By Simbarashe, 13 July 2013

A few years ago before I started this blog, I met a woman who told me something that may change your fortunes forever. It was in Harare, Zimbabwe about this time of the year at the book fair.  I was glad to bump into her again and she agreed to tell me about China and the opportunities that lie in that country. She told me that it was possible to manufacture your product in China then import it to Zimbabwe as a finished product.

She first discovered this opportunity whilst working at a publishing house. The costs of printing in Zimbabwe were far much higher than outsourcing from China and even from neighbouring South Africa. As we talked over a drink, I remember her saying “It’s like importing a Chinese magazine to Zimbabwe. Because all you have to do is email a pdf copy of your book or magazine to china then have it printed there. It is then shipped back to Zimbabwe as a finished product.”

She looked at me and smiled. “Manufacturing costs in China are way cheaper than Zimbabwe.” I believed her. So you can basically outsource manufacturing from China. A product can be designed in Zimbabwe – send to your out sourced contractor in China and come back in Zimbabwe a cheaper finished product. As the old saying goes, if you can’t beat them join them.

I then tried to see if her business model could be duplicated in another industry besides publishing. The results I got though empirical are amazing. There are a lot of products which are on demand in Zimbabwe but buying from Europe or manufacturing locally makes little business sense. It is possible to buy the raw materials required to manufacture the product from Brazil, then send them to China were they are then processed into a finished product. The final product is then shipped to Zimbabwe. The Holy Book states that all things are possible if one believes. This is not a new idea. Companies have been doing it before. Buying raw materials from different countries and manufacture the product in Zimbabwe before shipping back to Europe.

Instead of buying products designed for other markets, it would make more sense to send for example, your design proto type to your outsourced manufacture then have it back in Zimbabwe at the same price with the generic product. Imagine sending an African attire design to your out sourced manufacture in China then get it back in Zimbabwe a finished product.

Below is a list of products one can outsource manufacturing from China.

• Children’s Products
• Sporting Goods and Equipment
• Industrial Products and Supplies
• Electronics and Technology
• Clothing Label
• Gifts and Home ware

These are the products I only researched on for the sack of this post but they are not limited to the above only. If your Zimbabwean business was being affected by cheaper imports, consider outsourcing manufacturing as an option.

To your success