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Walter Mswazie Masvingo Correspondent
Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) operators have been urged to take the concept of research seriously for them to manage markets for their products and continue growing their businesses.

Women Affairs, Community Development, Small to Medium Enterprises and Cooperative Development Masvingo provincial officer, Mr Joseph Mupinga, on Monday said research was a very key concept in business.

He was speaking on the sidelines of a SMEs research workshop held at a local hotel.

Mr Mupinga said research helped businesses to manage risks, plan accurately and maximize returns.

“As a ministry, we urge small businesses to value the significance of research in their enterprises, as it helps them have a correct appreciation of the markets,” said Mr Mupinga.

“We are having a training workshop of local SMEs which is facilitated by the Research Council of Zimbabwe.”

Mr Mupinga said it was incumbent on small businesses to co-operate research in all their economic or social programmes as it had been approved to be a vehicle for growth.

“As you know in Zimbabwe, SMEs constitute about 80 percent of enterprises and contributing more than 70 percent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), it is prudent for them to use strategies that ensure their sustainability,” he said.

“Without market research, one may order products which are already in large supply from other competitors but with research, the business will know what is needed instead of what it has. It is therefore our mandate as government to capacitate SMEs through training in research.”

Mr Mupinga said research also helped businesses identify possible solutions to the challenges as well as creating new knowledge.

Speaking at the same occasion, a Chiredzi sugarcane farmer, Mr Edmore Veterai, who was part of the trainees, hailed the ministry for assisting SMEs saying the programmes were meant to improve their businesses.

“The training is quite a mouthful and an eye opener for small businesses like us,” he said. “We now appreciate the importance of research in our businesses. We have been shooting in the dark without firstly finding out what the market wanted.

‘’We have learnt of informative and transformative research which is practical in nature. I therefore urge my fellow members, to go and implement what we have learned.”

The 54 trainees were drawn from all the seven districts of the province – Chiredzi, Bikita, Zaka, Chivi, Gutu, Masvingo and Mwenezi.