Why I find the "strong" narrative problematic.

Not so long ago, I was having a whatsapp conversation with Dr Charlton Tsodzo and it dawned on me why I do not like the word, STRONG. When people say "you're strong", I personally believe IT IS NOT A COMPLIMENT. It is a mere remark. This is because oft times, we do not choose to be strong. It is the only option available to us. My Dad always said, Gloria, please try to live a life where you create choices and options for yourself. All my life thus far, I have tried to create a life abundant with choices. I have not always succeeded. When I do not have a choice, I get very insecure and vulnerable. For me, not having Plan B and Plan C and Plan D, constitutes failure. Therefore, to be strong is not a choice. For me, it constitutes a lack of options and therefore it is failure. It is failure because it is thrust upon you by circumstances beyond your control, so you have to be strong! Words like tough and hardy, fall in the same category. You just have no choice but to be tough and hardy. When people tell you that you're strong, be suspicious of them. It's a form of abandonment. They are saying, because you are strong, "you can take care of yourself, without the burden of us holding your hand". The "strong" narrative is twisted and loaded with innuendo. It is a separating position that says, strong is for people like you, who need to be. Some of us, do not need to be, because we have options. A person I know, once called me strong and to support her statement, she called me "njanji", a Shona word meaning railway line. In her mind, she thought equating my level of perceived strength, to that of a railway line was complimentary. I have never felt so offended in my life. I came out guns blazing🔫 . I do not want that kind of perceived "strength". It makes calculating people, want to run over you, over and over again, doing all sorts of nasty and unsavory things to you, testing that strength, wanting to establish your breaking point. It has happened to me far too many times, that is why I reject that word, strong, with every fibre in my body. I also sense a masked veil of pity, when people refer to you as "strong". I believe, many from amongst us, dislike to be pitied. Indestructible is an affirming word. The word resilient sounds to me more positive than the word strong. The word strong, like its antonym, "weak" is a word loaded with value judgements. It is okay to sometimes be fragile, delicate and vulnerable. When you reach these levels, there is no other way out, except towards the direction of traits like, unbreakable, tenacity, determination, perseverance, relentlessness, courage and chutzpah. Please call me anything else, but strong. I cannot stand that word. It says nothing positive about my state of affairs. It essentially takes options away from me, because most times, when I am so-called strong, I have been frogmarched by circumstances, to be!

Business landscape dynamics in Zimbabwe: Observations from an enterprise development activist.

