My mission is to support women: Ndhlukula
With more than two decades in business and having bagged numerous local, regional and international awards,
Dr Divine Ndhlukula has become an entrepreneur of unquestionable repute.
But her staying power, notwithstanding the country’s recent boom-andbust economic cycles, has distinguished her the most. Despite the challenging economic environment, she still managed to march on.
The Sunday Mail Gender and Community Editor, Fatima Bulla and reporter Sharon Munjenjema recently spoke with the acclaimed businesswoman about the
journey she has travelled so far. *****
Q: Since you ventured into business, how would you describe your journey so far?
A: Well, I can say the journey is like a train which is going through the hills where there are valleys; it is a journey that is full of splendour and rapture. When you say splendour, you are enjoying; where there
is rapture, you are obviously going through issues that are really heavy. It is an exciting journey. We have got our own issues as Zimbabwe but obviously our issues really are for the tough. I think it is happening in a lot of economies. Each economy has got its own issues. So that is the rapture that I talk about. Q: How have you managed to stay afloat?
A: I think it is really about putting your best foot forward. You just have to say this is the challenge I am facing, how do I manage it? This is why at times one has to leave the office at 11pm despite the fact that they would be tired. You need to resolve issues, you need to manage issues and you need to work that extra bit everyday just to make things happen . . .
The good thing is I am not a man that needs to go and stand at a bar to drink one or two. And I think I am also fortunate that I no longer have kids that I am looking after because my kids are grown up . . . When I started this business, by the way, my kids were still going to school.
Q: So how did you manage to balance family and work considering the pressure
which comes with starting a business?
A: I always say I think I have worked on what I call a smart partnership kind of relationship with everyone that I work with. With my family, it is a smart partnership. I remember when I started this company we were living in Mabelreign and my eldest son was still in high school, and I was still working full-time. My husband was also still alive.
So I would work that smart partnership with them in that manner. If I got home after work — because I started the business when I was still working — I would get there into my office, which was my staff quarters, and started doing the work of Securico. I usually left Intermarket at 5pm and at 6 pm . . .
My husband would be there to help with this or the other. I remember one time on a Saturday we ran short of a guard at one of the contracts we had in Milton Park. And we had to get somebody. So I took my maid, gave her a uniform, we dropped her to go and fill in. Then we had to go and pick up a trained guard somewhere. She had to stand in for an hour or two. So you need to build those kind of smart partnerships . . .
So you need to bring everyone close to what you are doing. One of the problems that we have, I think, is that you think you have started your own business and you do not involve your husband. You are going to run into problems because he is going to be working against you.
The time I started this business my husband had just been diagnosed with kidney failure, so he had just started dialysis sessions. So I said to him “I am not going to start this business because obviously it is just too much, I have a full-time job, I have these kids, I have got this company that I am starting, one of the things have to stop”. But my husband said you cannot stop to live your dream on my account. Q: You have won so many awards, got numerous recognitions, which one is your favourite? A: I think the defining moment in our awards was the Africa Awards for Entrepreneurship. They were just in a class of their own because just the process for them to determine a winner is rigorous. It takes almost 12 months because all potential participants complete a very involved form which has all the information that a business is expected to have. Normally, they are 900 to 1 000 applicants. Then from that they have to select the first 50; from there, they narrow down to 30. Then from the 30 they send analysts from McKinsey International to go and visit those 30 businesses across Africa. They spend two days with you in your business. Then from the 30, they select 10. The 10 are expected to go to a selected country; for that year it was Nairobi. ◆ Read full interview on www.sundaymail. co.zw