By Shephard Kembo
In today’s fluid, dynamic, complex and very unpredictable economic environment, running a business is not just about passion, ideas, or a flashy brand, it is about survival, strategy, and sharp execution.
Whether you are trading in Bulawayo or Beijing, the fundamentals of business do not change. Success, no matter the industry or location, boils down to three simple but powerful words, Read. Count, and Sell, which leads to market share, cash flow and profitability.
Let us unpack this in our weekly installment article.
Read: Reading is not just about literacy. It is about business literacy. Every serious entrepreneur must read beyond the headlines, read financial reports, read contracts, read your market, read consumer behaviour, and most critically, read the economy. In Zimbabwe, for instance, policies change more often and fast and as a businessperson and entrepreneur you have to keep ahead and or keep pace with the business regulatory policy changes. If you are not paying attention to monetary policy updates, tax laws, exchange rates, and market shifts, you are setting yourself up for failure. Business and entrepreneurs are supposed to be smart and tactical shrewd economic readers. They know how to interpret signs and data. If you can not read the story behind your sales, your costs, your team dynamics, or your customer feedback, you will always be operating blindly.
Count: This is where the rubber hits the road. Business is a numbers game. Cash flow. Margins. Turnover. Break-even points. Debtors. Creditors. These are not just accounting terms, they are the lifeblood of every business. Too many business owners in Zimbabwe and across Africa are driven by emotion rather than numbers. They confuse sales with success and ignore the signals hidden in their balance sheets. A million-dollar sale means nothing if it costs you 1.2 million to make. Counting teaches discipline. It keeps you grounded. It reminds you that profitability is not optional, it is the business. If you can not count, you can not measure it, you can not grow it as well as control it. If you can not measure it, you can not manage it business is as simple as that.
Sell: Always Be Selling. Sales is not a department. It is the soul of every business. Without sales, your strategy is just theory. Selling means finding customers, serving them excellently, retaining them, and constantly offering value that makes them choose you over and over again. It means telling your story in a way that converts attention into action.
Zimbabwean businesses must learn to sell smarter. Selling is no longer just a hustle, it is a science. Understand your market. Position your brand. Know your product inside out. Learn how to negotiate and close deals and follow up. As your market shares dwindle, your business faces decline and possible collapse. The day you do not have a market, you do not have a business.
Why It Matters
In a hyper-competitive world, profitability, cash flow, and market share are not fancy jargon, they are your scoreboard. You can not fix what you do not understand and no amount of funding or inspiration can rescue a business that does not know how to read its market, count its money, and sell its value.
This is not about being big, it is about being strategic. It is not about working hard, it is about working smart. Zimbabwe has seen the rise and fall of many promising ventures because the founders skipped these fundamentals.
Inspiration is great, but it will not pay your employees and suppliers. Vision is the railroad, the business is a road map, and a commercial compass is very essential, but it will not keep the lights on. You need practical tools and real discipline.
So, to every aspiring and current business owner out there, before you open your next shop, launch that next product, or pitch to that next investor, ask yourself, “Have I read, have I counted, and am I ready to sell?” That is the game. That is the formula. That is the future of business and entrepreneurship.
Shephard Kembo (Managing Partner Globavel International Pvt Ltd)
