Name: Thabani Mnyama
Organization: Africonsult Firm
Role: Partner & Director of Business Development
Achievements/Awards:
Gumiguru 50 Under 30 Emerging Leaders Class of 2020
The day everything almost fell apart for me was when, with Covid lockdown in place, I had been held up in Zimbabwe at my brother’s farm and couldn’t move around. Work carried on as we worked remotely, then unpredictable power supply had us in the dark for a week.
Unfortunately it just so happened that during the same period I was busy handling a case for a South African client and my unavailability was bad news for him, his brand and our Firm.
So it was time to innovate in order to avoid total disaster. After managing to charge my phone in the car, I had to use my phone for everything to my client and thankfully, it all worked out
As for the lessons I learnt from the experience, I would say the importance of having a plan B because had I had that in place my work wouldn’t have been disrupted.
Also Virtual Assistance: Maximizing on digitalizing your business model as much as possible. This helps with minimizing walk ins by prospective clients and thus reduces risks of Covid infection, while at the same time minimizing operational costs as there won’t be need for office as much [dependent of course on your line of work]
Supply Chain: The pandemic has disrupted the human element of the supply chain and this calls for stronger and more creative contingency plans which foresee disruptions of all sorts, whether man-made or natural.
Covid-19 has shaken the comfort many had in the existing supply chains and the time is now to evolve. With the pandemic, it’s much more easier for start-ups to implement than very big enterprises so one should take advantage of this.
Finances: Have assets which don’t depreciate in value as quickly with time, if these assets can being in a steady income of cash into the business all the better as this helps cushion the business in the event of prolonged lockdowns
