SOUTHERN AFRICA FEDERATION OF THE DISABLED

(SAFOD)

TRAINING MANUAL
ON

HOW TO START AND RUN A BUSINESS

FOR
SELF-RELIANCE

Developed and Compiled By: M.S.S Mbedzi: M.S.M Management Development

Consultancy(Pvt) Limited, 5264 Gwabalanda, P.O. Luveve
Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

Edited By: Alexander M. Phiri

Secretary General
SAFOD
TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS…………………………………………………………………….2

INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………………3

GENERATING A BUSINESS IDEA………………………………………………………….3

BUSINESS PLAN OR PROJECT PROPOSAL…………………………………………….7

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT…………………………………………………………………10

MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE………………………………………………………………12

MONITORING AND EVALUATION………………………………………………………….13

SUSTAINABILITY………………………………………………………...………….………..14

SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats)…………..……………..……..15

MARKETING…………………………………………………………………………………..15

MANAGING A BUSINESS……………………………………………………………………17

COMMUNICATION …………………………………………………………………………..18

PUBLIC AND CUSTOMER CARE RELATIONS…………………………………………..21

CONDLICTS AND THE RESOLUTIONS……………………………………….…………..22

CONFLICTS WITH RELATIVES………………………………………..……………………24

STOCK CONTROL………………………………………………………..…………………..24

RECORD KEEPING………………………………………………………..…………………26

BUYING / PURCHASING……………………………………………….…………….....…...27

COSTING AND PRICING……………………………………………….…………..………..30

IMPACT OF HIV AND AIDS ON BUSINESS……………………………………………….34

GLOSSARY…………………………………………………………………………………….36

REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………………………37

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We are grateful to UNIFEM Finland and UNIFEM SARO for their unwavering support for
the SAFOD Women’s Programme and the project on “Enhancing the Economic Security
of Women with Disabilities in Southern Africa, which enabled us to work on the training
of women with disabilities in Business Management during the funding period of two
years.

We are thankful to all the participants of the training workshops in Malawi, Zambia and
Zimbabwe whose questions, ideas and suggestions immensely contributed to the
development and compilation of this Manual.

Our thanks also go to the SAFOD Women’s Committee Chairperson, Mrs Farai
Cherera and the resource persons who contributed their knowledge and expertise to the
training workshops; these include Dorothy Musakanya, Ronah Sibanda, Modicai Gumbo
and Siegfried K. Runge.
Rozie Magarasadza needs special thanks for typing the Manual.

Finally our appreciation goes to Zambia Federation of Organisations of the Disabled

(ZAFOD), Zambia National Association of Disabled Women (ZNADWO), Disabled
Women in Development (DIWODE), Federation of Disability Organisations in Malawi
(FEDOMA) and National Council of Disabled Persons of Zimbabwe (NCDPZ) for the
logistical support they rendered during the implementation of the business training
project.

Alexander M. Phiri
Secretary General

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INTRODUCTION:

This manual was developed and written by the Southern Africa Federation of the
Disabled (SAFOD) following the successful implementation of a project funded by
UNIFEM called “Enhancing the Economic Security of Women with Disabilities in
Southern Africa”, and is intended as a brief overview or guide to a range of business
training programmes of people with disabilities. The manual cannot, therefore, attempt
to address all the details required for carrying out a business training programme, but it
includes basic information that is required for starting or expanding a business or
income generating project. The information in the manual is not only user-friendly, but it
is also adapted to the needs of small businesses, although most of the information will
apply equally to larger concerns.

For example, preparation of a business plan is not only important to help ensure that the
type of business you have chosen, the location, market, cash needs, expected profit
and possibility of growth are all favourable, but a plan is also necessary for approaching
financial institutions for funding.

SAFOD’s experience with training individuals and groups of people with disabilities on
how to start and run a business dates back to the early 90s when the organization
launched the “Small Scale Enterprises for Economic Development (SEED) programme.
In the second and final year of the Women’s project funded by UNIFEM, the SEED
programme was reviewed and a new programme, the Poverty Alleviation Strategy
(PAST) was introduced to replace SEED. It is this vast knowledge gained over many
years through SEED and the women’s economic enhancement project that enabled the
organization to compile this simplified version of a Business Training Manual in order to
assist individual disabled people and their groups to generate viable business ideas
successfully. The manual is suitable for especially people who are able to read and
write and do simple calculations.

Many people who think of going into business strongly believe that when you have the
money you need, you are in real business. This is not true. To run a successful
business you need the following:

• Great ideas that meet real needs

• Goals that can be achieved
• The right people and resources to carry out the project
• Strong commitment and participation (including decision making)
• Excellent management
• Future plans for growth

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GENERATING A BUSINESS IDEA

People with disabilities in general and women in particular have the potential to
contribute economically, socially and politically to the development of their communities
and countries if their participation in community programmes and/or activities is
recognized and accounted for. In this way they can address their own economic
empowerment and therefore come out of their poverty situation.

Throughout their lives, people with disabilities experience exclusion that cuts across all
sectors that are responsible for their acute and chronic poverty. Many people with
disabilities themselves, especially in (Sub-Saharan) Africa and other low-income and
developing nations, have very low expectations, lack self-esteem and power. Years of
continual exclusion and negative attitudes tend to put them in a situation of
hopelessness.

The Southern Africa Federation of the Disabled and its member organizations are
undertaking development programmes that aim to build the image and confidence of
people with disabilities in their respective countries through engaging themselves in
income-generating projects or business ventures of their choice. However, due to long
periods of exclusion, many projects that grassroot member engages in are “traditional”
and not so challenging. Examples of the project activities that come to mind are
tailoring, crotchet work, chicken rearing, shoe-mending, vending (selling fruits), basket
weaving, carpentry, welding, etc. Rehabilitation institutions and vocational training
centres that are operating in many countries in Southern Africa are even encouraging
people with disabilities to undertake these traditional activities, without giving them the
opportunity to explore such “up-market” and modern ventures as tourism, hair salons,
printing, manufacturing, catering, transport, etc. Could it be due to high rates of
illiteracy among people with disabilities that they are not given the opportunity to venture
into these more challenging businesses?

