Building Zim knowledge, innovation start-up communities for business, commerce

In my last article, I discussed about building Zimbabwe knowledge and innovation start-up communities in agriculture.

An explanation about the need to develop an agricultural ecosystem in which all the actors work together to develop innovations focused on solving challenges faced by the sector, both at a national level, in Zimbabwe and at a regional level.

This article is about building knowledge and innovation start-up communities in business and commerce.

The following will be discussed: Skills required to develop start-ups in the business and commerce sector, developing start-up community partnerships for innovations in the business and commerce sector.

Skills required to develop start-ups in business and commerce

The business and commerce sectors, are the engine for sustainable economic growth and development and poverty eradication in Zimbabwe.

In order to have a thriving business sector, Zimbabwe requires adequate and high skills in marketing and advertising, management and administration, accounting and taxation, logistics and supply chain, finance and banking, risk management and insurance, business law, e-commerce, economics and new venture creation.

To assess the current state of human capital in Zimbabwe the government of Zimbabwe carried out the national critical skills audit of 2018.

The audit report indicated that there is a skills surplus of 21 percent in the business and commerce sector in Zimbabwe. A discussion of the different skills in business has been provided below.

Accounting and taxation skills

The main benefit of developing skills in accounting and taxation is having proper understanding of financial concepts. Skills are developed in the double-entry bookkeeping system, financial statements, and the accounting equation.

Those who engage in such programmes learn how to analyse financial data, financial reports critically, assess key performance indicators (KPIs) and the financial stability of an organisation. Understanding financial analysis enables individuals to make informed investment decisions, budgeting, and resource allocation.

Tax rules and regulations are complex and dynamic. For managing organised financial records, practical accounting is required. This skill is essential for managing a business’ money, keeping tabs on expenses and putting up financial statements.

Management and administration skills

Business management focuses on the organising, planning and analysing of business activities that are required to efficiently manage and run a business.

Skills developed are on what makes an organisation successful in a saturated global business environment and the knowledge required to work for businesses of all sizes, from multinational companies to start-ups.

The key management skills will allow participants to be valuable assets to many organisations.

Participant are able to build a skill set to respond to challenges and current developments in business and society, giving them the ability to make informed managerial decisions that consider ethical, economic and social implications.

Some of these essential business management skills include: critical and strategic thinking; communication; problem-solving; organisation; presenting; reporting; leadership and project management.

Marketing and advertising skills

Marketing skills ensure participants learn how to identify their target audience and better understand what their needs and preferences are. This knowledge is essential for creating products and services that meet customers’ needs.

Another key contributor to business success is building a strong brand identity that resonates with the targeted customers.

Marketing knowledge ensures undertaking market research prior to entering any market. Participants learn how to identify trends, spot opportunities, and avoid threats in the market.

With market education, one learns how to develop a marketing strategy that aligns with the organisation’s goals and objectives. Skills in digital marketing channels such as social media, email marketing and search engine optimisation, ensure participants can reach your target audience much better and promote their products and services directly.

A fundamental aspect of business success has to do with making sales. Marketing knowledge, makes it easier to convert leads into customers and building and maintain business relationships, particularly those with the customer.

Logistics and supply chain management skills

Logistics and supply chain management are essential to many businesses that the public relies on. This includes the production and distribution of everything from food and medicine to luxury items.

Logistics and supply chain management deal with the procurement and transportation of raw materials and completed products.

Both supply chain and logistics management determine the efficiency of the overall process. Skills logistics and supply chain management can ensure participants are up to date with the latest technologies and software, and will also allow them to enter the industry.

Finance and banking skills

Financial education is the process of becoming knowledgeable about financial concepts and principles to manage one’s finances responsibly. To live a stable and financially secure life, everyone needs to possess this crucial talent. Financial education teaches people the value of saving, budgeting and investing to achieve financial stability and security. It assists people in understanding how to handle their money properly.

Individuals may make wise decisions about how to utilise their resources to achieve financial goals like saving for retirement, paying off debt, or purchasing a home by having a basic understanding of financial concepts and principles.

Financial education can assist people in avoiding financial hazards by educating them on the benefits and drawbacks of various financial goods and services, including loans, credit cards and investments, allowing them to make well-informed decisions.

Making educated decisions about financial services and goods can be aided by financial education: People can choose the financial products and services that are best for them and learn how to utilise them responsibly by learning how various financial products and services operate.

Knowledge of economics

Economics teaches people to think logically, use data smartly, and develop strong analytical and problem-solving skills. It helps explain choices as small as personal day-to-day decisions and as large as foreign policy decisions. Some examples include: personal choices; business choices; Government choices and foreign policy choices.