Between 2006 to the beginning of 2008, I was seconded to Maputo on a UNDP/IFC/World Bank project. Besides the challenging and path-finding work I was executing, trying to institutionalize an existing business association, in a predominantly Portuguese speaking country, which had recently become a member of the Commonwealth, there were several business landscape issues I observed, as an outsider looking in, which issues where enablers or disablers for the business association I was assisting. There were subtle but important distinctions on how society was organized in Maputo. This organization had implications on business outcomes. The first grouping was of Mozambicans who never left the country to chart new paths elsewhere. Many Mozambicans left Mozambique during the reign of Samora Machel, due to predominantly economic and security reasons. Rhodesian and South African sponsored Afonso Dhlakama a Mozambican politician and the leader of RENAMO, an anti-communist guerrilla movement, wreaked havoc, fighting the FRELIMO government in the Mozambican Civil War during the period 1977 to 1992. Although the war was concentrated in the centre and north of Mozambique, those in the south, whilst relatively safe, felt insecure and hence the exit of sorts, to neighbouring countries and Portugal. Then there were the Mozambican returnees – these are the ones who had left the country, on self imposed exile and chose to come back, after Samora died and Joaquim Chissano, a FRELIMO politician, took over as the second President of Mozambique, from 1986 to 2005. Chissano’s reign was credited with transforming the war-torn country, into one of the most successful African democracies. The third grouping were the expatriates. These were predominantly expatriates who came to work in Mozambique and never left, settling in Mozambique, with many of them investing in business. This grouping included, the Lebanese, who had settled into the country as investors into the private sector. The fourth category, were the Portuguese from Portugal. This grouping, together with their Lebanese counterparts were allegedly the prime controllers of the economy. There were widespread allegations, that the government literally resided in their back pockets. The fifth cluster, the dealmakers, was the local political establishment, comprising the FRELIMO who is who. FRELIMO is the dominant party in Mozambique and has won a majority of the seats in the Assembly of the Republic since June 25, 1975, when Mozambique became an independent, single-party state led by Frelimo, with Machel serving as the first President and thereafter, in every election since the country's first multi-party election in 1994. In a nutshell, FRELIMO has ruled Mozambique since 1975, initially as the sole legal party in a one-party system and later from 1994, as the democratically elected government in a multi-party system. FRELIMO has been in power for 47 years. It was my observation that each grouping, was very distinct and from a business point of view, preferred to do business with members of that grouping, with the exception of course, of the fifth grouping, the government officials, who interacted with the rest of the groupings and also within other government departments. This meant that there were parallel micro-economies within the overall Mozambican macro-economy. The micro-economies were made up of the every other cluster, excluding the political dealmakers, were forever jockeying for power, to influence business outcomes, with the endorsement of the political establishment. The simplistic scenario described above is more or less true for Zimbabwe. For starters,’ ZANU-PF has been in power for 42 years, since independence in 1980, a mere 5 years short of Mozambique. The scenario for 2022-Zimbabwe, just like 2006-Mozambique, the business groupings, also appear subtle . But if you are keen-eyed and on the qui vive, the distinctions are hidden in plain sight, as follows: The first grouping are Zimbabweans who have never left the country for the so-called greener pastures in the diaspora. This is a group of people who have always understood that the grass is greener where you water it, not on the other side, as previously thought. They possess an, adapt or die attitude and a transformative mindset. So every day, they keep their ears to the ground, scanning for new opportunities and a change of financial and business regulations by the authorities. Because of the informalization of the economy by enacting disabling business policies by government, many operate in the informal sector, scheming, plotting and making risky but calculated moves. Its predominantly a cash market that is not necessarily visible because the USD cash is not banked. Because of the cash nature of the transactions, the black market thrives. This is a market that determines rates. On occasion, the Central Bank and business bigwigs participate in this market, to mop up the cash exchanging hands. When they do, rates move up north and a cash crunch ensues. The second grouping are white Zimbabweans, a large number who lost farms, but find it more lucrative to stay in Zimbabwe because, firstly, it is home and secondly, because they no longer have cropping nor livestock management risk, but through previous international lobbying by the Commercial Farmers Union, control foreign markets for agricultural produce in Zimbabwe and as a result have become middle-men, racking in profits and exploiting the new black landowners who benefitted from the fast track land reform programme. Many of these new farmers, whilst book smart and educated, are weak on farm costing, general record-keeping, smart procurement, management and cost containment on the farm. This second grouping of white Zimbabweans, possess minorities-in-majority-settings like and Rhodesian values, where solidarity is their unifying doctrine as they consciously choose to transact amongst their own white people, at the deliberate exclusion of black people, essentially keeping money within their white community. They control most value chains in industry, commerce and mining, all the way to retail operations. That is why most big retail outfits of a conglomerate nature, are owned by white establishments. The third grouping are the Chinese, who apparently and allegedly masquerade as investors, whilst extracting as much as they can within short periods of time and preferring to operate, particularly in mining, whilst displacing locals, from their ancestral land where they reside and where their fore-parents are buried. They privately extract and export far much more than they openly give and then the powers that be hold celebratory ceremonies, being thankful to them, for what Zimbabwean resources would have essentially funded. The recently completed Zimbabwe Parliament in Mt Hampden, is a case in point. There are widespread allegations that wherever they go to plunder in mining, they first name drop, the highest office in the land, and then proceed to extract unabated. Apparently they are highly networked within the political establishment. The fourth grouping are the Indians, mainly from Pakistan. Many are born and bred in Zimbabwe, but they go and marry in Pakistan and bring their spouses back home to Zimbabwe. They tend to keep a low profile, are highly networked in government circles and like the whites, see the majority of the black community as consumers only and not people worthy to do business with. The fifth block are diaspora groupings, predominantly black, living mainly in South Africa, the United Kingdom, United States of America and Australia. According to apanews.net, “In a Mid-Term Monetary Policy Statement, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) chief said, total international remittances amounted to US$1.372 billion as of June 30, 2022, which translated to an increase of 23 percent from the US$1.113 billion recorded during the same period in 2021.” A significant number of this grouping wants to go back home to Zimbabwe, to work, set up businesses and retire, but many are unaware what awaits them. The segmented business landscape, makes it difficult for them to penetrate profitable established networks. The sixth cluster, the dealmakers, like in Mozambique are the local politicians, comprising the who is who of ZANU-PF. It has become a profitable enterprise to be a politician in Zimbabwe. Even opposition politics pays well, as they allegedly receive handsome amounts from the donor community. Many successful businesspeople are in one way or another aligned to the political establishment. It is a strategic move, lest you get targeted for takeover or failure. So you sensibly keep your head down and nicodemously consort with them privately, away from the glare of the cameras. The white farmers who survived the fast track land reform programme are connected at the highest levels in ZANU-PF. Infact, many are card carrying members of ZANU-PF. It is calculated, intentional and a shrewd move for business survival. Afterall, as a so-called democratic country, they are exercising their right to freedom of association. It is has never been enough to know people in strategic places, where you want to transact. They must acknowledge they know you enough to want to give you the business. It is who says they know you, in a positive light, when you are not around, who matter. They are the ones likely to give you business. Without relevant networks, with the willingness to give you business, or access to people they know, facilitating you getting the business you want, you are doomed. In Zimbabwe, certain races reserve business for their own. They do not buy from certain races too, this is so that they keep money circulating in their own community. It is conscious and deliberate. It is business exclusion and it is happening under our noses. But even within the black community, there are certain places you will never get business. Others will exclude you for religious reasons, eg, you are not SDA, others because they do not know you. The truth is most people transact with people they are close to, like, know or they have been referred to by trusted family or friends. It is what it is, so try to break the barriers and literally barge into some of these closed clusters, that have been mentioned in this piece.