An entrepreneur: a business person who attempts to make a profit by risk or

initiatives:

- He or she is a business starter with sound judgment.

- A leader who is responsible for the success or failure of a business, and who
also carries the risk.
- It is someone who has a brilliant idea and then finds the money or capital to
back it.
- Entrepreneurs are women or men with disabilities capable of generating new
business ideas, and finding the money to realize their dreams?

Yes, there is a high rate of illiteracy among people with disabilities and this may
contribute to their further exclusion from being given the opportunity to explore new
business horizons. Some people, especially men, think that women are too shy or not

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educated enough to participate in or contribute to business development. Infact, for
cultural and social reasons, many women, especially women with disabilities have not
developed the same skills as men. Inclusion is the first step to a new balance of power.
Women must be helped to organize themselves without men present, and they can
become natural leaders! It is however, not true that in order to generate a new business
idea one needs to be an expert or educated. The entrepreneur or business planner can
be anyone who can “scan” the environment irrespective of disability or educational level
to discover an opportunity which he or she can then turn into a business or something to
generate income for himself/herself. By so doing, the entrepreneur’s main idea is to
focus on a product to manufacture or service to offer; and when he or she is in
business, the entrepreneur should be prepared to go or sacrifice regular income and/or
a permanent job. His or her sacrifice includes working long hours with the family
sometimes receiving little attention. Here it must be realized that when the entrepreneur
takes this risk success is not automatically assured. The possibility of failure always
exists despite all the sacrifices the entrepreneur makes. Failure can occur because of
incorrect calculations and poor planning. The main goal of any business however is
what it can offer in terms of potential satisfaction including financial rewards.

Business Start check list:

The following are some of the things you need to consider when starting a business:

- Choosing your form of business organization (non-profit?, partnership? Sole

Proprietor? Corporation or company?)
- Business research/feasibility study;
- Naming your business and registering the name;
- Business Plan (very important for sourcing finance for the business);
- Bank Account;
- Insurance;
- Taxation;
- Licences and permits (approach local authority for details of these);
- Business site or location (lease or purchase space, or home based business or
commercial);
- Advertising / marketing;
- Bookkeeping;
- Lawyer and other professional services;
- Communication tools (phone, cellular phone, fax, e-mail);
- Office supplies and equipment (computer and printer, photocopier, furniture);
- Transport

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Exercise:

Explain briefly why people with disabilities should establish their own businesses:

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What types of businesses can women with disabilities do?
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BUSINESS PLAN OR PROJECT PROPOSAL

A general business practice for both new and existing business enterprises is to prepare
and submit a detailed and appealing business plan or proposal, especially when
applying for finance or capital at a financial or funding/donor agency.

Is there any difference between a business plan and a project proposal? A project
proposal, which most people with disabilities and their organizations are familiar with, is
much like a business plan. It is usually prepared for people who are not familiar with
either your organization or your project. The project plan or proposal will give the
reader all the information that is needed about you and the activity you have in mind.
Therefore, in the same way that a bank would like to see your business plan before it
can offer you a loan, and so will a funder or donor ask for a project proposal. However,
unlike a bank, development agencies are not only interested in the management and
financial parts of your business or project – they are also interested in the development
aims. Infact, there are two areas in which the proposal must convince the funder that
you deserve the support that you are looking for:

• Will the project contribute to the development of the community?

• Are you capable of managing the resources needed to meet your dream?

In your response to these two questions do not just think about what the funder wants to
hear but rather consider what you need to do to manage your project effectively. If you
have a clear concrete project plan then you are likely to have both a successful project
proposal and project!

What are the common issues that funders or financial institutions look for in a project or
business proposal? They all basically ask the same questions:

a) WHO? Are you and who will benefit from the project.
b) WHY? Are you planning a project.
c) WHAT Do you hope to achieve.
d) WHERE? Will the project take place.
e) WHEN? Will it take place.
f) HOW? Will you proceed.

As you prepare or design your proposal or plan you will find that these questions will
lead you into further questions that you should attend to:

1. Who are you = whose project = project applicant.

The financial institution or funder reading your project proposal or business plan
would like to know the following:

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 - Background of your organization or group. How was it started? Why was
it started?
- Activities and services. What does the group do or what do you do?
- Previous experience, skilled people, or public support. Highlight anything
that relates to the project.

By the way: funders prefer reading short, clear explanations and sentences
rather than long ones. If you have extra information you want the funder to know
(e.g. annual report or newspaper article about your group) please attach it as an
appendix)

a) Who are the partners working with you? Cooperating partners. The involvement
of other organizations in your project shows that you have support from your
community and you can therefore access skills you might not have within your
group. If you have been involving government bodies or other businesses, even
if for funding purposes only, this can lend support to your proposal.
b) Who are the women among you? = “Women’s participation”. It is important for
most funding agencies to know that women are fully included in the project.
Women should be represented among the planners and decision-makers of the
project leadership.
c) Who are the beneficiaries? The beneficiaries, in the case of a group project, are
the people for whom the project is being organized. The beneficiaries include the
participants who will benefit “directly” from their involvement in the project. In
addition, there will be “indirect” beneficiaries who may not be active in the project
but whose lives will also be affected by the project activities.

2. Why do you need this project?

By using a process of participatory planning, it will be clearly understood why you

chose your particular project, beginning with the problems you need to address. Some
project guidelines ask for a description of the “problem”. Also remember to include
some of the information gathered through group discussions, surveys and background
research. In the case of a project of people with disabilities, remember to include the
numbers and types of disabilities that live in your district, and how you think their
situations will improve?

3. What do you hope to achieve? = “Overall and Immediate Objectives”

- in the long term
- by the end of the project

Overall objective is the long-term aim or vision. It is sometimes called the Development
Objective or Goal or Purpose. Your project will help meet the Overall Objective, but this
alone is not enough. For example, your vision or overall objective may be that people
with disabilities in your country are educated. If it is a skills training project you are
planning then it will help in moving towards this vision, but many other policies and
programmes will also be necessary.

