Nyasha Tembedza is a young female entrepreneur based in Harare, Zimbabwe.
Nyasha’s passion for food and people has inspired her to build a business around these passions. With no experience in a formal kitchen but motivated by a vision to become an international restaurant chain her story is a good example of how persistence, networking and continuous improvement can turn a passion into a business.
Being the first-born daughter in her family, expectations were high that Nyasha would follow the typical life cycle of going to University, getting a degree and then settling into a good job. However, for Nyasha this was not to be as she has dropped out of University twice, the first time due to going to a foreign university where failed to adjust which led her to suffer from depression. The second time she dropped out was because of the challenges of balancing running a small business and studying, and in typical entrepreneur fashion the pull of entrepreneurship was greater than that of studies.
From baking and selling birthday cakes and confectionary through to providing corporates with meals and now a small restaurant that goes by the name ‘Le Spot’, her story has many learning points that we can learn from.
1.Start Small and Smart
“Just start with what you have and add on as the business grows and makes money.”
Nyasha started ‘Le Spot’ from a run down and unused car garage and painted it herself in order to create a small restaurant environment which has the feel of a ‘home away from home’. As someone who had started off small by providing catering and cakes for a few paying customers Nyasha believed that a small and simple restaurant could also attract some paying customers. With the benefit of her parents loaning her start-up capital which she is steadily paying back, Nyasha has learnt that it is important to start even when everything is not perfect or in the state that you want it to be.
Lesson learnt: it is Better to Start Small and Smart Rather Than to Not Start at All.
2.Understand who your customer is and what they really want
“People come in and say that they do not like certain things on the menu… Finding out what people want to eat, what would excite customers, finding out what would make us different from everyone else has been a challenge.”
As is the case with many start-ups figuring out what your customers really want has proven to be a challenge for Nyasha. This has caused her to move from providing what she thinks the customer wants, to really putting herself in the customers shoes and delivering what the customer wants.
Lesson learnt: What the customer actually wants is more important than what you think the customer wants
3.People Matter
“Meet the right people at the right time.”
With her limited culinary skills Nyasha has been blessed to meet the right people who have been able to assist her in her business journey and help her business and skills to grow. Networking has proven to be key both in getting sales as well as getting the necessary business support that she requires. This point has also taught her to learn to work with difficult suppliers and clients in order to get the business moving forward.
Lesson learnt: WHO you KNOW is as important as WHAT you KNOW in order to grow your business.
4.Business Has Seasons and Times
“In January when business is very slow you wonder where have all the customers gone?”
The time when the restaurant was launched was towards the end of the year in November, December which are times where restaurants record good business. As a new entrepreneur it was then a big surprise when her business was badly affected by low sales in the first quarter of the year which she had not anticipated. The big drop in business caused her to doubt all things around her business, menu and location due to the slow nature of the first quarter.
The lessons learnt from the first quarter of the year pushed her to introduce events such as Book Clubs, picnics and such activities so that ‘Le Spot’ is not just a place where people come and eat but also where relationships grow through food and the activities that take place and this has helped to boost business.
Lesson learnt: There are seasons and times when business is both high and low and you must be prepared and manage through both.
While her business journey has just started Nyasha Tembedza is confident that with the right attitude, people and experience she will realise her dream of establishing herself in 5 cities in 5 years
Nyasha’s Words of Encouragement to Other Start Ups:
“Not everyone is genuinely happy to see you succeed in business”
“Follow your gut, it has great returns”
“Do not hold yourself back”
“Keep good bookkeeping from the word go, don’t try to play catch up with reconciliations”
“Write things down because you are running with a lot of things.”