Financial freedom for women 101 – Do not pan for gold in an urban sewer.

 This article was first published in The Standard in Zimbabwe in November 2017.

Recently, I attended a prayer service for a late Aunt at the Willowvale branch of a leading funeral parlour. The Chaplain, a one Mr Ngwenya (if I remember the name correctly,) was leading the short service before we collected the remains of the deceased. His sermon was focused, surreal and unbelievably perplexing. With a great sense of confidence and finality, he rambled on about “how women were not human beings, that they were created to be helpers, and only to their husbands.” I thought, really, what is informing this man’s thinking? With emphasis, he repeated it twice. “Women are not human beings, they are not people, just mere helpers to men.” He quoted a verse in the bible to that effect and proceeded to mention that “women must not work and must just wait to be led and directed by their husbands.” His ramble included his distastefulness of women who go jogging in the avenues in the morning etcetera. As my Aunt’s body lay in that sealed white coffin, I got a clearer view of how sorrowful platforms like these, are hijacked by self – styled clergymen like him, for the sole purpose of propagating their offensive, misogynistic and patriarchal views. Behind me were women and men clapping and loudly agreeing to every mind - boggling disingenuous commentary he spewed about his perceived role of women in our society. 

Zimbabwe is generally a prayerful society. Close to 90% of the population believe in one form of religion or another. In chapels where people go to fellowship and hear the Word, the set up is often a monologue with one or several people talking to the attentive congregation about their understanding of the Word. Attendees are expected to listen from an hour to even as long as the whole day. Some of the sermons are clearly programming and brainwashing interventions, like the one at my Aunt’s funeral. There is no room for debate and often, afterwards, no one is allowed or musters the courage to interrogate preached narratives that they might not necessarily agree with.  

