A B2B model is used by a business that offers products or services to other businesses. The B2B industry is projected to be more than US$10 trillion worldwide by the time we hit 2020. Small-scale businesses occupy over sixty percent of the African continent’s B2B market. Value marketing & branding are some of the key strategies used to foster the expansion of this industry. Another interesting statistic to mention is that the worldwide e-commerce industry (specifically in the B2B space) is expected to be over US$ 6 trillion dollars by 2022. In order to understand some of the opportunities the industry offers you need to take note of areas that are increasingly becoming focal. Some of these areas are data analytics, social media, AI and the ubiquitous video. Let’s look at some business ideas for this industry locally.

Computer Hardware & Software Services

We are living in a technology driven age where the nucleus of business activity is the computer. The business prospects from this domain are diverse depending on whether you are majoring in hardware or software, though the two overlap. Some quick pointers are hardware maintenance or repair, software development & support services whether bespoke or off-the-shelf. This field expands into training services, necessitated by the rapid evolution of technology innovation. A lot of businesses are in dire need of such services and you can make money by providing them. Good thing here is that you are not confined to just one field as many fields need such services.

Branding

Branding is one of the key drivers of the B2B industry the prospects are almost limitless. The B2B industry is flooded; that means for a business to stand it must do branding well. Starting a branding company is a strategic idea because I’ve noticed that many local businesses aren’t properly branded. I know of some good branding companies (e.g. Estyle Corporate Gifts & Branding). There is need for more companies that have innovatively packaged offers to cater for the various business types. Successful branding involves the amalgamation of many skillsets including but not limited to graphic design, illustration and fashion designers. One could institute the brokerage model.

Multimedia

With audio-visual equipment and the ability to produce great multimedia content you may sitting on a goldmine. Video content is now a big deal in the B2B marketing arena. You could provide video production services, live coverage and content generation. These are in demand because video content is King.

E-Commerce

E-commerce is still crawling in Zimbabwe. Businesses now have varying degrees of online presence but the overwhelming majority still don’t make direct sales online. The nation is still to have substantial platforms like those provided by Amazon & Alibaba. People who deliver such platforms where businesses can sell products shall become filthy rich. Just to put things into perspective – Amazon’s net-worth is over US$1 trillion whilst Alibaba is worth over US$450 billion. This means that the Zimbabwean e-commerce space holds great business prospects moving forward.

Security Services

There is a steady increase in the number of security companies popping up over the last few years. However, it seems most of them still use the traditional business approaches & models used by the other older companies. This industry is a great area of business opportunity – many businesses are looking out for innovative security companies. If you start a security company and with a huge emphasis on leveraging on the latest technologies, you’ll likely dominate.

Social Media Consultancy

Social media use by any business is imperative – it’s no longer an option. Social media is undoubtedly now the biggest driver of brand exposure & consumer traffic for businesses. Lots of businesses still don’t possess the necessary expertise to effectively use it to boost their revenues. It’s a highly technical field and requires expertise. Social media consultancy is broad. One of the trending areas right now is SEO. If you become an expert in search engine optimization, businesses will be clamouring to tap into your expertise. Many businesses are in dire need of people with the expertise to run social media platforms.

Transport Services

You would be amazed to learn that there are many businesses in other countries which are solely dedicated to B2B work. You can setup a business that offers courier services, cargo transportation, shuttles services for company workers, transport services for corporate events and even hiring of trucks or vehicles for company activities. Vaya even introduced a tractor hailing service. This is one industry that never gets flooded – you need only to be innovative by leveraging on tech & emerging trends.

Many B2B ideas can work in Zimbabwe. The ones I covered are definitely nowhere near exhaustive but they give a glimpse into what you can build a business out of. Remember the B2B industry is massive and presently has a lot of gaps which need enterprising people to cover them.