“Pray about what you want to do”
“You will fall down, but always pick yourself up”
“Know your vision, listen to advice but do not take that advice as law”
Le Spot Restaurant Facebook page on: https://www.facebook.com/Le.Spot.1/
Zim-SME Channel Facebook page on: https://www.facebook.com/zimsmechannel/
Written By: Teddy Tatenda Chikondo
“Teddy is the founder of Zim-SME Channel and has a passion for seeing the growth and success of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. He is also a management consultant based out of Harare, Zimbabwe”
Being the first-born daughter in her family, expectations were high that Nyasha would follow the typical life cycle of going to University, getting a degree and then settling into a good job. However, for Nyasha this was not to be as she has dropped out of University twice, the first time due to going to a foreign university where failed to adjust which led her to suffer from depression. The second time she dropped out was because of the challenges of balancing running a small business and studying, and in typical entrepreneur fashion the pull of entrepreneurship was greater than that of studies.
From baking and selling birthday cakes and confectionary through to providing corporates with meals and now a small restaurant that goes by the name ‘Le Spot’, her story has many learning points that we can learn from.
1.Start Small and Smart
“Just start with what you have and add on as the business grows and makes money.”
Nyasha started ‘Le Spot’ from a run down and unused car garage and painted it herself in order to create a small restaurant environment which has the feel of a ‘home away from home’. As someone who had started off small by providing catering and cakes for a few paying customers Nyasha believed that a small and simple restaurant could also attract some paying customers. With the benefit of her parents loaning her start-up capital which she is steadily paying back, Nyasha has learnt that it is important to start even when everything is not perfect or in the state that you want it to be.
Lesson learnt: it is Better to Start Small and Smart Rather Than to Not Start at All.
2.Understand who your customer is and what they really want
“People come in and say that they do not like certain things on the menu… Finding out what people want to eat, what would excite customers, finding out what would make us different from everyone else has been a challenge.”
As is the case with many start-ups figuring out what your customers really want has proven to be a challenge for Nyasha. This has caused her to move from providing what she thinks the customer wants, to really putting herself in the customers shoes and delivering what the customer wants.
Lesson learnt: What the customer actually wants is more important than what you think the customer wants
3.People Matter
“Meet the right people at the right time.”
With her limited culinary skills Nyasha has been blessed to meet the right people who have been able to assist her in her business journey and help her business and skills to grow. Networking has proven to be key both in getting sales as well as getting the necessary business support that she requires. This point has also taught her to learn to work with difficult suppliers and clients in order to get the business moving forward.
Lesson learnt: WHO you KNOW is as important as WHAT you KNOW in order to grow your business.
4.Business Has Seasons and Times
“In January when business is very slow you wonder where have all the customers gone?”
The time when the restaurant was launched was towards the end of the year in November, December which are times where restaurants record good business. As a new entrepreneur it was then a big surprise when her business was badly affected by low sales in the first quarter of the year which she had not anticipated. The big drop in business caused her to doubt all things around her business, menu and location due to the slow nature of the first quarter.
The lessons learnt from the first quarter of the year pushed her to introduce events such as Book Clubs, picnics and such activities so that ‘Le Spot’ is not just a place where people come and eat but also where relationships grow through food and the activities that take place and this has helped to boost business.
Lesson learnt: There are seasons and times when business is both high and low and you must be prepared and manage through both.
While her business journey has just started Nyasha Tembedza is confident that with the right attitude, people and experience she will realise her dream of establishing herself in 5 cities in 5 years
Nyasha’s Words of Encouragement to Other Start Ups:
“Not everyone is genuinely happy to see you succeed in business”
“Follow your gut, it has great returns”
“Do not hold yourself back”
“Keep good bookkeeping from the word go, don’t try to play catch up with reconciliations”
“Write things down because you are running with a lot of things.”
“Pray about what you want to do”
“You will fall down, but always pick yourself up”
“Know your vision, listen to advice but do not take that advice as law”
Le Spot Restaurant Facebook page on: https://www.facebook.com/Le.Spot.1/
Zim-SME Channel Facebook page on: https://www.facebook.com/zimsmechannel/
Written By: Teddy Tatenda Chikondo
“Teddy is the founder of Zim-SME Channel and has a passion for seeing the growth and success of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. He is also a management consultant based out of Harare, Zimbabwe”
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