Multiple streams of everything

Arthur Choga

“Mweya wati hatingamirire mombe imwe chete kukama mukaka, inoremerwa”, he declared. “Dai matoonawo zvekuita kana nemi (The spirit has said we cannot wait for milk from one cow, the burden will be too heavy on the cow. You should also do something about it).”

While the message from the spirit leaves itself invitingly open to any interpretation, the topic at hand is income streams.

This is reportedly what one madzibaba told a client after the spiritual seer had been absent from his shrine for a week because he was prospecting for gold in Mudzi.

Since the economy went into hiccups the talk of multiple streams of income has become topical.

The theory is that one cannot survive on a single income, especially one that is paid as a salary. Therefore, the wisdom goes, one has to find other means of getting money that support the salary.

In some spaces, this has become known as the side hustle.

The way it is portrayed makes it seem like a shady undertaking, yet in some cases the side hustle has grown to become the main hustle.

The desire to achieve a certain standard of life drives people to work way beyond the traditional working hours.

The average Zimbabwean desires a few key necessities. A roof over their heads, food on the table, water, electricity, reliable transport and a job or space to do an honest trade. Most times these needs are not net with one income.

Hence one wakes up early, leaves for the office and spends the day fulfilling their contract of employment, usually with a few moments darting out to cater for the side hustle.

There are those who can split their work into separate times with no effects on the production. These work at night, sewing, baking, writing, designing and all the other tasks that make up the side gig. In short, people are spending less and less time sleeping and more time planning and pushing their personal projects.

Stewart Matipedza has an interesting hustle by day he is a customer service agent with a financial institution. At night he serves a totally different customer. He is paid to provide phone sex services, thus e spends most of the night fulfilling the sexual fantasies of customers around the globe

“The opportunity presented itself I needed a hustle to keep hunger from the door, and so I took it,” he said.

Local entrepreneurs are largely keeping their business out of strange bedrooms and chatrooms and focusing on improving their products and services.

While figures could not be accessed, the Registrar of Companies has recorded an increase in company registrations in each of the last three years as people seek to regularize their “hustles” so they can attract corporate clients who insist on dealing with registered entities.

The desire to deal with corporate clients has also seen home based entrepreneurs becoming more attentive to detail and producing work of a very high standard.

Sure, there is still a section of “chero zvazvaita” (whatever) charlatans who take the money, produce unimaginably bad work and slither off into the darkness from whence they came.

The birth and growth of social media and digital commerce has meant that the new breed of entrepreneurs can do most of their work from home and deliver to clients without the need for a separate business base, so there is no need for an office for shop floor space in town, cutting down on monthly expenses.

Residential areas have turned into malls with signs on each gate advertising chicken, soap, matemba, printing and even foreign currency. These are daily realities in the neighbourhood.

Churches have also begun preaching multiple income streams. Some church leaders show the way by being preachers, motivational speakers, recording artistes, authors and/or comedians all in one.

Multiple streams of income are the key word

However, a business development specialist Martin Marisa says people should be careful that these multiple ventures are actually income steams

“For a business to be viable, it needs to be self-sufficient. It should cover its own overhead costs, including paying salaries for the people who work within it. It should be able to stand alone. What we have now, with many people, is that the salary is sustaining the side hustle and creating an impression of business, when we are really just finding something to pass the time of day with,” he said.

An important test is to always check if the side hustle is able to sustain operations while paying a reasonable salary to its creator That way you will know how far down the road it is towards being a bona-fide business. Ask yourself if you would leave your job to live off the hustle. If not, it still needs more work,” he said.