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What you have to achieve during the time or period of your project are the Immediate
Objectives. As the success of your project will be measured by how you are able to
meet the objective(s), these should be realistic in the short term.

The objectives are generally written in point form.

4. Where, when, how will the project happen? These questions help you to develop a
clean plan in terms of how the activity will be managed. The seven essential areas
of your plan are:

• Description of activities (The activity is the plan you choose to solve your
problem. The work plan provides more organizational details).
• Work Plan (A work plan provides all the organizational details of your activity,
including a schedule and related resource needs. It should show a complete
picture of how the project will be organized from the beginning to the end of the
project).
• Time-line (This is based on the number of weeks or months required for the
various stages of the project and related activities. A work plan is used to
develop a time line by deciding how long each activity will take and/or when it
should take place. Provide a project completion date. One way to include the list
of activities in the work plan with a time line is to create a table. In this table
activities are listed on the vertical line and months are listed across the horizontal
and marking with an “X” the month in which the activity will take place.
• Budget: To plan a budget you must first consider all the different resources
required to carry out your project or business. These different resources are
sometimes referred to as the “means” or “inputs” of the project. The project’s
costs can be grouped into the following categories:

- Project personnel e.g. experts, coordinators, technicians;

- Materials and supplies
- Equipment
- Travel/transport and accommodations
- Communication costs; e.g. telephone, e-mail/internet, postage, etc;
- Administrative costs; utilities, rent and administrative staff;
- Insurance, licences
- Miscellaneous

To develop your budget, consider the value of the different “inputs” or resources
needed by the project, not just the costs you wish to be covered by the funder.
Include the resources that your organization, your volunteers and other local donors
will contribute. If there is no transfer of money, these are called contributions “in
kind”. Include them in your budget by calculating how much someone else would
normally pay for the item or free hours of expertise. Some donors will require that
project partners contribute 10% of the total budget cost in cash or with the equivalent
value of material or human resources. Under miscellaneous costs consider inflation
and exchange rates.

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 Time Line:

Example:

Activity J F M A M J J A S O N D
Engage Consultant X
Meeting of Board X
Prepare Work Plan X
Call Press X
Prepare Media Materials X
Organise Community Meeting X
Prepare Reports X
Meeting of donors X
Review Meeting of Board X

• Financial Management. In the business plan or project proposal, it is important

to explain or describe the steps you will take to manage the finances. Who will
be responsible for the funds? Where will the funds be kept (full details of the
bank are required)? How will the finances be monitored and reported? Is there
an outside Auditor?

If your project or business already has financial reports or balance sheets from
previous years, send a copy of the most recent one to the financial institution or
funder, together with the proposal.

Some steps you can take to keep track of the project funds:

a) Engage one person to be in charge of the cheque book and the bookkeeping.
He or she must monitor and control the project expenditure of all other staff
persons.
b) If the project director is also the bookkeeper, appoint a treasurer who should
take an active role in tracking the cash flow. The person involved with the
cash should have a supervisor.
c) Only the project’s or organisation’s bank account should be used for receiving
funds and for spending the money. For group projects funds, every cheque
must be signed by at least two people who are commonly known as
signatories.
d) Expenses and receipts must be tracked on a weekly or monthly basis. Use a
receipt book for noting all payments. Enter these and the amounts of other
payments into a “ledger”. When you receive your monthly statement from the

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 bank, make sure that what you have noted in the ledger matches the report
from the bank account.
e) In the office you must always have a certain amount of cash, sometimes
called “petty cash”. Remember to track this money as “miscellaneous office
costs” in your ledger, and keep receipts.
f) In the case of “foreign funding” record the official rate of exchange when you
received the grant or loan from the donor or financial institution. Also take
note of how the rate changed during the project implementation period. Any
loss of exchange should be treated as a project cost. The project budget
should be reported in US dollars or Euros or Local Currency (e.g. Malawi
Kwacha or Zambian Kwacha or Zimbabwean Dollar).
g) For unforeseen costs such as exchange rates loss, budget a “contingency
fund”, and you could make this approximately 10% of your total budget.

Example of a Cash Budget

Income & January February

Expenditure Budgeted Actual Reasons Budgeted Actual Reasons

Opening 1 000 5 00 5 630 2 250

Balance (Cash
on hand)
Opening Balance
(Cash loss)

Receipts (Income)
Cash Sales 20 000 3 000 25 000 15000
Debts Collection 3 000 2 000 5 000 4000
Other receipts:
- Commission 1 000 750 1 500 1000
- Rents, etc 10 000 5 000 10 000 10000

24 000 22000 41500 30000

Payments
(Expenses) 7 000 5 000 10000 3000
Administration Costs
Trading 5 000 4 000 5000 3500
suppliers/creditors 15 000 10000 20000 15000
Salaries & Wages 1 000 500 1200 1000
Rentals 150 100 150 100
Pension 120 100 120 100
Insurance 100 50 100 70
Taxes

28 370 19750 36570 27770

5 630 2250 4930 2230

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 • Management Structure.
Most organisations or groups elect or appoint members to carry out certain key
responsibilities; e.g. chairperson or president, vice president, treasurer,
secretary, etc. Or an organization or group may have one or more staff persons
and a small secretariat. Whatever structure is in place, a project should have at
least two organizational levels to be responsible for the management of the
project:

- Project team or staff

- Supervisory structure, such as the board of directors. As the project
grows, there is sometimes tension between staff and board. Therefore, it
is important to know the roles of each body.

Organisational Chart (Organogram)

Example
Board of Directors

National Coordinator

Trainer Bookkeeper/Accountant
Administrator

Major functions of the Board or Elected Leaders:

- Hire, fire, and evaluate the chief executive or executive directors

- Define the vision of the organisation
- Select policies
- Speak on behalf of the organization or project to government officials
and in public places;
- Have final responsibility or accountability for the legal and financial
operations of the organization.