So as I sat quietly choking on my very own rage, it became obvious to me, why the majority of women, as they approach their fifties, find themselves either flat broke, financially dependent or financially vulnerable. Many women are unable to leave abusive relationships because they are financially disabled. It is part of Zimbabwe Incorporated ethos, to socialize and acculturate women to be completely dependent on a male figure, a father as a child (here all children have no choice) and then a husband as an adult. In a case where there is no husband, a brother, another person’s  husband or a partner is expected to foot the bills. No wonder many from amongst our young women today are searching for men “with resources” to partner with. It is risky and dangerous to depend on a man to deliver your standard of living. A balanced and more respectful relationship is when both partners contribute to that mutually agreed to standard of living. 

I have said this before and I will repeat this again now: if you are not demented, deaf, dumb, blind or disabled, you have no reason to be financially dependent on another human being. After all, many deaf, dumb, blind and disabled people across the country are economically productive, so should you.  Being financially dependent on another is like panning for gold in an urban sewer. It is settling for less. It is choosing the low road over the high road and as a woman, you will never achieve financial freedom.

In the last two instalments, I put forward a compelling case why it is a necessary imperative for women to achieve financial freedom. Financial freedom and the security it brings, can be achieved when the income from your assets and investments exceeds your cost structure. Whilst there are numerous ways of achieving financial freedom, below please find four (4) ways of starting your path towards financial security.

1. Eliminate debt and reduce your living expenses

It does not matter how much you earn, the point is, if you are not earning more than you are spending, you will never achieve financial security. The principles of personal money management are universal, maximize your income as you minimize your expenditure. As long as you borrow long term to finance recurrent expenditure, financial freedom is a pie in the sky. As long as you remain beholden to overdraft facilities, credit card debt, car loans, loans to finance consumption of household good and so on, you are not financially free. Your bank or the money lending institution that advances you loans, owns you. It is oft wise to spend what you have than you rely of short - term loans.

If you have given him a license to rule over you and agreed to languish at home, completely dependent being a woman who is clueless about the financial decisions that impact your household, please pay close attention to #2, below.

2. Be part of the financial decision - making process

As much as I would like to stand on top of Harare Kopje and shout out loud about financial freedom for women, the point is, all relationships are different and so are agreements in those relationships. Be that as it may, there is one issue that women ought to be top of mind about – the financial decision - making process. If you are in a matrimonial setting or in a long-term relationship, it is important to ensure that you embed yourself in the financial planning process. Not only is it vital for you to know where all the financial information about the family is kept, it is necessary that you be the gate keeper of the safe, including a clear understanding of what investments the family has, where, in partnership with whom, the location of title deeds, if under a trust, study the trust deed and seek understanding of the legal jargon, establish the presence of local and foreign accounts, knowledge of specific account numbers and in particular passwords. It is important to be part of discussions with financial advisers/planners locally or offshore that your partner intends or has already hired.

 

In the event there is secrecy around money matters and an argument ensues when you insist on being part of the financial decision - making process, then you are compromised. Get busy. Establish the reason for lack of full disclosure by your partner. What is being hidden? Why? Do not wait for surprises. Get up and go make your own money if you have not already wised up to it. It is never too late to work towards your financial security.

3. Create alternative income streams

Alternative income stream is income derived from secondary activities that you do not rely on for your day to day living expenses. They provide you with extra income to invest elsewhere. We live in a country where to have one income stream is as wise as mining for diamonds in a local municipal public pool. There is none. That one income stream used to be a day job, but with many people unemployed, spaces have been created for self - employment or new business creation. Many women I have had conversations with, whilst having multiple and alternative income streams, are actually living off those income streams. That strategy is a threat to financial freedom. If you are unable to set aside money to invest elsewhere so that investment makes money for you whilst you work elsewhere, you remain compromised and vulnerable. 

A good starting point is to look around your household, assess and unlock value in the excess assets you already have. Cars parked for long periods in your garage without use is depreciating steel. Dispose  of some of them. Have a garage sale; sell off excess household furniture, clothing, shoes and so forth. Recently, a neighbor got rid of excess items, and from the proceeds built a two bedroomed cottage she is now renting for $600 per month. That $7200 per annum would have been forgone had she not disposed of excess household items.

