AS much as we depend on one income line as a monthly salary, there are other methods of surviving that might subsidise your income.
The article for this week relates to other previous articles on other ventures that one can do as additional multiple streams of income other than focusing on one which may not be sustainable.
Last Saturday, I drove through Lusaka’s Buseko Market and was amazed at the various activities that were taking place.
The market is a well-known hub for wood for building and other business ventures.
In addition to that, various business activities take place such as welding and manufacturing of steel door frames, gates as well as doors.
I saw young energetic people busy making doorframes using a manual contraption that require a lot of energy just to put them in the right shape.
Other than that, one good initiate that impressed me was their collaboration as businessmen.
For example, when a customer is buying timber and has no transport, the timber seller will automatically connect you to the transporter.
In addition to that, when one seller runs out of stock, he will connect the buyer to his colleagues in the same line of business, or anything that may be available for the customer that is within their reach.
Another interesting aspect of business that was prevalent among entrepreneurs at the market was the initiative of having more than one line of income.
This is especially in areas that were interrelated such as having stocks of timber, pest control solutions as well as nails which is a must to have because they go hand in hand.
A well-known fact is that a supplier of doors and window frames often sell doors and windows as well as a full package to complement the other item and make their customers’ lives easy.
The spirit of teamwork is seen not only in the formal sector but also in the informal setup because business is business regardless of the sector you operate in because principals remain the same.
The beauty is that majority of the small enterprises are registered, owners understood the importance of registering a company and have business cards readily available for potential and existing customers for ease of reference.
Surprisingly, from the same site, contractors and other experts in various fields are also stationed there to pounce on any business opportunities from the buyers of various commodities.
Out of curiosity I posed a lot of questions to two gentlemen, Michael Banda and John Chileshe in their early 20s who were working together to make doorframes.
I asked them what it takes to produce as many doorframes as possible per day using the manual contraption that looked heavy to me, but it seemed as though they were experienced and comfortable operating it.
They said to succeed in meeting the demand, one is required to work up early to get energy by eating enough Nshima and avoid taking unnecessary breaks.
This because a lot of energy is required considering that one needed to exert a lot of pressure to bend the steel.
Weekends and holidays were sited the busiest days for all of them including transporters to deliver various commodities to different destinations.
When you are looking for a profitable venture, consider shopping around first because there is so much that one can do out there.
If you sit and fantasise before exploring, you are likely to make a mistake.
There is a saying which goes: “Gold medals aren’t really made of gold.
They are made of sweat, determination, and a hard- to-find alloy called guts.”
To start a successful business, you need to work extra hard and have guts to have what it takes to win.
Learn from others how they are doing it, what challenges they face and how to avoid making mistakes.
You can work and have many side hustles to subsidise your salary as long as you have the guts to kick start your business and give it all.
For comments contact: Mobile: 0966751626/0976132835, email: Jeanmushala@ gmail.com