Major functions of Staff:

- Chief Executive or Executive Director is in charge of hiring, firing and

supervising other staff or volunteers;
- Follow the priorities of the board in carrying out the organisation’s vision
and policies;
- Report to the board for guidance on work plan and policies
- Be in charge of day-to-day operations, including financial
management.

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An organizational chart can help to further define or explain the different roles.

• Monitoring and Evaluation: This simply means checking progress of the project
or business or organization. It means keeping track of the actual activities and
outcomes in comparison to those set out in the project; this is called an
“evaluation”. However, tracking of the project should actually begin when the
project begins. This is called “monitoring”.

The project manager will know when something is not going right by constantly
checking or monitoring progress. This helps the manager to tackle or deal with
the problems before it is too late. Actually, your work plan and time-line will tell
you if you have completed the tasks you set for yourself. Another focus of
tracking or checking progress is on the expected results, a method sometimes
called “results-based management”.

When you have decided what results you expect to see, tracking or checking
progress requires a way of doing this over time. Changes can be noted simply
by counting (called “quantitative indicators”). Sometimes the expected results
are not so concrete or “measurable”, for example changes in people’s attitudes
and way of doing things (called “qualitative indicators”).

Therefore, for each result, you have to consider a different indicator and method
for noting changes, as well as target dates. The table or worksheet below can
help in organizing your information:

Project Monitoring Interim Report (month 9)

Expected Results Indicator Method of Outcome of month 9

Monitoring
30 people trained to More disabled people Counting trained 18 people trained, 7
produce pens employed people people still training, 5
dropped
Profitability Revenue from Monthly financial Performance of shop
customers covers costs statements not so good
Visibility of people Participation of people Survey of trained 95% responded that
with disabilities with disabilities in other people and their there has been an
community activities involvement in increase in their
community community
activities involvement

Monitoring progress is the key to doing an “evaluation”, in which you also measure the
final results and review the whole project including the objectives and the chosen
activities. Why did some areas of the project go very well and others not? What would
you do differently next time? Although an evaluation happens at the end of the project,
what and how you will evaluate must be part of the project design; that is at the time of
proposal writing you need to also list the expected results and describe how you plan to
monitor and evaluate the progress. A final evaluation report should provide information

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on the strengths and weaknesses of the project. It should highlight the successes, but
also describe how the same activity could be improved in the future. Evaluators from
outside your organization will add objectivity and strength to your report.

Exercise:

Why is it important to carry out a SWOT analysis when you start a new business?
Explain:

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State a few strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of your business.
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SUSTAINABILITY:

In the long term the business activity being planned will no longer be supported by
project funding. If it is successful, the chances are that it will not be thought of as a
“project” at all. Instead it will be included in the regular operations of the organisation;

14
or if it was a one-off training event, the event itself will be over, but the expected results
will be carried forward to new personal or organizational development opportunities.
This transition of the one or two-year project to regular community life is called
“sustainability”. Most funders or financial institutions would like to know what plans you
have to make your project or business sustainable.

STRENGTHS-WEAKNESSES-OPPORTUNITIES-THREATS (SWOT)

One of the most important methods in choosing a project or business concern is to use
the SWOT analysis technique. A SWOT analysis or review encourages your
organization to be realistic about its strengths and weaknesses in undertaking a project.
It also helps organizers to make use of current opportunities in their community and
guard against the threats to a successful project.

In order to carry out a SWOT analysis, it is advisable to look internally first at the
qualities of the organization that could influence project or business success. Consider
also what effects the various strengths and weaknesses would have on the project and
what strategies could minimize the weaknesses.

Strengths: the resources and capabilities of the organisation and its members that
would contribute to the project success.
Weaknesses: the problems (including lack of expertise) of the organization and its
members as related to the project.
Then look externally, that is at the conditions outside the organisation that could affect
the project. How beneficial are the various opportunities, and how serious is the threat
in each of the three cases?
Threats: situation, events and/or people outside the organization which could negatively
influence a project.
Opportunities: situation, events and/or people outside the organization, which the
project organizers could draw from to carry out a successful project.

Then compare the lists of strengths and weaknesses of the organization in relation to
each project. Where are the internal strengths and external opportunities most
encouraging? In which case are the internal weaknesses and external threats most
serious?

You can then use the information you have gathered to decide which project or
business is best at this time.

Once you have decided on your project, then the detailed planning begins.

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MARKETING:

The word “marketing” is defined in many different ways. For our purposes it is:

- Part of a business that controls the way that goods and services are
sold;
- The performance of business activities that direct the flow of goods
and services from the producer to the consumer or end user. Services
have to be marketed as well as goods;
- To know and understand our customers so well that the goods we
produce or services we deliver are suitable and always in demand;
- A process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and
want by creating and exchanging products and value with other
people. This means helping individuals like you and me to satisfy our
needs and the business or company to reach its goals; in this context,
marketing then becomes a continuous or on-going process in which
what is exchanged is of value;
- The process of planning, pricing, promotion and distribution of ideas,
goods and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and
organizational goals. The process aims to develop this and
relationships between the producer or service provider and the
consumer or user.

As some people say: “Marketing is getting the right goods and services in the right place
at the right time and making a profit on the operations.” The customer is the one who
decides what is right. Therefore, it is important for the business enterprise to always
research on customer needs and the need to create products and services to satisfy the
identified needs. The focus of marketing is therefore to ensure customer satisfaction.
What this means is that it is the responsibility of marketing personnel to find out what
the market needs and/or wants. Creating customer value and satisfaction are the heart
of modern marketing thinking and practice. The ability to do this requires the following:

• Creating Customers:
This requires a business enterprise to monitor its environment from time to time
in order to identify opportunities and threats.
• Keeping Customers:
The needs of existing customers and the activities of competitors are closely
monitored.
• Profitable Customers:
You should focus on those customers who have the potential to generate income
that will exceed the costs rather than pursue any customers at any price. You
should see marketing as a business function of coordinating all activities of a
company so as to be customer-focused and satisfy the needs of the customer in
well-defined target markets. Every employee in the business needs to be
motivated to produce customer value.

