The Sunday News
Robin Muchetu, Senior Reporter
STARTING a business is not an easy ride considering the capital and other investments. However, enterprising women from Bulawayo have come up with innovative ways of boosting women in business by holding what is known as business showers.
A business shower shares the same concept as a baby shower, kitchen party and bridal shower to name a few, that involve people coming together to celebrate a person’s milestone and give gifts. It however, calls for invited guests to bring appropriate gifts for the entrepreneur’s business venture.
Mrs Nkanyiso James of Duduzile Trust who is one of the first people to throw a business shower in the city shared a few notes on how the idea was birthed.
“We are a women empowerment initiative and our vision is to empower women to be at their professional, academic and personal best. I had a baby some time ago and I had a baby shower, when I was nursing the baby I was going through social media and saw someone’s status which read ‘When a woman is pregnant we throw baby showers but when someone has a business idea no one ever thinks of throwing a business shower’. I then took this idea further and developed it. In the context of Duduzile Trust it made sense to me as I want to empower women because I believe that social and economic change can only come when women are empowered,” she said.
She noted that the biggest problem was the disempowerment of women yet they are nurturers that have the ability to grow things.
“There are a lot of women that are starting businesses in this city and starting one is difficult, besides the financial and legal requirements there are other things that you need to learn and get for you to grow. The least we can do is to harness the little resources we have to assist this woman who will be starting a business,” said Mrs James.
She said this is not a completely new concept as long ago there were “amalima” where people would come together and plough land and do all that is needed and assist the owner of that land and move to the next. She noted that it was sad to note that for something as empowering as starting up a business, people have never made that effort to assist. She explained how the concept works.
“What we do is to throw a shower for a woman that has just started a business and has registered it.
We need to see proof of your concept and your faith in your business. We can invest where you have invested. We do the job of bringing in people who will buy in to what you are doing and they shower you with gifts that are relevant to your line of business. I did the first shower a few months ago and basically the stencil for all forthcoming showers is that the woman who is the owner of the business has to draw up a wish list of what she would want to be gifted with in her business,” she said.
She further explained;
“The structure is that we take you through coaching. We are in partnership with a business consultant, they do the whole branding for you, both personal and corporate; we also have a checklist to see the viability of the business because you could be in business today and out tomorrow.
“So we need to have measures in place to see that the business is sound, we need to see your business plan. This process is supposed to ensure that you are able to steer the business in the right direction. If you do not have one, the process of being with the consultant is to help you to achieve it and at the end of it all when you have towed the line then we can hold the shower.
“We do not just wake up and throw a business shower and we lose our heads, we take you through a process to hear your long and short term plans so that come year five it looks like what you projected it to be. We as Duduzile Trust do the planning, networking, branding, marketing for the event and we facilitate the coaching mentioned above. We are in partnership with accredited branders.
Even after the coaching has been done and you do not hold the intended shower you would have been assisted into turning your business in the correct direction. The business shower is actually the cherry on top, it is what everyone sees but there is a lot of work that would have happened in the background in terms of growing the business,” she added.
Mrs James however, said when she deals with women, sometimes they have deep emotional problems that can affect the way they relate life and business so when they dig deep, they are not just digging deep into personal branding like hair and makeup but also talk to the inner person.
“Mind you, some women are survivors of various forms of abuse so they come with ideas but they are shy because at some point someone came and took away their power and we need to give them back their power. During the business showers we have motivational speakers, business gurus, life coaches, etiquette gurus to speak on the day and also that others who will have attended leave with some valuable lessons that they can implement in their own spheres. Similar to what we do when we go for a baby shower you have people who advise you on how to care for the baby, the dos and don’ts, same applies,” she said.
Mrs James further said these businesses must be registered.
“We want women to have registered businesses because there is more confidence in a registered business, that was the first thing we thought of.
And then of cause for administration purposes if someone wants to send a donation of money for you even in the future if an investor wants to pour money into your business you have to have a company bank account where your funds go to. We were forward thinking so all legal things need to be in order, an investor cannot hand funds to you and you put them in your purse. No.
Asked on what her message was to women who may have ideas but are coy she said:
“My message is that you are the brand, when I started this someone said everyone was going to copy the idea and I said well, this was not initially my idea I also heard someone sharing the sentiments on the internet and I actioned it.
Besides that no one has the same thoughts as I do, we will definitely do it differently so anyone can use the same concept. I work for Innovation for Africa and we are all about ideas and innovation.
Even if a person steals your idea, they will not do it the way you would, you are the brand. If you are a woman that has an idea but you are scared that it will be stolen, find your uniqueness and give it a shot.”
