A nurse-turned-entrepreneur Florence Chaurura identified a missing link between the over two million Zimbabweans living in the Diaspora and their “roots” back home. She formed a company in 2012, which has become the umbilical cord between Diasporans and their roots in Zimbabwe.
Winfit Services offers personalised planning, organising, research, and errand services along with research on any topic regarding doing business in Zimbabwe.
Today, the company has a client base of 4 000, with a target of tapping into the estimated four million Zimbabweans living outside the country.
“I was motivated to start Winfit Services after I noticed the challenges Diasporans were facing to get things done in Zimbabwe. We offer a varied range of services. Among it all our core service is our online grocery and appliance shop and our project management business which includes construction work and refurbishments,” Chaurura told NewsDay last week.
This has seen the company constructing 10 houses for Zimbabweans living outside the country. She said three houses were almost complete in Harare and Bulawayo.
It has not been an easy ride for her company and Chaurura attributes its growth to the ability to “deliver on our promise”.
“We simply treat every individual on their own merit,” she said.
Chaurura said her company often faced resistance from the Diasporans’ local contacts, who feel sidelined “when we take over a project that they were previously asked to oversee”.
There have been reports that relatives back home have abused money sent by those living abroad for residential property developments.
“However, our main challenge is the different perceptions that Diasporans have with regards to how business functions in Zimbabwe. Our supporting services sometimes fail us. Most Diasporans are accustomed to much better and efficient services wherever they maybe in the world,” she said.
Her company will today host a Mother’s Day programme at Cresta Lodge for mothers with children living outside Zimbabwe.
“As a company we like to look after our clients holistically, that means we are very aware of the emotional needs of our clients. We then made sure we connect and appreciate their families on their behalf,” Chaurura said.
“Mothers are going to have an overnight stay with dinner dance and buffet breakfast the following morning. These celebrations are a way of saying thank you to the mothers and fathers of children in the Diaspora.”
Her company also hosts a Father’s Day and Christmas parties.
A married woman, Chaurura has two children and runs a number of business entities in the United Kingdom where she has been resident for the past 20 years after moving there as a nurse.
She shuttles between Harare and Slough Berkshire in United Kingdom to run her businesses and was recognised a number of times as the best sales director for cosmetic company Mary Kay Cosmetics.
NewsDay