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Marketing should therefore spread through all areas of the business by focusing on
ensuring maximum customer satisfaction. That is marketing should enable your
business to achieve the highest possible level of customer care and then achieve
maximum profit. In this way, you will be one hundred percent sure that customers will
prefer to buy from you and not from other competitors.

MANAGING A BUSINESS:
In our discussion of project/business planning earlier on, we referred to some aspects of
business management because managing a business cannot be separated from
planning. One of the problems people experience in trying to define management is
that it is a complicated subject. It means many things and therefore cannot be well
defined like other disciplines. Some writers define management in terms of the
elements or factors that contribute to what it (management) seeks to achieve, such as:

- Setting objectives (planning)

- Organizing (assembling)
- Motivating and communicating (leading)
- Controlling
- Developing people
- Process followed by a leader or manager to achieve an organisation’s
goals and objectives
- Directing an organization towards its objectives.

A manager’s basic duties can best be summarized as follows:

- Planning
- Organising
- Leading
- Controlling
- Directing

However, in the course of their day-to-day work, managers of small businesses can
make some critical mistakes, such as:

• Wasting time: management wastes too much time each day on unnecessary
activities because of lack of planning;
• Not able to delegate: managers believe that nobody else can work as they do
and therefore prefer to do the work themselves;
• Self-pity: a manager should not indulge in self-pity if he or she cannot master all
the demands and activities of the business;
• A manager should be a leader and not a follower. He or she must be able to
make decisions and carry them out.

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Most businesses or projects, whether big or small, fail due to:

- No research
- No testing of ideas
- Poor planning
- No team work
- No management skills
- Lack of enough start-up capital
- No assistance
- Negative attitudes. The operating environment of entrepreneurs with
disabilities need not present a negative attitude towards disability nor
should such entrepreneurs display self-pity as this will definitely “kill” the
business venture or project.

Exercise:

Give your reasons why “the customer is always right”:

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In brief show how you would motivate or encourage your customers or public to support
your business.
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COMMUNICATION:

What is communication?
A process in which people create and share information with one another in order to
reach a common understanding. It is the process through which we share facts,
feelings, ideas and attitudes. More specifically, communication is the process of talking
and listening to each other so that we can achieve our objectives. In the case of deaf
people or those who cannot speak due to disability, Sign Language is their medium of
communicating. It is therefore important and advisable for communities in which deaf
people live to be encouraged to learn Sign Language. This is even more important for
entrepreneurs who are deaf who may need to enjoy total communication with their
communities for the success of their businesses.

Communication is therefore a day-to-day activity that serves different purposes because

people in an organized society communicate all the time. In the context of business
operations, we must be careful that communication should not be seen simply as a
matter of saying words and hoping for the best. When we communicate it is important
that we use the correct channels, instruments and/or tools to further the objectives of
the organization or business venture. Today’s common tools for communicating include
e-mail, telephone, radio and television; communication can also be done through
printing pamphlets or promotional written materials and distributing them to convey the
desired message. Therefore, for communication to take place, there must be the
sender of the message, a channel or medium of the message, and the receiver of the
message. As observed earlier on, communication is very important to facilitate
business operations. Inability to communicate effectively with the people who matter in
our business can weaken or destroy our relations with them; and this will obviously have
a negative effect on our business results.

As listening is also part of communication, it also means that we need to listen to the
needs and voice of our customers if our business is to prosper. The customer is a king!

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Communication Model

Message Channel 1. message received

Verbal written 2. message is heard or
1. idea is decided “Sign Language” captured
2. message 3. message understood
arranged

Exercise:
Exercise:

List several methods of communication:

Feed Back to sender

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Which of these methods do you use in your business?
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When you send out a message, how would you prove that your message was
understood by the receiver?
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PUBLIC AND CUSTOMER CARE RELATIONS:

Many businesses fail because they cannot sell their products or services. They have
marketing problems which can best be resolved by establishing a relationship between
the business enterprise and the public. This is Public Relations. In this context, “public”
refers to the community and its environment with which the business relates on a day-
to-day basis. Customer care or customer relations on the other hand refer to that
section of the community or public with whom the enterprise conducts its business
and/or trade.

In order to have a clearer understanding of the definition and role of public relations we
need to look at some of the activities that public relations people do, such as:

- To inform
- To create ideas
- To persuade
- To make things happen

In other words, the purpose of public relations in an organization or business is to:

• establish an understanding (between the business and public) that is based on

truth, knowledge and information; and
• establish a two-way communication channel (between the business and public)
in order to resolve conflicts by achieving common ground or ideas of mutual
interest.

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The ability to listen to and respect the opinion of the public on the business operations is
an essential part of establishing a two-way communication channel between the
business and the public, the dissemination of information on the products and services
being offered by the business and how these can be improved in the event of a
complaint, and the treatment by management of feedback from the public are both
equally important. Infact, public relations is most effective when it is part of the
decision-making of top management of the business. It involves counseling and
problem-solving at high levels of the enterprises, and not just the releasing of
information after a decision has been made.

For example, a typical public or customer care relations activity will involve:
• Analysing, researching and defining problems
• Drawing up a programme of action
• Communicating and implementing the programme
• Monitoring the results evaluation and possible modification (of the product or
service) to satisfy the needs of the customer. This is Customer Care!

CONFLICTS AND THEIR RESOLUTIONS:

Conflicts arise in an organisation or business mainly because of:

• difference of opinions or ideas;

• jealous and dislike of other people;
• different abilities among workers or groups;
• laziness;
• interference with one another’s responsibility;
• failure to separate issues’ e.g. mixing personal issues with those of the business;
• dictatorship on the part of management.

Conflicts between people with disabilities and non-disabled people are usually caused
by attitudes from the latter that tend to be negative and therefore hinder people with
disabilities from participating in mainstream activities.

