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Hands on, Shingi Zinyemba with a customer in one of his butcheries

Lifestyle Writer
If children were to choose parents, it is highly probable that no one would want to be born of poor parents. Imagine, with all the beauty in this world that money can buy who would want to belong to have-nots?

It is well and good for those who are born with a silver spoon because they have no choice but to continue with the family legacy.

In a nutshell that is how Shingi Zinyemba was raised. The 28-year-old who is the chief executive of Bellevue Butcheries, one of the growing businesses in the capital, runs an abattoir in Murehwa and employs up to 240 workers.

“I have fond memories of always being in and around the family business. You could say that those early experiences in my life had a positive effect on my entrepreneurial skills,” Shingi recalls.

He was lucky to have attended some of the top schools locally and abroad where he horned his entrepreneurial skills.

“I went to Highlands Junior School and later, I enrolled at Peterhouse. I left Zimbabwe to go and study at Northern Kentucky University in the United States before returning home to pursue business studies at Chinhoyi University of Technology,” he said.

Unlike others who when they enrol at schools outside the country, they do not want to return home, Shingi found it easy to come back and apply what he had learnt abroad.

“There is no place like home! I’m glad to be back and to be a part of the development of my country,” he said.

Shingi studied for a Masters in business intelligence at CUT and then joined the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.

“I was privileged to be with the RBZ working in the bank licensing supervision and surveillance division, my dream job! I also ran a fleet of cross border haulage trucks,” he said.

After leaving the apex bank Shingi opened a chain of butcheries in Harare and attributes his inspiration to the Zim-Asset blueprint which he says made him think outside the box.

“It’s an exciting new challenge for me which I really enjoy. We offer beef, poultry and fish products. Depending on the season we also offer goat and lamb,” he said.

Asked why their prices were a lot cheaper than most of the other butcheries in town, Shingi said they ran their own abattoir and were also into cattle ranching.

“We own our own farms which supply our own abattoirs and our own butcheries produces cost savings, which we in turn are able to pass on to our customers

So far, Bellevue has five branches in the Harare CBD and two others in the surrounding suburbs.

Shingi said his business was unperturbed by competition from established players in the butchery sector.

“We welcome competition because it forces prices to drop which can only be good for our valued customers. We have seized the market and have gained loyal customers because of our attention to detail. We offer the cleanest friendliest service, while offering the widest and freshest range of products. No one else does this and this is why our customer base has grown so rapidly. No smell and no flies,” he explained.

This, however, does not mean there are no challenges, in fact, every day presents its own challenges.

“We are a new brand on the market and it takes time to build customer loyalty based on high quality service and value for money. However, it is not easy to be a young entrepreneur but as an indigenous owned and operated business we are supported by indigenous farmers who sell their surplus cattle to our farm. We are playing our small part in helping Government achieve food security as part of the Zim-Asset blueprint,” he said.

Shing, who says he learnt business the hard way, urged the Government to introduce agricultural programmes in the form of apprenticeships. Industry placements were necessary to educate and impart knowledge to future generations for a sustainable tomorrow, he said.

“We are scheduled to open more butcheries soon and bring our countrywide outlets to 22. We have begun to venture into supermarkets, with three currently in operation. Our vertical integration will be capped off by the opening of a new fast food restaurant chain.

“We are exploring the option teaming up with an international partner, to introduce these restaurants this year. We have been granted a $10 million facility to help fund this expansion project,” Shingi said.

The soft-spoken yuppie said he gets his inspiration from his mother and has little spare time to himself.

“It takes a lot of work, discipline and attention to detail. You have to be prepared for success and failure. A plan and a backup plan are important to any businessman and I take them very seriously and constantly review them. Apart from church it is difficult to find time to do anything else. I work 14-hour days, everyday,” he said.

Shingi who is still single has a daughter.