By Ndanatsiwa Tagwirei, The small mining town of Zvishavane is better known as a hub of mineral resources encompassing some of the most prominent mines which include Mimosa Mining Company, Murowa Diamonds Mine and Shabanie Mine. In women entrepreneurship circles, the story may not be complete without mentioning Isheanopa Group of Companies founded by Sylvia Choruwa.
Choruwa is thriving to put Zvishavane on the map by scooping accolades in women entrepreneurship endeavours. Although she admits that women are discriminated in almost every sector of the society, Choruwa believes hard work, determination and prayer are the best ingredients for making it in business.
“Women are discriminated politically, economically, socially, culturally, legally, and educationally and against this background, women entrepreneurs suffer to establish effective business ventures,” the female business lady said.
“I am managing through hard work, determination, focus, prayer and also doing marketing researches,”
Sylvia Choruwa, Entrepreneur
Her modest start saw her owning a small table at a flea market in Mandava and spending some time away from home crossing the country’s boarders to get her stock. She later on formalised and expanded her business into Isheanopa clothing, hardware and furniture outlets in Zvishavane.
Her business approach has seen her being recognised at local and national level.
“In 2019, I became the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) Midlands Province business woman of the year and in 2020, I was the first runner up business woman of the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) at national level,” Choruwa said.
“Isheanopa Investments which is now Isheanopa Group of companies was then recognised as a brand and our company has graduated from a small enterprise to a medium enterprise at national level. I was awarded a certificate of one of the best designers in Zimbabwe when we were launching the Zimbabwe National Dress at the state house on the 19th of December 2020,” says Choruwa.
According to Choruwa, running a business as a woman is not a walk in the park as one goes through rough patches that require her to operate at 10 times levels.
“The challenges faced by women in business are not the same as those faced by their male counterparts in the sense that women are looked down upon in the community and there is a lot of bully behaviour whereby women are told to keep quiet even during family meetings,”
Sylvia Choruwa
“Sometimes balancing business and home is difficult as you are called to do your motherly duties despite the pressure at work. Other challenges come in form of sexual harassment and lack of acceptance by men in your day to day execution of duties as a business woman and these challenges require self-discipline to avoid being taken advantage of by men in exchange of cheap things like mbasera (an item given for free after a purchase),” she said.
Choruwa added that although women entrepreneurs face challenges in business, that should not be an excuse for women not to work hard to gain their identities. She advised women not to over rely on people as people change depending on different life circumstances.
“Men tend to look down upon women if they are not educated or no longer attractive in their own eyes and because of this, I encourage women to start their own businesses by selling small things like tomatoes, vegetables, fruits and many more,” the Zvishavane based business woman emphasised, “Being a millionaire starts with saving, little by little, and women can also start stokvels as this encourages them to work hard,” she said.