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Business, Careers & Technology
Common mistakes
made by SME owners
Terence Zimwara
It is not uncommon to learn of a
friend or relative who decided to
start a business enterprise. We often
applaud such steps because if the
business eventually succeeds individuals
can learn from the success, while for
many others it is always convenient to
have a business owner close by in case of
emergency.
However, it is not always smooth
sailing for those that choose to join the
business world, often a lot of the new
established businesses collapse within
Statistics from not only Zimbabwe but
from across the world show that this is
a common trend, new businesses fail
shortly after starting operations. The
question is why?
This article will attempt to answer
and why people still fall into the
same pitfall.
held by owners of the businesses. In fact
the initial motivation for venturing into
business could be the reason why the
business ultimately fails.
During the last days of the Zimdollar
era, business activity was highly unusual;
there were a lot of shortages of just
about everything. The few that were
courageous took the initiative to source
these products that were in short supply
and their success seemed almost instant.
During that time whatever that was
not available locally could be brought into
the country and the merchant would
However, we must
not forget that
d u r i n g
t h a t
Page 62 The Parade - Zimbabwe’s Most Read Lifestyle Magazine
August 2014