Over the last year i have had the Honor of visiting this Utopia 5 or 6 times.
While on my visits I have had the pleasure of meeting Zambians from all walks of life from Influential Chief’s to political leaders in various parts of the government as well as some of the most acute interglacial’s in the fields of medicine, business and philanthropy
A Close friend of mine a Zambian living abroad told me that he was going to the trucking and transport business while this is a brilliant opportunities He also had some other idea’s my views were as follows
Thank you for the email I am sure by now you settled back in the USA I would also like to wish you the best of luck for the new year. I
Bellow I am responding in red please note this is my option and not cast in stone or is it fact
I spent quite some time selling ourselves this holiday. We had the opportunity to meet with a lot of government officials as well as private companies regarding the ideas we have. In most cases, it turned out good but as expected, a lot of patience is needed when dealing with Zambia.
You have gone about this the right was you know only too well about African time is something we have to live with, But building your personal name is the best thing you can do at the end of the day companies tend to support people and not companies what I mean is your reputation and people believing you can deliver is the way to go
There are a couple things that I am interested in doing that may or may not be of interest to you. Either way, your input is appreciated.
Real estate within the U.S: a lot of property management opportunities are available. I am considering buying property for resale, several property being sold by banks at give away prices near college towns for rent, property to be bought for upgrade and resale or rent, etc.
This is a brilliant idea and something I would like to get involved in,
There are two things I feel you need to take in to account
a) These assets the banks are dumping are toxic debt meaning that the banks in the states might not be too keen to advance capital this is no means a turn off you may just need to look a different finance options though international funders and finical institutions
b) Buying properties for the college towns there is always a demand for this I just have one causation to you on this I believe that one factor of the economic crash in the states is that I predict a heavy drop enrolment not because people are unable to enroll but rather because their parents will not have the fund for tuition, I believe there are two reasons for this
1) Families have had to dip in to life saving which include collage funds for their children due to the sharp increase in the subprime those who were able to hold on to their homes and heavy drop in employment I don’t believe as this stage they have the money for education of their children
2) Students that in the past that have relied on grants and student loans no longer have access to this money as capital markets are depleted in the states
This by no means mean that this is not a brilliant opportunity just that while buying assets (property one needs to be able to hold these assets with the view of possibility of not having any hi returns for 5 years, simply meaning you need to be able to hold the assets without counting on real income for servicing of loans
Real estate within Africa: Property for rent. Most especially rental property in Lusaka, copper belt and places like Solwezi where government is investing in mining. I am also keeping an eye on areas they have deemed an economic region.
Here you are totally correct there is a huge market special for commercial property and as you know this is one of our projects and goals should you come across any good deals J Hodlings would be happy to partner with you
Freight: Freight business for transport of goods around southern Africa. An established opportunity is with Zambia Sugar whom Dad and I were able to sign transportation contracts with. So many companies like Lafarge Cement, Mines, Construction Companies in SA and about, etc. This is the more immediate venture that I am into. The return on investment with this is astronomical and it’s an almost immediate gain. I am looking into purchasing used Trucks (semi’s) from here and shipping them over. I have found used trucks for under $12,000 (Year: 2005 and under).Shipping costs are below $5000 it seems. Once established, I will purchase more reliable trucks and trailers. I am working with the Banks here for funding but its beginning to be challenging especially being a startup business. I am working on specific figures to figure out my returns.
I am very pleased to here this it is fantastic again here I need cushion you for two reasons there were about 5 south African companies multinational providing freight throughout Africa, please Google “super group” Larry Lipchitz is / was the ceo. You possible obstacles here and something you need to bear in mind that while this can be a brilliant business there are two risks you need to try factor in
1) The fuel prices are very volatile I’m sure you know that the cost of Brent crude has doubled in the last year the cost of refining fuel has also increased. With fuel prices being so volitatial and as we have seen prices can double within a few month cutting in to your profit margin
2) Should the fuel prices stay low there is serious competition from SA Multinational that have the resources and trucks and are in the process of remodeling there business plans and units to move in to Africa
3) PLEASE NOTE THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT YOU CANT DO THIS AND SHOULDN’T DO IT JUST BE AWARE OF THE MARKET AND POSIBLE OBSTICALS
Computer Services: Web Design, Networking, Hardware Installation, Computer Systems Troubleshooting, etc. We have people that we identified in Zambia as well as here that we will be employing for bigger jobs.
There is always a need for good IT companies just identify you market and stick to It what I mean buy this if you are going to offer services to large companies don’t let yourself be bogged down
Buy home users I know this is an easy entry point just don’t get stuck in it as you won’t be able to service you A grade companies,
Buy and Sale of goods including equipment, computer hardware and software (servers etc). This we talked about when we met.
Again I think you have identified an opportunity were are setting up a company called Afri Source to supply all goods that may be needed
Consultancy.
Obviously the challenging part is funding. My plan is to let one project build on the next starting for now with the Freight business which has established immediate gains. I am also looking for individuals or business entities that are willing to enter into partnerships. I have met and discussed with a couple big shots here but it takes a while to established good reputations, a thing you talked to me about. Unfortunately, I feel like I am starting my endeavors a little too late in life and wish I had thought out these ideas much earlier but I believe I can make up for lost time. I am looking for opportunities where ever I can find them because success is heavily based on that!
I spoke to you about this and again you need to be very careful about how you go about setting it up, I think what you should look at doing is signing contracts with the companies you bring in from the USA to Zambia
I don’t believe for one minute you are late too old to enter the game you need reflect on what you have leart
I always say business is a game some time you learn no time is wasted when you are not making money you are learning take the lesson of what you you have attempted you have learnt from if you look as history most people only really get going at 35 – 40 years old
I urge you to read the following books
Malcolm Gladwell
Outliers
Blink
Tipping point once you have read those let me know and I’ll give you another reading list