4. Be in a small network of girlfriends with financial freedom values

There is a reason why birds of the same feather flock together. It makes sense to be in a network of like - minded women that benefit from the sharing of their collective wisdom and are increasingly aware that marriage is no longer a safe haven for aging women, that understand that women tend to live longer than men and question what independent quality of life one would have when one gets good innings – without relying on the goodwill of millennial children, that money is a like a visitor – and therefore sometimes it visits in abundance and sometimes it does not – and therefore relying on one income, or the financial acumen of one person can be risky, that women ought to be financially independent regardless of their marital status, is the best thing you can do for yourself. Ideas and knowledge are far much more valuable than money itself. When you move around and within circles of financially independent women, they will share with you ideas on how to be financially free. If you are unable to find such grouping, start one. 

Financial Freedom for Women 101 – A husband is not a viable retirement plan

This article was first published in The Standard a newspaper in Zimbabwe in October 2017.

Every woman needs a private rescue fund (PRF) that only one trusted person knows about. That trusted person does not necessarily need to be someone you are living with. We are surviving in unpredictable and risky times and many families have lost everything they worked for, including their homes because a spouse/partner who was supposed to be knowledgeable about all things financial, made a gamble with family assets and lost. Yes, there are many others who have taken calculated risks with family assets and won, but this discussion is about women who find themselves in a financially bankrupt situation and the importance of them achieving financial freedom, that benefits the whole family, but most importantly, themselves. 

The issue here is, it is risky business to transfer the responsibility of the family’s financial management to one person because no one person or gender has the monopoly on great ideas. The PRF is a hedge against poor financial decision-making, mitigation for unforeseen circumstances or your own retirement if you are lucky to get good innings. Where you locate your PRF is key. Do not bank the money, for when you need it, might not be readily available. Cash is currently in short supply within the banking system and when you need your loot, the banks will be dispensing $50 per day and you might need to wake up at 4.00am to get that miserable amount. The best way is to apply for a safe deposit box and thus far the best one in town is at CABS by Northridge Park near the racecourse. 

To achieve marital status is a blessing from the Almighty, not an achievement. To marry and then agree to down tools waiting for a spouse to fund your lifestyle all the way to retirement is as good as setting up an open fresh meat stall in the middle of Hwange National Park and expect to come of there with all limbs intact. A husband is not a viable retirement plan, neither is any spouse for that matter. Your children are not viable retirement plans either. As a woman, you have to work hard and smarter and achieve your very own financial freedom. 

If you are an adult woman of 50 years and above, is not deaf, dumb, blind or incapacitated in whatever shape or form and you find yourself flat broke, all is not lost, not yet, but it is most likely your fault you find yourself in this quandary because you should have made different choices when time was on your side. If you are an adult female, who is in an unhappy or abusive relationship, by staying put for economic reasons, you are in trouble because the trauma you endure everyday is likely to distract you from achieving financial freedom. If you are a married woman, with a high achieving spouse, who has convinced you that you do not need to work because he makes more than enough bacon for both of you, you need to go back to the drawing board and ask yourself whether this is truly what you signed up for. No one achieves financial freedom from controlled handouts. Often, to make you redundant is a control mechanism to ensure financial dependence. At the end of the day, it is your choice what outcomes you desire for yourself and your life.

Being married does not necessarily entitle you to his funds. Even if you control the family bank account, you still need to be accountable. Staying at home doing nothing except the school run is a foreign concept. Our mothers worked, so did our grandmothers and those who came before them. They worked and the clever ones kept their PRFs hidden under mattresses. I am not advocating the same, but there are smart ways to work for your financial freedom even though you are a stay home Mum. 

In an ideal world, when one spouse is the bread - winner, you are entitled to a share because you indirectly contribute in a supportive role. But in the real world, in the event of say, a divorce (I am not wishing that on anyone) it is always hard to prove you did. In the eventuality that he changes his mind about promises made agreed to whilst under the crispy comfort of the warm sheets, you could easily find yourself vulnerable, wondering how the hell you got there. Stand up, use your hands and do something, now! It is not too late. After all many men are not coping. Often, when the burden of bread - winning becomes unbearable for them, they start viewing you as a “chipfukuto”/weevil, and abuse in all its dimensions sets in.

