media but it thrived.

It is very easy to build a business on social media anyone can actually do that given enough time.

As they say it's "all about the gram", but I have to remind you dear entrepreneur that likes and retweets are not bankable.

You can't take those to the bank, you can't approach funders nor investors talking about your social media likes vs actual product sales.

Remember that!

Here's me now dishing free advice.

Oooops!

I do not do that anymore unless I really like you and your business but that normally involves me trading my knowledge for shares in your business.

I learnt to monetise my experience and every single hour of mine has to be billable.

Billable hours to me for my consultancy work, I will share that this includes payments in WiFI, Zesa tokens, in goats, chickens, cattle I ceased a long time ago expecting to be paid in actual cash.

Whatever has value to me I will take as payment for consultancy work done.

That I think sums up the Trinity and DreamHub journey.

These two business have a symbiotic relationship and they often intersect.

As the consultancy work I do for some entrepreneurs is done under Trinity and as well as that Trinity is funding the DreamHub Revolving Fund.

Enter an actual passion business!!!

DHONANZI

I love two foods in this life - Donuts and Pizza

My donuts lifestyle began during my holiday's in the UK where I would stuff myself with Greg's donuts to and fro shift.

Eventually I fell in love with Krispy Kreme.

My love for Krispy Kreme saw me send them an email asking for franchisee details but hey - SANCTIONS.

This was before they opened in SouthAfrica.

So many-a-times when I am connecting at O.R I have asked friends to come through with Krispy Kreme and hugs of course..LOL!

In 2018, dead in the middle of campaign season even though I had no time for other businesses when my former business partner - Kuda approached me with this idea I immediately jumped in with the few dollars I had to kick start Dhonanzi.

This was my first actual partnership.

I usually have my father as the second director to all my businesses just to enable registration of my companies.

So I had never experienced what being in a partnership actually entails up until Dhonanzi.

Dhonanzi thrived that business did so well.

The day I left Dhonanzi we had actually delivered about 300 or so donuts to Ernst and Young for an event.

Yes.

I left a thriving passion business.

Partnerships are tricky.

That is all I will say publicly concerning Dhonanzi.

For the respect I had for my former business partner and friendship bond we once shared I will not dishonour him nor the friendship by sharing exactly as to why I left Dhonanzi on April 20, 2019.

Some aspects of the entrepreneurial journey take unexpected twists.

SAD.

Tave kusvika kwamvura yacheka makumbo.

Enter Batonga Fish: The Taste of Binga.

Poppers Brands the holding company has two subsidiaries - PopperZ Maputi and Batonga Fish.

BaTonga Fish is my first social enterprise business as it has a heavy investment in bettering the livelihoods of the
vulnerable Binga fishing community and as well as ensuring sustainable fishing practices are observed so as to not harm the environment.

In 2016, to be honest I am really unsure as to how I exactly wound up approx 800km away from Harare in Binga working with a fantastic team from SNV and the Kujatana Kwesu Fishing Cooperatives Union in establishing BaTonga Fish.
I know it had to do with someone recommending me.

BaTonga Fish is primarily a value addition intervention that will see us process fresh Tilapia from the lake into fish fillets and so forth.

In 2017, I had managed to secure funding for the first phase of this project and guess what happened?

BOND NOTES.

Unoita kunge uchaita google "nhayi ndiri kuroyiwa nani"

The investor immediately backed out of from this.

I was days away from ink being on paper in securing the investment.

SHATTERED.

I tried to seek other possible means of investment from various corporates.

Doors shut consistently in my face and as per Zimbabwean bad business manners, corporates must waste your time a little bit very well knowing they are not going to fund you.

For a project that is set to benefit a marginalised community I have never seen so many NOs and shut doors in my life.

A NO in my life does not scare me at all now. A NO in my life means not yet.

I am tenacious to a fault sometimes.

I am sure many entrepreneurs can relate.

I have done the investor dance so many times for BaTonga Fish and though we still have not secured investment for it I will continue knocking on doors for this particular project.

Why it matters to me.

Is because of the Binga community that I surprisingly fell in love with.

So much such that everytime an investor asks me if I am willing to move to Binga and obviously manage this project on the ground my answer is an emphatic yes.

I even show them the house overlooking the lake that if they put in the money I will be moving into.

A very fascinating fact about the Tonga people in Binga is that their society is matriarchal.

Their society places more respect on women.

See why moving to Binga is not really an issue for me?

I can not disclose any further details about BaTonga Fish without now being in the grey with my partner organisations involved with this project.
When investment has been secured,the factory done and processing of tilapia begins maybe I'll be back here with a postcard from Binga.

That's about it from me with regards to my businesses.

I hope you were inspired and somewhat encouraged.

I apologise to those that were expecting a thread full of glory and achievements I encourage you again to google me for those.

A few parting shots;

My business dreams are consolidating bit by bit, step by step, and I proudly say FAILURE AFTER FAILURE into the business empire I have dreamed of.

I absolutely wear my “Failed entrepreneur" badge with honour.

If you are not failing it simply means you are not trying anything at all.

We fail forward in these parts.

HATICHEUKE!

Relationships matter on this journey.

Surround yourself with people that are truly for you.

People when you sometimes lose sight of the vision, when you even begin to doubt yourself they will remind you of the greatness in you,

"I can do bad by myself"

Ndezve mufirimu izvo.

I mentioned earlier on how I am high-functioning depressive.

I am okay till I am just not okay and then I just shut down.

I fell into depression at 16, it was professionally diagnosed at 23 and I'm 33 now.

I am surviving with the support of professionals and family.

I know many entrepreneurs out there are not as lucky as I am and they suffer alone.

I would like you to know you are not alone.

I encourage you find at least one other business friend. We call them business penguins where I come from.

Whom you can really talk to.

I am available as well to listen to you, to sit and sigh with you and I am perfectly fluent in silence too.

Some aspects of the entrepreneurial journey no matter how schooled you are, you can never be prepared for especially considering that this is Zimbabwe.

You will experience simply unfair situations.

Even when you look back at certain situations you will still fail to find the lesson in them.

That is why I say, “Entrepreneurship is not taught, it is experienced”.

All in all if you have failed to capture anything in the thread.

Take these two things with you;

1). Ring-fence your capital always. A pause in business is not the end. You can START AGAIN!

2). Ring-fence your mental health. Know your triggers and manage them accordingly.

Sengiqedile.

Ndapedza.

Send Ecocash.