These choices cover both micro and macroeconomic issues. Microeconomics is concerned with small scale systems like individuals and businesses while macroeconomics is concerned with decisions on a larger scale.

The field of economics examines the ways in which these kinds of choices are made and show that incentives and trade-offs drive choice in rational and predictable ways. Basic economics make one to consider opportunity costs when making decisions.

Advanced economics, ensure the government develops models on how policy choices will impact millions of citizens and design incentives to create greater wealth and security for whole nations.

Principles learned from economics are as follows: People must choose because of scarcity. People evaluate the costs and benefits of different alternatives and choose the alternative that seems best to them. People’s choices involve costs.

The most important type of cost is opportunity cost: the next best alternative that people give up when they make a choice. Incentives are actions or rewards that encourage people to act in a certain way. Incentives can be either positive or negative.

People create rules that influence individual choices and incentives. How people cooperate is governed by written and unwritten rules. As rules change, incentives and consequently people’s behaviours change. People gain when they trade voluntarily.

People can produce goods and services at lower opportunity costs when they specialise in what they do best. Then they can trade what they produce for goods or services that would be more costly for them to produce. In this way, both sides gain. People’s choices have consequences that lie in the future.

E-commerce skills

E-commerce is buying and selling goods using the internet, and transferring money and data to complete those transactions. All stores that sell products online can be classified as e-commerce. This could be anything from online marketplaces, to food delivery platforms and B2B services.

Technology is changing how business is done, and e-commerce trends continue to grow and evolve. During the pandemic, brick-and-mortar businesses suffered while e-commerce companies boomed. Despite being able to shop in real life now, online grocery shopping continues to rise. E-commerce businesses typically fall into one of four main groups.

The model is typically determined by who is selling and who it’s being sold to. In the business to consumer (B2C) e-commerce model, the business sells directly to a consumer. The business to business (B2B) model involves selling products or services to other businesses. For example, a wholesale company that sells car parts to factories is B2B. With consumer to business (C2B), individuals sell their products or services to a business through an online platform.

Social media influencers and bloggers fall under this category if they receive money from businesses to promote the brand. Consumer to consumer (C2C e-commerce models typically involve online websites where people to sell goods and services directly to others.

Knowledge of business law

Business law plays a vital role in regulating business practices in a country. Every business concern, either large-scale or small-scale, is bound to comply with their respective legal regulations. The following functions can help in understanding Business Law.

Business law also includes regulations about employee rights and privileges, workplace safety, overtime rules, and minimum wages law.

It strives to alleviate the impact businesses have on the environment and nature. It aims to regulate pesticides, limit air and water pollution, chemical usage, and so on. Business law determines the formal process of establishment of a business organization and regulations related to the selling of corporate entities.

It also includes rights assignment, drafting, and work delegations, breach of contract, transactions, contracts, and penalties for violation of the agreement. Business law defines laws related to business partnerships, entities, sole proprietorships, liability companies, and corporations.

It describes laws related to business and real property. Business law analyses the overall impact of computer technology on other business domains. Includes laws related to bankruptcy and governance of the securities.

Apart from these, business law is also essential to regulate corporate financing, regulatory compliance, and commerce litigation.

Insurance and risk management skills

Understanding the role of insurance within the broader context of enterprise risk management is essential for company success. Not only does this fulfill a legal requirement, it ensures the sustainability and growth of businesses.

When unexpected incidents occur, having the right insurance coverage grants businesses access to necessary funds and resources, helping to limit out-of-pocket expenses and facilitate a quicker recovery. Insurance in risk management serves as a financial safety net, mitigating the impact of unforeseen events by not only identifying and monitoring such risks but also effectively transferring part of this risk through the policy.

That’s why business owners must prioritise understanding and integrating insurance in risk management strategies to safeguard against unexpected challenges.

New venture creation skills

Entrepreneurship skills encourage individuals to think creatively and identify opportunities in the market by learning techniques for idea generation, problem-solving, and how to turn innovative concepts into viable business propositions.

Entrepreneurs are often natural leaders as they tend to take an idea, build a team, and grow their business around them. Entrepreneurs usually find success comes through teamwork, and putting together a great team requires a great leader.

These are the skills that Zim requires as there is a call for universities to develop start-ups through the education 5.0 philosophy.

Nokuthula G Moyo-Muparuri is a lecturer at the Midlands State University in the Faculty of Business Sciences. She is also the Founder of the Institute of Applied Entrepreneurship. The mission of the Institute is Start-Up/Innovation Skills Development and Start-Up/Innovation Ecosystem Development. The Institute has established a Zim Start-Up Academy with providing courses on Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Small and Family Business Management and Innovation/Start-Up Ecosystems Development. Those interested can contact the Institute on +263718747621-ebusinessweekly