Many women are already vulnerable in their matrimonial settings and with courage, could be making different choices. Many are trying, but many more are emboldened with a thick blanket of confusion and dizziness. If you are the other woman, a “small house”, living large without any knowledge of his financial affairs or who owns the house you are living in, beware, for one day you might just find yourself and your children in the streets. There are many scenarios that women find themselves in and the ones listed above are a few examples.

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The point I am making is, women, regardless of their marital status need to work at achieving financial freedom for themselves. We have come a long way. Since independence in 1980, there has been sections of the law that have been reformed in order to include and empower women. Some of the several pieces of legislation as outlined by Machirori F, in a January 2015 article entitled, “15 Legal Reforms that Impacted Zimbabwean Women’s Rights in the 1980s and 1990s” published on herzimbabwe.co.zw include but are not restricted to the following:

• Equal Pay Regulations (1980)

o This provides for equal pay for equal work, in addition to providing for half an hour’s time before and after lunch for breastfeeding.

• Customary Law and Primary Courts Act (1980)

o This piece of legislation was established to empowered community courts to administer maintenance laws. It also provides for maintenance claims for women in unregistered customary marriages.

• Legal Age of Majority Act (1982)

o This confers full legal capacity on every Zimbabwean aged 18 years and above. It also gave daughters the capacity to inherit their fathers’ estates. It also authorised women (including widows) to qualify as guardians of minors and to administer deceased estates.

• Labour Relations Act (1984)

o This provided for 3 months’ maternity leave with some reasonable reduction in salary. The Act outlaws discrimination against any employee on grounds of race, tribe, place of origin, political opinion, colour, creed, or sex, in respect of wages, promotion, recruitment, training and retrenchment.

• Matrimonial Causes Act No 33 (1985)

o This provides for equitable distribution of matrimonial assets upon divorce. It also removes the ‘fault principle’ (that is, when one partner is said to be at fault in the breakdown of the relationship) as grounds for divorce.

• Public Service Pensions (Amendment) Regulations (1985)

o This allowes for women to contribute to medical aid schemes in their own right. Female contributors in public service could also now contribute to their pension at the same rate (7.5%) of pensionable enrolments as men.

• Deceased Person’s Family Maintenance (Amendment) Act (1987)

o This provides for the surviving spouse and children – in the case of death – have a right to continue occupying the matrimonial house, use the household goods and effects they were using before the deceased’s death, use and enjoy crops and animals belonging to the matrimonial estate. Property grabbing by relatives of the deceased therefore became illegal.

• Infanticide Act (1991)

o This Act allows the crime of infanticide to replace the murder charge out of consideration of a mother’s post-natal depression, rejection by boyfriend/ husband, parents and/or relatives.

• Deceased Person’s Family Maintenance (Amendment) Act (1987)

o This provides for the surviving spouse and children – in the case of death – have a right to continue occupying the matrimonial house, use the household goods and effects they were using before the deceased’s death, use and enjoy crops and animals belonging to the matrimonial estate. Property grabbing by relatives of the deceased therefore became illegal.

• Infanticide Act (1991)

o This Act allows the crime of infanticide to replace the murder charge out of consideration of a mother’s post-natal depression, rejection by boyfriend/ husband, parents and/or relatives.

• Deeds Registry Amendment Act (1991)

o The Deeds Registry Amendment Act allows women to register immovable property in their own name (and can apply to urban and rural commercial land where title deeds were obtainable).

• White Paper on Marriage Inheritance (1993)

o This was proposed as a replacement of the African Marriages Act with legislation equally applicable to all Zimbabweans. As such, it seeks to give the surviving spouse, and children, equal rights to inheritance as opposed to one heir.

• Administration of Estates Amendment Act (1997)

o This Act provides for the rights of the surviving spouse/s, in an intestate estate, over the matrimonial home, and also for them to receive a share in the deceased spouses intestate estate. An intestate estate is one in which the deceased’s estate is not effectively disposed of by the deceased’s will.