Conflicts between men and women in organizations are common and are usually based
on our culture, which makes a woman assume a less important role in society. Some of
the sources of conflict in this context include:

• dominating tendencies by men when they make decisions that affect women;
• at workplaces, men tend to relegate women to such domestic tasks as cooking,
cleaning, etc;
• women sometimes have difficulties in expressing themselves before or in front of
men as a result of cultural dominance;
• women failing to report for duty or coming to work late because of their various
domestic roles;

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 • on the other hand, women get irritated by men who frequently absent
themselves or report for duty late as a result of heavy drinking.

Exercise:

Conflicts or disputes can destroy a business. Explain:

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List down the major causes of disputes in a business
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Explain how you would settle conflicts in your business?
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CONFLICTS WITH RELATIVES:

• In most cases relatives ask for free products and services from the store, or they
will ask for reduced prices.
• Relatives would prefer “handing over” their children to be looked after by a
relative who is a businessperson.
• A husband or wife may demand to have access to business finances or assets.
• A husband is jealous or envious of a successful business that is run by his wife.

How can conflicts or disputes in a business enterprise or project be resolved?

Are there any known prescriptions for resolving conflicts? Experts in conflict
management say that issues of conflicts or disputes have no prescriptions. Each
conflict or dispute should be resolved in accordance with its cause(s). Infact, it is
unusual to find one solution to a conflict or dispute. For example a particular conflict
may require a “mixture” of procedures or solutions to resolve it, and in the process of
doing this care must be taken in the selection of a method to help settle conflicts
because some methods may be used on a selective basis. The idea is to provide the
parties in a conflict with options, which may avoid declaring one party a “winner” and the
other a “loser”. Therefore any method of settlement should seek to unite rather than
divide the conflicting parties.

The development of a group constitution and/or clear conditions of service, and job
descriptions for the workers can help in the settlement of conflicts or disputes. Job
descriptions, for example, can help to minimize disagreements as they provide a frame
for allocation of tasks for each member of staff. The constitution as a written statement
of the rules and regulations of the business or organizations clearly states how the
business is expected to perform, be managed, shares the profits, etc. The conditions of
service, do state all the requirements in terms of staff benefits and other conditions of
employment, e.g. leave, sick and compassionate leave, medical aid, pension, including
disciplinary and grievance handling procedures. Disagreements are a common cause
of conflict in businesses, especially group projects.

STOCK CONTROL:

What is Stock? This means all the products that your business is keeping for sale.
Stock includes all the raw materials or parts that your business keeps and uses to make
products or provide services.

Stock Control means organizing the way you:

- receive your stock

- record your stock
- store your stock
- arrange your stock
- check your stock

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 - re-order your stock.

Stock Control and/or stock recording are very important for your business because it
helps you to:

• Keep the right amount of stock;

• Stock goods that sell quickly;
• Arrange and display your stock well;
• Check your stock regularly;
• Keep stock records

Some of the recommended guidelines for better stock control include the following:

• Keeping accurate or proper record of all orders or purchases;

• Check all deliveries;
• Accurately record everything on stock cards or records;
• Take or count stock regularly or periodically;
• Do spot checks to keep staff on their toes (alert);
• Adjust record levels regularly to suit market trends especially for fast selling
products;
• Try to eliminate or replace slow and average moving lines (products) as much as
practicable
• Monitor cash-flow requirements regularly;
• Keep regular contact with suppliers of stock and also regularly monitor price
trends.

Stock-taking therefore involves the actual counting or measuring or weighing of all your
stock. It is a system of physically counting amounts and writing down all the stock in
your business on a stock-taking list. The practice is important because it helps you to
find out if stock is missing, and for the purposes of checking the condition of your stock.

Exercise:
Explain why stock control is important in your business.
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 STOCK CARD

Product……………………………………………….
Cost per item…………………………………………
Selling Price………………………………………….
Re-order level………………………………………...

Date Details Stock

In Out Balance

Example of Stock Card

RECORD KEEPING:

Every business or project should have accounting records in which the transactions of
the business are entered in a methodical way. Businessmen and women know that
they should have proper business records. In almost every country (Malawi, Zambia
and Zimbabwe for example), there are laws, which require that every business should
have proper accounting books for recording the following:

1. Capital: This is the sum of money put in a business and/or

money borrowed from a bank for the purposes of starting or
running a business by the owner of the business.
2. Cost of Assets: It is important to keep a record of and to know
what was paid for and the value of shop fixtures, office
equipment, delivery van, etc.

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 3. Purchases: This term refers to stock bought for resale; hence
the need to record all goods bought for resale.
4. Business Expenses: These include rent, office stationery,
postage, telephones, wages, and other business expenses
which are paid out at least once per month.
5. Income: This is what a business receives from its
operations/sales. If he/she is a landlord his/her income will
come from rent; and all the income should be recorded.
6. Debtors: If goods are sold on credit we must keep records to
remind us how much each debtor owes. The records should
show what goods have been sold to customers, how much
each customer has paid and how much is owed by each
customer.
7. Creditors: Most businesses buy goods on credit and only pay
for those goods when money comes in. Proper books should
be kept to show how much is owed to each creditor.
8. Drawings: These are sums of money or goods taken by the
business owner for personal use, and these should be
noted/recorded. Business persons are advised to have a
fixed salary or wage to take care of his or her private needs
in order to avoid the drawings.

Example of Cash Book:

Receipts/Income
Date Fol Cash Bank Date Fol Cash Bank
2004 2004
I Jan Balance - - 1 Jan Rent 5 000
Electricity 3 000
3 Cash Sales 10 000 Water 5 000
Cleaning Material 2 000
4 Cash Sales 10 000 10 Administrative 3 000
expenses
5 Cash Sales 15 000 25 Wages 22 000
Banked 35 000 Transport 30 000
10 Cash Sales 20 000
55 000
15 Cash Sales 30 000
Banked 50 000 Balance C/f 30 000
85 000 85 000
1 Feb Balance B/d 30 000

BUYING / PURCHASING:

Whether you are going into the business of manufacturing a product or selling goods or
providing a service, it is very important for you to first of all think of what you will
purchase, where you will purchase, and how you will purchase raw materials for your
business, or what you will need to provide a service. Therefore before deciding on your
purchasing plan and strategy you should establish the following facts.

