‘It is easy to set up a thriving business in the UK’

By Nkosana Dlamini, Leeds, United Kingdom

Business oriented Zimbabweans living in the United Kingdom are able to exploit the vast opportunities offered by the first world country where one can find themselves with a registered business at the snap of a finger.

These were sentiments expressed at a business network seminar held Thursday in Leeds, a city in West Yorkshire, England.

The networking event was organised by the Entrepreneurs Network UK, an organisation founded few years ago with sights on bringing together aspiring entrepreneurs around Leeds and the United Kingdom.

Organisation co-founder and Golden Square Health Care director Maynard Chitiyo said while the general advice for many Africans has always been to invest back home, it is still possible to set up a business in the UK if one is based here and still needs to physically take charge of the day to day running of their enterprise for success.

“It is feasible to set up a thriving business here in UK,” Chitiyo said.

“If you have the opportunity to invest in the UK or anywhere abroad, absolutely go for it.

“You just have to understand the local laws, policies and you always have to speak to advisors.

“Do not just ask the person on the street; ask a trusted person. Go to different networking events, you will hear the same lingo. Your network is your net worth.

“Do not cut corners. The beauty about this is that they offer free information on how to register a company. You have to also understand and respect your immigration status and what your limitations are.”

He added, “It is cheap to open a business. For as little as 20 pounds, you can have a company registered.”

Chitiyo, who is into health care, property and also runs a recruiting agency and a medical aesthetics business with his wife, says he took the hard decision to de-invest in Zimbabwe and brought investment funds to invest in the UK where his family is based.

“It was a bit challenging to manage things back at home remotely,” he says.

The UK offers vast opportunities for one to invest in sectors such as technology, shipping, car sale and care industry where there is a niche market.

Speaking at the same event, Entrepreneurs Network UK co-founder Ed Musariri also urged Zimbabweans and the broader African migrant community here to seek the right information and also engage experts when they want to start businesses in the UK.

“If you have got the support of Federation of Small Businesses which was present here, you have got to have the training to set up a business and you have got to have the mentorship.

“If you have those things right, you can make it in business. But people try to do things on their own, follow what they have probably heard somewhere. It does not work always,” said Musariri who is into property and also sits on the Africa Business Association board.

Musariri said while the Covid-19 remains a calamity to regret, the silver lining was in the vast opportunities it opened up for a lot of Zimbabweans and fellow Africans as there was a sudden increase in the need for care.

The British have shelled out millions of pounds to prop up the sector.

“What I see lacking is the ability to connect, network and work together because most Africans probably because of our backgrounds, think business or life is a competition…business and life is a synergy; we have to draw lessons from the Asian community here.

“They run takeaway shops and operate side by side. They have understood the power of working together, networking, the power of synergy by getting together. We can go far working together,” he said.

Harare based business developer Albert Mapfumo who flew from Zimbabwe to proffer his knowledge on business urged small business entrepreneurs not to be intimidated by bigger firms around them.

He said small businesses should learn to identify the weaknesses of bigger companies and fill in the gaps left by the big boys of the industry. EMAIL: [email protected]