By Staff Reporter
Being an entrepreneur is not a walk in the garden path, but with the right opportunity, hard work, dedication, commitment, optimism, and a supportive community, it can be very rewarding.
Zimbabwean women are increasingly charting their own professional course and embracing the idea of being ‘your own boss’ as a way to enjoy more happiness and fulfillment.
According to the research conducted by the International Labour Organisation on Zimbabwean Women in the Informal Economy, the results indicated that due to the volatility of the economic environment associated with insecurities, women were undertaking multiple jobs in the Informal economy to gain financial stability.
For Joyline Mukanganwi, a member of Esylife, Chinese health and a personal wellness-oriented company that distributes medicinal herbs and health products, the story of gaining happiness, financial stability, and fulfillment takes a twist and unfolds into a different narrative as her potential to grow income as an entrepreneur is driven by a passion to bring a positive impact on other women and society in general.
Succeeding in creating a profitable herbal medicine business, Mukanganwi is pursuing her passion and potential to earn what she believes she is worth, bringing her vision to life and having the courage and tenacity to create wealth by providing service and motivation to others.
Self-development and sustainability, she said, was key to whoever desires to become an entrepreneur. She said that through entrepreneurship, women can become valuable, powerful, and deserving of every chance and opportunity in the world to pursue and achieve their dreams.
She started as an employee for Esylife. With an aim of thriving in the new current economic environment, Mukanganwi developed the mission of herbal entrepreneurs and started connecting some of the best potential clients in the business.
“l started working for Esylife in 2018. I then became an independent distributor in March 2020. I was inspired to venture into this kind of business because l was passionate about giving regular people a chance to make a difference in their lives, physically and financially. I was also looking for financial freedom, and to be my own boss and manage my own time. At the same time, I was also aiming to inspire other women to become self-employed and sustain themselves as well as positively contribute to the community at large.
“The majority of women doing Esylife as a business have benefited financially. So many people’s health has been transformed by Esylife products. We have received and are still receiving testimonials on how they were healed from different ailments from our clients. Diabetes BP, arthritis, infertility, kidney problems, Covid-19 and HIV infections, you name them,” she said.
The aim of Esylife is not only to provide the best organic health boosters. It is to provide an easy and convenient platform for people to generate wealth. The Esylife consists of a wide range of products that are organic and good for the human body. The organisation is creating opportunities for personal growth for many people.
It is driven by the mandate of assisting people who are looking to find a path towards reclaiming health and restoring vitality.
Through pursuing her entrepreneurship dreams by creating wealth with health as entailed by Esylife’s mission, Mukanganwi is looking forward to be the biggest herbal distributor in Zimbabwe and officially open her own Esylife service centre just like the ones in South Africa.
As the world is living in unprecedented times of Covid-19 with positive cases and deaths surging, Mukanganwi indicated that such a difficult period for everyone was enabling her business to smoothly flow and remain vibrant like never before, highlighting that challenges created by the deadly pandemic were creating opportunities for her business to thrive.
“To be honest, this the best time for me. I am recruiting like no one’s business during this Covid-19 lockdown, especially internationally. I’m using courier services like FedEx, Zimpost, and DHL since they are open for business.
“Challenges create opportunities. Look at the health sector right now. It’s burdened and I’m using this as an opportunity. Rich people made it during difficult times like these. I’m teaching people not to rely only on western medicine.”
She also urged those who are taking different medicines prescribed by health experts and professional doctors not to quit because they are taking Esylife herbs as she explained that the medication can still works the same way.
Extending advice to others especially women who are aspiring to become ‘own bosses’, she said, “Self-development is key when you decide to be an entrepreneur. Read lots of motivational books, and life will never be the same again. I have learned that. Stay positive and committed knowing your goals and what you intend to achieve. It would be interesting having more women who want to start their own business and I expect that there will be an overall increase in the number of people interested in entrepreneurship.”
Asked how she beats the competition and overcomes challenges since the market is now flooded with similar businesses, Mukanganwi told Spiked Online Media that focus, consistency, and generosity were crucial in as much as maintaining the business is concerned, encouraging people to utilise the digital space to market their products.
“The market is now flooded with companies providing natural herbs, and most of them came before Esylife. Some people have been disappointed because some products didn’t work for them. Now they are very skeptical when l talk about Esylife products.
“The Esylife products being Chinese, the moment l mention Xiangzhiling, it’s the end of the story. So I take advantage of social media to advertise my products. Thanks to the internet, l get my clients from social media. I am generous with the information. I’m not selfish. Most people lose business because they are greedy. They want quick money. I rarely sell my products at retail prices. I make sure people register, and get the products at a stock price and this builds trust and confidence in clients.
“The other thing is, most people are just salespeople. They sell what they don’t know. As for me, I taste every product introduced by the company, so that when selling it to my clients, I have adequate knowledge. I don’t just rely on what l have heard, or read about.”
When it comes to reaching the population in remote areas, Mukanganwi is also making great strides ensuring that the rural populace is not excluded and marginalised in as much as healthy living and self-sustainability is concerned.
“I am always in Mbare , Harare Showground, and other bus termini sending products to rural areas. I have sent as far as Manoti Gokwe, Nyanga, Nyatate, Shurungwi, Honde Valley, Bikita , Zaka just to mention a few. The people I engage with come from these rural areas and usually they are the ones who buy for their parents. They become distributors themselves by registering and they go with Esylife products to their respective rural homes.”
She also applauded the Government for issuing operating licenses to the distributors of natural herbs.
“I’m grateful that the Ministry of Health and Child Care provides practicing licenses to us distributors of natural herbs.”
Esylife’s main product is Xiangzhiling, a liquid concentrate made from the red Ganoderma extract that effectively improves immunity, demonstrating rapid regulating effects on high blood pressure. Mukanganwi praised the product for completely improving her husband’s health.