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Step 1: List your products; list all the products or services you intend selling or ordering
to achieve your expected turn over; indicate the expected selling speed of each item
that is:
• fast selling (F)
• average seller (A)
• slow seller (S)

Step 2: List all your potential suppliers for each product or service.
Step 3: List your purchase price from each supplier for the same goods. Prices for the
same or similar goods often vary from supplier to supplier. Shop around and compare
prices. Do not, however, sacrifice quality and supplier’s reliability. Remember to take
into account consumer preferences and support advertising.
Step 4: List all the other purchasing conditions and benefits. Make effort to assess
each product and supplier in respect of the following other important purchasing
conditions and benefits, that is:

- discounts offered
- payment terms
- settlement discounts
- product quality
- warranties, guarantees and purchase contracts
- reliability
- after sales, services and training.
Step 5: Rate each product and supplier in terms of each of the following:

• E-excellent
• G-good
• A-average
• P-poor
• EP-extremely poor
Step 6: Decide on the product that suits your needs, and place an order with the
appropriate supplier.
Step 7: Review and adjust your product regularly.

In preparing the product cost, you should gather your data through letters of enquiry,
quotations, magazines, journals, etc.

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Exercise:

In a business why is record keeping so important?

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Explain what influences you to buy stock?
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COSTING AND PRICING:

Every businessman and woman should determine what it will cost to sell his/her product
or service depending on whether or not his/her target market will accept his/her price.
This implies that the price that the businessperson can charge for the product or service
will, to a large extent, be determined by what competition is charging. It is essential to
determine the following issues:

- what your actual costs are

- what is the acceptable selling price range that the target market will
tolerate.

How long should you cost your product or service?

There are various methods of costing products or services depending on the type of
business that you intend doing or getting into. There are no fixed rates but only
guidelines and recommendations. The type pf costing method you use will probably be
slightly different for the following three major types of business, that is:

- manufacturing
- training
- service industry

The costing method that is eventually decided upon will be influenced by a range of
factors, such as:

- whether you only sell one product/service or many

- whether staff are paid hourly, weekly or monthly
- whether you produce goods or merely sell them
- what exactly you regard as fixed and variable costs

When doing any costing exercise, there are three general categories that costs can
originate from, that is:

- material (stock, goods, etc)

- labour (wages)
- overheads

Remember to include a fair salary for yourself!

Costing of a Manufacturing Business:

Step 1: Determine your fixed costs. Fixed costs are constant expenses or costs that do
not vary from month to month irrespective of whether you produce or sell an article or
100 articles; e.g. rent, water and lights, on loan repayments, and maintenance, wages
and salaries and insurance.

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 Example: Your total fixed overheads amount to $600 per month; you produce
and sell
200 shirts per month. Your fixed cost contribution per shirt per month is $3, i.e.
600 divided by 200. It should be noted here that the more you sell, the lower the
fixed cost contribution; and the less you sell, the greater the fixed cost
contribution to total costs.

Step 2: Determine your manufacturing costs. Manufacturing costs are all costs, which
vary directly with the amount of items produced, e.g.

- materials
- labour wages
- indirect costs

Example: Work out the costs for materials of each item, .e.g.for 200 shirts you will
need to purchase material, cotton and lining for $600 or $3 per shirt.
Work out the labour costs per item; e.g. you employ two members of staff at $400 per
month; i.e. it costs $800 to produce 200 shirts or $4 per shirt ($800 divided by 200).

Work out indirect costs per item, .e.g. cleaning, insurance, depreciation, etc, at $200 per
month or $1 per shirt ($200 divided by 200)

Total manufacturing costs:

Materials - $3 per shirt
Labour - $4 per shirt
Indirect costs - $1
Total - $8 per shirt

Step 3: Add your fixed costs to your manufacturing costs to get your total cost. You
have now determined what the total product is costing you per item before deciding on a
suitable mark up and determining your final selling price, i.e.

Fixed costs - $ 3 per shirt

Manufacturing costs - $ 8 per shirt
Total cost (true cost) - $11 per shirt

Costing for a Trading Business

Step 1: Establish budgeted sales for 12 months, e.g. $1000. Establish budgeted costs
of sales (i.e. purchase value of purchases less closing stock) e.g.
Opening stock - $ 20 000
Purchases - $760 000
$780 000
Less Closing stock - $ 30 000
$750 000

Work with cost of item purchased from supplier at $25 each.

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Step 2: Establish the total expenses for same time period as your calculation in Step 1,
in this case 12 months.
Let us assume an amount of $75000 for 12 months. Use the following formula:

Total Expenses X 100 = Percentage add on

Cost of Sales 1

75000 x 100 = 10 % add on

750000 1

Step 3: Establish the total cost

Purchase price of shirt - $25.00
10% add on for expenses - $ 2.50
Total cost per shirt - $27.50

Costing for a Service Industry Business:

Step 1: Establish the number of chargeable hours per month.

Open for business per day = 8 hours

Chargeable time = 6 hours
5 day week (6 hours x 5) = 30 hours
Chargeable hours per year (30 hrs x 10) =1500 hours

Average monthly hours = Annual hours = 1500

12 12
Chargeable hours per month = 125 hours

Step 2: Establish monthly expenses (including owner’s salary)

Monthly expenses = $6250

Step 3: Establish costs per hour

Fixed monthly expenses = Cost per hour
Monthly chargeable hours

6250 = $50 per hour

125 hours

NB: For those service Businesses which do repairs and maintenance the cost
of spares used on a job must now be added.

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 Example: TV repairs

3 hours @$50 per hours = $150

Spares tube = $ 75
PC Board = $ 25
Other = $ 50
Total cost of Job = $300

FXING MARK-UP

Before making a final decision on what mark-up is desirable, it is advisable to first

establish what the acceptable customer price range might be. This can be done by
evaluating your competitor’s prices for the same or similar products. In order to
determine this, the following exercise should be done:

- List all your products

- List all your competitors products that are the same or similar
- List all their selling prices per product
- Work out the price range per product

This will now give an indication of what the low average and high price range tolerance
might be.

