The world of finance is a wide-ranging world that is multifaceted. For those with skills and experience in finance, there are many business opportunities that can be pursued with great success in Zimbabwe. If you’ve ever thought about starting a business in finance and wanted some idea of where to start from you can look through this list and see if any of these ideas excite your mind. While each idea requires particular skills and experience they are generally open to all who have those skills.
Financial Consulting
All businesses require sound financial management. If you have a good eye for finances and the required skillset you can offer financial consultancy to businesses. Consultants work from outside the business and are not full-time employees. They are invited on a periodic basis to look into the business’s finances and make recommendations to improve the company’s financial performance and position.
Debt Management Services
Helping individuals and businesses in Zimbabwe manage their debts by offering services such as debt consolidation, negotiation with creditors, and the development of effective repayment plans is a good business opportunity. This requires more than a knowledge of finance however, you also need a good grasp of the law. You can create a lucrative business by offering this service to people looking to manage their debt.
Financial Education Workshops
Personal finance has many aspects to it. Offering training in personal finance is a very lucrative finance business opportunity. You can conduct workshops on budgeting, saving, investing, increasing income and other relevant topics to empower individuals and small business owners with financial knowledge. You will need to add to your finance skills with coaching ability and an understanding of human behaviour and psychology to succeed at this.
Invoice Factoring
You can start an invoice factoring business by purchasing outstanding invoices from small businesses at a discount, providing them with immediate cash flow while you collect the payment from their customers. For this business, you will need to register as a credit provider. Invoice factoring is a very lucrative business given many businesses need cash and are willing to forego a percentage of their invoices to get cash sooner.
Financial Technology (Fintech) Solutions
Of all the business ideas mentioned here, this is the one with the widest potential. Fintech solutions start as small ideas but the most successful implementations change the way that people transact altogether. Concepts like Ecocash, Paynow and Topup are great examples of this. With the advent of blockchain technology and the changes it is bringing to the world, there is a lot of potential for disruption in the fintech space. This will obviously require more than an understanding of finance; you will need to understand what technology is available and what it can do. The best part of fintech solutions is the scalability of these ideas.
Insurance Agency
An insurance agency is a business that offers insurance products and packages from other insurance providers. Similar to an insurance brokerage you are not in the business of insuring but rather selling insurance products. This works very well if you have a good understanding of risk management and insurance. You can make handsome commissions from the insurance packages you sell. Another merit of this business idea is that it creates a recurring income stream.
Financial Blogging or Podcasting
As finance is central to life so is financial education. We already discussed financial education courses but a lot of learning is being done through new media. Personal finance blogs, vlogs and podcasts are some of the most popular types of new media. The money in this business doesn’t come directly. The money can come from advertising, merchandising, selling courses and many other sources. This one will need a mind that is more of a creative persuasion.
Crowdfunding Consulting
Crowdfunding is becoming really popular the world over. As crowdfunding becomes more and more organised there are big opportunities in crowdfunding. A crowdfunding consultant plays a similar role to a funding incubator by nurturing small businesses and startups to get them in the best shape to run a successful; crowdfunding round. This may extend as far as managing the crowdfunding itself. It is reasonable to charge an upfront fee, a percentage of the amount raised or both.
Virtual CFO Services
The Chief Financial Officer role is a very important role in any business. These are highly skilled individuals who have insights into the financial impact of decisions in a business and the impact of changes. Due to the high skills and experience that this role requires smaller businesses may not be able to afford a full-time CFO. The virtual CFO is essentially offering CFO services to a business but working on a part-time basis. This is different from the financial consultant who works on a casual basis. Many small businesses, especially startups would be in need of this.
Finance has so many aspects that a person with finance skills and experience can find many business opportunities. Especially with the rise of fintech, there are many ideas that can spring up in the next few years.
