2023 - The year of foundation
Moving to Lusaka
After an eventful 8 months back home in the copperbelt where i got to spend the much needed time with my family. Copperbelt (Chililabombwe) was still too small for my liking. Besides even businesses that are seemingly well established have their head quarters in Lusaka and as such decisions are made from there. I decided that i needed to move back to lusaka because from my research it presented a higher opportunity base for me to exploit. So in March, 2023 i came to Lusaka.
This move was calculated to expand my revenue base and expose me to bigger and better deals. My first course of action was a meeting with one of my clients who ended up offering me a Job as operations manager at his company.
I accepted that position because i wanted to learn from him but also have something that can generate rent for me while i settle in the new land.
Life as operations Manager
My mission as operations manager was to formalize the company, structure systems and processes and of course take the business to the next level.
After conducting user research and several interactions with the employees at the company, a strategy was fully fleshed to take the company forward. The team and i moved the company from struggling to make sales, theft and disorderlyness to constantly being understocked due to too much demand. I moved sales from K600,000 to K1,500,000 in the first 3 months and the graph has constantly been rising.
This demand prompted us to venture into manufacturing of our own paint and this is a project that is ongoing. My day to day as operations manager involves enforcing systems, decision making, defusing problems, system improvement, project management, lots of meetings and my personal favourite team building.
Content journey
In 2023 i started to be more consistent in my content production especially on facebook, tiktok and youtube. My aim here was to share knowledge that I never has as a young professional in hopes that it helps someone out there.
The most heartwarming feedback was a guy who was present on one of my facebooks live streams tagged “You don’t need money to start a business.” He had just been fired from his job. The message he heard encouraged him to trust his own skills and not be afraid to build slow. He now has 14 employees in his furniture business and no longer needs any Job.Such testimonials keep me going because i now know i am making an impact in people’s lives and i appreciate it.
I have added 63 subscribers to my youtube channel, 506 followers on TikTok, K1.1 on facebook with K24.1 reach. This is by no means impressive but we have to keep a record for it as we move forward. In 2024 i am changing my style of content because i have reinvented my brand. I will also write more and grow the webiste traffic as well. So tune in and see how the journey unfolds.
Professional by Morning Business owner by night.
In March when i moved to Lusaka i had shut down my business Fifth Dimension Business Solution and merged it into Mwanza Digital which was merely a Graphic design freelance company. Now it also did website design and software development.
As estimated Lusaka provided much more opportunity and i took on different projects from small mom and pop shops all the way to big corporations. Time management was was lacking and because of that my lead generation took a huge slump since my Job was demanding more time which meant less on my business.
Towards the last quarter i was more or less back on track and was now hitting my revenue targets.
Conclusion
As I reflect on 2023, I see a year of laying bricks, navigating obstacles, and celebrating hard-won victories. It instilled in me the unwavering power of resilience, the thrill of transformation, and the profound impact of shared knowledge.
With these lessons etched into my heart, I stride into 2024 with unwavering determination. It’s time to accelerate, to claim the success that awaits, and to leave an indelible mark on the world. Let’s rise to the challenge, together.