Determine your Mark-Up and decide on a Final Selling Price per product:

You know exactly what your total cost (true cost) per item is, what the competitors price
range is and what their strengths and weaknesses are. This should help you to
determine what Mark-Up you should put on goods and what your selling price should
be, that is, manufacturing cost or purchase price plus Mark-Up (e.g. 25%).

Mark-Up % formula = Mark-Up X 100

Purchasing for Manufacturing cost 1

= Selling Price

The mark-up must have the true cost and leave room for a reasonable profit.

There are many factors that will have an influence on your final decision, and these are:

- Your break-even point;

- Your credit terms policy;
- Your selling strategy, i.e. are you aiming at high turnover and low mark-up or
lower turnover or higher mark-up;
- Your target market expectations;
- Your competitors’ activities;
- Your short, medium and long term plans

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Revise your costing and pricing regularly.

It is necessary that you revise your costing and pricing policies and strategies regularly
so that you can keep in touch with market trends, customer expectations and charges.
However, do not forget that the market will not tolerate excessive and continual
changes.

IMPACT OF HIV AND AIDS ON BUSINESS

HIV and AIDS is known to be the biggest health threat of modern day times and has no
known cure. In Sub-Saharan Africa it affects the lives of many productive people and
leaves many families without parents, without incomes and with emotional suffering,
among other effects. AIDS is an issue that people do not easily talk about as they do
not like to admit that they might be infected by the disease. HIV and AIDS also affects
business and the workplace. As a result of this pandemic many businesses are losing
valuable staff. Sometimes owners are even affected; something which raised fears on
how the business will continue when the owner falls sick or dies. Infact the daily
operation of the business is also affected when the workplace often becomes sick.
When this happens workers may suspect that someone amongst them is infected and
may therefore discriminate this person because of fear of infection or social stigma. In
the context of business operations there are a few critical questions to ask:

- How would you deal with these HIV and AIDS related issues as a business
owner?
- Would you like your business to run smoothly?

Although it has no cure, HIV and AIDS is a disease, which requires more than medical
care, more so as it affects everyone and every business; it should be everyone’s
concern. In the workplace those with HIV infection may be healthy-looking and show no
signs of infection for many years and such people are referred to as “HIV carriers”
capable of infecting other people. It is therefore very important for businesses to
introduce schemes or educational programmes that will help reduce the spread of HIV
and AIDS within and outside the workplace.

The following are some of the recommendations to be considered for implementing an

HIV and AIDS education programme in the workplace:

• Design/formulate specific policies on HIV/AIDS to protect infected workers from

dismissal and discrimination/ill treatment;
• Conduct training workshops on HIV and AIDS both management and for
workers, schedule training sessions during normal working hours;
• Print and distribute pamphlets, newsletters, brochures and posters on HIV and
AIDS;
• Encourage both management and lower staff to have voluntary testing so that
they know their status on HIV and AIDS;

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 • Create a conducive environment in the workplace that allows workers to talk with
their employer about HIV and AIDS in confidence;
• Provide infected workers with free counseling and treatment;
• Encourage dissemination of information on HIV and AIDS to families and local
communities;
• Link up with and share experience with other businesses and community
organizations that provide services on HIV and AIDS;
• Make HIV and AIDS support services, e.g. condoms and protective clothing
available to the workplace.

Exercise:

If you are running a small enterprise discuss how you can develop a design on HIV-
AIDS programme that will strengthen your business operations:

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Glossary (list of technical words/definitions)

Activity; action taken in a project to move from plans and objectives to results
Beneficiaries; people who will benefit from the project
Budget; detailed breakdown of expected expense
Contingency; money set aside for possible but still unknown expenses
Criteria; bases on which decisions are made
Cross-disability; involving a variety of disabilities, e.g. blind and deaf

Empower; strengthen the sense of personal control and potential to determine one’s
future.

Evaluation; a critical review of the project, including a measurement of results. (What

happened, why it happened that way and what might be done differently next
time).
Focus Group; Gathering to get the opinion of a group of persons who have similar
interests.
Guidelines; directions offered to ensure that the reader is aware of specific
information required
Folio; page number as it refers to a cash book
Impact: the effect of the project.
Implementation; carrying out of the project plans
Indicators: signs that show that and objective or expected result has been fulfilled
In-kind: budgetary term to describe goods, things or services that have been
donated yet still have a financial value related to the project
Inputs; Staff, volunteers, materials, space, administrative resources, etc, that are
all being used for the project.
Integrate: include fully among others
Interim report; one that is offered while the project is still underway
Ledger; a notebook that is used by bookkeepers to keep track of money flowing in
and out of a business
Monitoring; periodic checking of actual project progress versus expected progress
Myths; common belief that is not based on truth
Participatory project planning; a project planning process that involves persons affected,
including decision making that will influence the design of the project.
Project; a planned activity designed to meet clearly defined objectives with
described resource in a specific time period
Resources; the personnel, materials, services, travel and other items needed for the
project to take place
Stakeholders; groups and organizations who have and interest in the project, even if
they have reason to be concerned about or dislike it; e.g. business
people, government officials, media, etc
Survey; series of questions developed for repeat use among a targeted
population, often used to determine shared characteristics of that
population
Sustainability; long-term integration of the new project into systems, institutions and
community life of the targeted population

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 References

- Project proposal Writing (Yutta Fricke)

- UN Standard Rules on the Equalisation of Opportunities for People with
Disabilities
- ILO Brochures and Manuals on Start and Improve Your Business (SIYB)
- SAFOD Reports on Business Management
- SAFOD Development Handbook
- IPM(SA) Journal: August 1991: Aids Fact Sheet (208)
- IPM(SA) Journal: August 1991: Aids Fact Sheet: (210)
- IPM(SA) Diploma Module (1978-83): Management of Training
- IPM(SA) Diploma Module (1980-83): Management and Supervisory
Development

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