• Maintenance (Amendments) Act (2002)

o Under this act, the non-custodial parent is required to contribute regularly to the maintenance of minor children in the custody of the other parent. In the Act, the courts are empowered to attach terminal benefits (e.g. pension benefits) accruing to the person who was ordered to pay maintenance if he/ she subsequently left employment. A woman could now file maintenance claims from the court nearest to her, with the man legally obliged to travel to that court. A woman could also claim maintenance from an ex-spouse any time after divorce if there was need for it, and a woman in an unregistered customary marriage was entitled to maintenance from the man after dissolution of the union.

• Domestic Violence Act (2006)

o To make provision for the protection and relief of victims of domestic violence and to provide for matters connected with or incidental to the foregoing. 

Despite the enabling legal framework, more than three and a half decades of independence in Zimbabwe, the status of women, gender equality and most importantly the issue of economic empowerment of women, have reached an all time low. It is a low I have never seen nor witnessed before. Less than five women are heading up Zimbabwe Stock Exchange listed companies. Less than five women are CEOs of State Owned Enterprises, less than 5 women are permanent secretaries of government ministries. Women’s representation of parastatal and private sector company boards are negligible. 

Although this is the situation at the higher echelons of formal employment, according to the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (Zimstat) 2016 report entitled, Understanding Equality in Zimbabwe: Women and Men, Zimbabwean women make up 54% of the workforce in the agriculture, fisheries and forestry sector, 62,1% of the wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles. Women also dominate education at 57%, health and social welfare work at 64,2%. Female dominance also extends to categories defined as ‘other service activities’ at 57,6% and ‘activities of households’ with 79,5%. But gainful employment of women is not necessarily translating to savings or wealth creation by women. As women get older and leave employment for whatever reason, the feminization of poverty spikes. When the data on the predominance of women in employment is disaggregated it shows that many women are employed at the lower end of the market including the informal sector where their existence is survivalist. 

Financial literacy amongst women, both educated and uneducated is low and generally speaking women are less confident to make good savings and investment decisions with their own money. The tendency by most women is to fund household expenditures with their money throughout their working lives. As a result, on retirement, many women are exposed, without adequate financial security even to cope in unplanned emergencies.

The deafening silence of the women’s movement on many issues affecting women has grown acute. A country with a high propensity for excluding women and relegating them to the fringes of society involved in menial and survivalist roles, in essence marginalizing them, a whole constituency of 52% of the population, is a country going nowhere slowly. The fact is no one gender should be preferred over another and if you leave more than half of your population behind, progress will be hampered. 

In my next write-up, I will talk about several ways to achieve financial freedom for women.

Disruption the only way to level the playing field.

 The violence of poverty has a systematic habit of emptying our faculties of all goodness. When this happens, only ugliness prevails. 

We must fear the savagery of poverty, at all costs, for brutality and cruelty begets cruelty and brutality. 

All systems, cultural, political,  economic, control measures, etcetera, in the past and present, that excluded and as a result pauperised a people to a state of indignity, created a henious crime against humanity. Colonialism, apartheid, imperialism, capitalism neo-colonialism, the feminization of poverty and so on and so forth, are some of these treacherous systems. Our governments continue to pursue elements of this treachery at our very own peril. No one is untouchable. We are all affected, in one way or another. We are now a generation moving around whilst being scared of each other. We live in gated communities to keep other human beings, whom we know succumbed to predatory behaviors because of the violence metted on them by these acts of barbarity against humanity. It is cold comfort, for the non predatory minority from all hues, to believe they are safe and sustainable, when the majority are clearly excluded, hungry and perishing of disease.

Disruption of that which does not include nor benefit the currently excluded might be the only way to level the playing field. Maybe we all need to start from ground zero, where there is no other way except going up, for everyone, particularly those currently traumatized, by the viciousness of poverty.

Of Customer Education and Closing that Deal

 

The truth is, if you have a brilliant product/service, that has value to many people, but you do not market it and close the deal, you will never make money from it. Many people dislike the customer education function, but it is the cornerstone of any successful business.

