No business entrepreneur will on a particular day work up to start up a business venture. The business idea could have started as a thought in the mind of the prospective entrepreneur before it is birthed as a business project.
There are so many ways in which businesses are started by different business entrepreneurs.
In this era of entrepreneurism the thought of becoming the own boss, forms in so many minds of people and this can be sampled by the number of small businesses across the country.
However, while the idea of starting a business in so many people want to come alive, the most biggest huddle to cross is the capital and this is followed by managerial skills on the heels.
Today I want us to look at the simplest form of a business to start and yet so many have attempted to run this kind of a business but have along the line failed to contain.
Running a grocery store is one of the commonest businesses one can come across in any area where people live or are found simply because the stocks relate to every day human wants.
For example, groceries are the stockists of such daily human wants like bread, sugar, cooking oil, mealie meal to mention but a few.
James Chirwa (not a real name) who runs a grocery business in Emmasdale area informed me that running a grocery business demands a lot of general discipline. He told me that when starting a business and if the premises where the business is being conducted are rented
premises, it is important to ensure that you provide money for rentals and pay four to six months in advance in the beginning, ensure that in the interim you don’t withdraw goods or money for personal use but use the money generated through sales to beef up stocks that are needed.
He told me that one should ensure that the stocks in the grocery business should be those that are desired by the customers otherwise one can stock items that can not be sold hence locking money in the non-moving items.
He also mentioned to me that one should be mindful of the purchasing power the customers possess and in line should stock items that are affordable by the customers.
In my research conducted over grocery business I have discovered that few entrepreneurs move to formalise such businesses with the relevant authorities but most of them only register for trading licenses from the councils.
However one can not blame the entrepreneurs because of the nature of the business that only deals with final consumers and are only cash related.
The tutemba (small stalls) grocery businesses are widely spread more especially in the townships and this serves as the economical survival among the youth that are not employed because it is easy to start the business with a little amount of money.
However through prudent management, others have become big business entrepreneurs while others have failed during the first attempt.
Research has revealed that the following are the principals to follow when starting to run a grocery business on a very small scale. It is important to mention here that a grocery business once handled prudently registers as a fast growing business in stocks.
1)      Placement: A grocery should be set in a place where it is convenient for customers to access it.
2)      Capital: Although money to start a grocery, can be any amount it must be reasonable to order goods that are most desired for in the area.
3)      Discipline: General discipline especially financial discipline is the most desired ingredient in running a grocery business.
4)      Replenishing the stocks: This is the key to grow this business by ensuring that reasonable money raised through sales is immediately used to order new stocks.
5)      Money: Money must not be withdrawn for personal things in the interim instead it must be used to replenish the stocks.
6)      Goods: Goods must not be withdrawn and used for personal use instead must be paid for in the interim.
7)      The owner should be available or assign a trusted person to manage it.
8)      Confidence must be built in customers so as to make the business as a stop over place for desired items.
9)      Ensure that you read and understand the strength and weakness of the competitors in the area in order to seize the opportunity Grocery business,if prudently handled can be used as a get way to business success but however if carelessly run it swallows capital.
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