Page 54 - Start Up_Genesis

“My mother has been selling assorted items such as mineral water sachets, freezits and chikanda,
since I was in primary school.I would help her sell in the streets and at the end of the day, hand
over the money to her.”
Simon also worked for business giant Trade Kings as a general cleaner and upon completion of his
secondary school in 2013, was elevated to the position of Weighbridge Attendant. He highlights
the challenges he faces in his current business.
“The buyer has high bargaining power to decide the price and due to this, prices are decreasing to
around K120 per bag. Sometimes the company decides not to buy our bottles because it has enough
in supply and as things stand, the owner is even planning to stop buying.”
Despite being mocked by his friends for picking up bottles, Simon boasts that he has enough
‘elegant’ clothes because his business is sustaining him.
The young entrepreneur also sells tomatoes and ‘Easy’ branded noodles to fellow students and plans
to switch to supplying chickens to UNZA. Having gained experience in business, Simon doubts he
will seek formal employment. “I am already seeing myself becoming a strong entrepreneur.”
He shares that small business such as his tend to grow at a fast rate and have high returns because
of efficiency in running them, as opposed to the ‘smart’ businesses that require one to import
gadgets from foreign countries.
Simon urges young Zambians to change their mentality from wanting to be employed formally
to becoming their own bosses. He also calls on his peers to not wait to graduate from tertiary
institutions before becoming entrepreneurs. He says taking up small opportunities such as his will
help them have enough money for consumption and further investment.
Job creation is one of the biggest economic issues of our time. A prodigious way to blossom in the
informal sector is to have a change of mindset and the realization of entrepreneurial abilities like
Simon’s.

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