The essence of a good business opportunity is when the service/product is a need in the marketplace. Business opportunities underpinned by wants are equally good when they serve specific niche markets. For example, food like mealie pap could be a need in many indigenous Southern African communities and yet, in those same communities, cake, still a food item, is regarded a want and not necessarily a need.

So business opportunities that fill a need tend to do well throughout the world. However, we need to peel another layer off. If you unpack the concept of the Living Standards Measure (LSM), you might establish that at LSM 10, for example, a night moisturizer is a need, for a 60 year old, whereas at LSM 3, for the same age, a night moisturizer is not even on the radar for that grouping, as a want. 

There are different markets for needs and wants. When there is value, in a product/service, that is a need or a want in the various LSMs, ordinarily measured from 1 to10, there will always be customers to buy it. For every product/service with an appealing value proposition, there is a buyer. You therefore do not need to deploy high pressure selling tactics. You must persuade the potential customer to participate in closing the deal with you, simply through customer education. 

Potential customers cannot buy what does not exist in their minds. You have to educate them about your value proposition. Thereafter, they will ask you about the immediate next steps and you close the deal that started off as a marketing and customer education pitch.

These principles are true for all products/services and virtually for all marketplaces.

How you get an audience from a marketplace is different. With the advent of the internet and the booming social media, many people are selling and making money online. But customer education is more than selling. Selling tends to involve parroting sales clichés taught at the company’s sales school, whereas customer education is about meaningful engagement with the potential client, where you allow them to reflect on the information you have presented and interrogate you. If it is a product whose use you can demonstrate, you ought to spend a great deal of time showing them how it works and why it is a good idea to consider having it. The point here is, if you do not close that deal, there will be no transaction and therefore no profit realization. Refrain from hurriedly wanting to close the deal. Displaying desperation for that deal, will make the potential customer run. 

Nail bar and clothing shop owners whose owners are always present when potential and existing customers visit, tend to be like “agony aunts” as they listen to the clients’ personal issues whilst the shopping is taking place. Listening and allowing the customer to vent, is a way of creating a safe space for the customer, away from their daily grind. It is a way of creating a conducive and enabling environment for deal closure.

Other methods of accessing marketplaces include but are not restricted to having physical shops at or away from home, having a network of agents who distribute your offering, selling through retail shops, etcetera. The principle stays the same, you are getting your product/service known in the marketplace!

Unfortunately many people are misinformed about personal customer education where you gather a group of people in a room and you deliver target presentations to them. Many people think its below them, to 

inform, educate and persuade directly, on a face to face basis, a potential client, who might find value, in your proposition. Authors, have succeeded in doing this, through book launches and book signings. Reputable multi-level distributors have succeeded in making people build businesses within businesses, through this model. Personal customer education is of a delicate nature because you stand amongst people, using product/service knowledge to cajole in order to close the deal. There is no room for high pressure selling tactics. I have come to adore this method of getting a potential customer to commit, because your credibility and integrity are at stake. If you are that credible, whatever you are educating potential customers about, must offer a money back guarantee. 

In the spirit of having multiple income streams, this is where those keen in achieving financial freedom, must navigate business opportunities that allow them no access fees, great products that deliver, a whole wide web of a dependable support system and a money back guarantee. 

The most successful multi-level marketing 

programmes take care of their entrepreneurial distributors.  Many have become multi-millionaires just by following proven and tried methods developed over decades. Those who have succeeded in multi-level distribution, have also succeeded in other businesses, because the business principles are the same, they are transportable, adaptable and can be leveraged from one business to the other. 

When you do not have targets and sales turnover forecasts, what are you aiming for? It is a graph with consistent increases in sales turnover, whilst keeping expenses down and managing cashflow, that are some of the determinants of steady business growth. That business growth is anchored in sales turnover. No matter how you much you like or dislike customer pitching in business, it is the cornerstone of building a viable business. Fortunately, the best customer pitches are done face to face, are personal and you get better at it, the more you do it. Sooner or later, one way or the other, potential clients start seeking you out, because of word-of-mouth networks - the most authentic and legitimate marketing and customer education gimmick. 

My next instalment will be on word-of-mouth.