Grocery business on the way up

 

By Derrick Silimina

While the idea of starting a business is on many people’s wish-list, the biggest hurdle to cross for many is the capital and this is followed by managerial skills on the heels.

In Zambia, one of the simplest forms of a business to start is a grocery store. It is the commonest business one can come across in any area where people are found simply because the stocks relate to everyday human desires. 

Lufunda Zangi, 29, is one of the young entrepreneurs based at Kyawama Market in Solwezi, making a living from grocery business. 

“I started my grocery business in 2014 with cooking oil as my main product. I then began to slowly add other products such as sugar, salt, baking powder, soap, rice and other products which are found at my store today,” Zangi remembers. 

With K500 as his initial capital, Zangi now has over K4,000 in cash and described the grocery business as good because of his ability to look after the family through it. 

He says potentially, his business is able to make about K500 profit per week. In February 2020, Zangi got encouraged by a friend to enroll for the business development training programme which is powered by Kansanshi Mining Plc. 

Zangi attended nine physical training workshops before they were put on hold due to the outbreak of Covid-19. Due to his busy schedule at the market, Zangi was not able to continue with the training via radio but the Fortune World mentoring team encouraged him to apportion time for the radio training as it was equally effective. 

“The topics I have grasped so far have helped me with better customer care. I am now able to identify more market opportunities. Before attending the training, my business was failing due to poor customer relations, but the situation has since improved,” he affirmed. 

Currently, Zangi has stock worth K3,500 while his business is worth about K8,000. In future, he plans to open a shop to host the growing business with more space to stock goods as some of his goods are currently being stored in other people’s shops. 

He further states that his intention is to attend training in poultry farming so as to embark in that business. Zangi is delighted, as the business development training has also helped him with proper records management. 

“Thank you KMP management for facilitating the business training through the FWIL and I urge them to continue with the same spirit of empowering local SMEs with knowledge,” he said. 

The FWIL mentoring team urged Zangi to register his business so that he is connected to the chamber of commerce for further capacity building opportunities.