Tanaka Karumazondo: Top tips on manoeuvring the business market

2 Feb

This quarter’s cover feature is all things business. We had the honour to speak one on one with Tanaka Karumazondo, an award- winning Zimbabwean business man based in London.

In the interview, we explore Tanaka’s business background. Mr Karumazondo answers some crucial questions and gives tips on manoeuvring the business market and how he became successful, the role of business owners and recession.

Who is Tanaka Karumazondo?

Tanaka Karumazondo is a Zim - Brit business man based in London. He runs multiple successful businesses, all he has ownership of Moyo Hair and Beauty, Karumazondo meats and vegetables, 12 04 Alcohol & Drinks, Vimbiso Marketing and Zuva Academy.

When asked how he has managed his businesses into a successful empire, Karumazondo boldly responded “I have to make sure something works if my name is on it.”

“In June 2022, I was privileged to be nominated for the ZIM Achiever Awards Male Entrepreneur of the Year 2022 (UK)’’ states Karumazondo. Fortunately, he won the nomination, thus he currently stands as the Male Entrepreneur of the Year 2022. “It was a surreal moment finding out that I had won the nomination amongst other phenomenal business men who had also been nominated for the same award,” as Tanaka humbly spoke. The community honours success, talent, and challenging work. Awards encourage those in the same fields to work harder and produce the best service, products, or results.

Getting into the detail of the businesses, Karumazondo states that he sees his businesses as children. He makes a reference to children explaining that they require constant nurturing and monitoring to aid their growth. Tanaka describes Moyo Hair and Beauty as an outlet that caters for the customer’s chemical and cosmetical needs. “The beauty industry is one of the fastest growing and relevant industries. Beauty is a lucrative point of business, both women and men constantly elevate and change their appearances. Cosmetics, and hairstyles all change based on the current beauty trends.” When asked if there are any plans to expand this line of business Tanaka gave an assurance of hope, “Now, I am not sure but time will tell.”

When and why did you decide to be a business owner?

“I started farming when I was 19 years old, something I did not think I would take on early on in my youth years. I took over this venture and chose to grow climate-based crops.” Vegetables are an all-year-round commodity, everyone buys vegetables every other week. Growing natural vegetables requires good temperatures and a temperate amount of water. Although, there are less plants which tolerate shade or lack of sunlight. Karumazondo stated that “Growing your own vegetables and crops is fun, healthy, and rewarding. However, it can be daunting to figure out how and where to start especially when you are a newly experienced farmer.”

What is the significant challenge you face as a business owner?

Looking further into Tanaka Karumazondo’s business background - it became clear that he is also an established farmer.

“Delegation of work is difficult; I always want to make sure that I trust someone before placing business responsibilities on them.” Karumazondo believes tasks are excellently done when there is a mutual willingness between himself and an employee in delivering the best results, therefore most times he works alone. When asked if recruitment fell into the bracket of challenges, he makes it clear that, “Recruitment is an easy job for Human Resources,” but again he prefers trustworthy individuals to work with.

With the economy entering a recession, what advice would you give to smaller business owners?

“Recession sounds like something negative, which it is but it is also positive. As a business owner, it is important to know those bad economic situations like the recession are an opportunity for recession-proof industries for example health care, education, computers, and technology. They are opportunities for investors to reel in and take over and save businesses from the brink of collapsing.”

Karumazondo urges business owners to research their respective markets. There is leverage in understanding the needs of your marketing and then meeting the market at its point of need. As much as it is crucial to enter into lucrative and promising businesses, it is also crucial to pursue businesses that spark your interest or have a passion for.

Tanaka has superseded the expectations of a young black African, running multiple successful businesses and staying afloat amidst the challenges. He plans to expand his empire, and the community and the market would be honoured to be in receipt of this extension.