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 Why youth entrepreneurs should work in groups/form syndicates and register their companies?

The spirit of entrepreneurship is well and alive in Chitungwiza. All over the locations from St Marys to Unit O, people are engaged in various income-generating activities, home industries, retailing, brick and Dura-wall making and other activities that earn them a livelihood. These businessman and women face a lot of problems chief among them being shortages of proper operating premises, access to capital and transport costs among other problems.

Young people who are into entrepreneurship in Chitungwiza are encouraged to work in groups or form syndicates as groups have many advantages over operating as individuals. Some of the advantages of working in groups are that:

·         You can share costs like rent, security, electricity and water bills.

·         You can assist each other when more hands are needed which reduces labour costs.

·          You can pool money together  as capital and invest in machinery which would be unaffordable as an individual.

·         Banks are more likely to lend money to groups rather than individuals.

However working as a group also has its disadvantages as misunderstandings and personal differences are likely to interfere with group dynamics. To avoid these problems- young entrepreneurs must register their companies and turn their partnerships into shareholding with memorandum of associations being the agreement between the partners.

 This brings us to our main point- Why young entrepreneurs must register their business with the Ministry of industry and trade under the Companies act of

The advantages of registering your business under the companies act are:

·         It is a requirement under Zimbabwe’s laws so you can operate legally.

·         You become tax compliant

·         It is a prerequisite of doing business with the government and its departments. Once you are registered as a company you can register on departmental suppliers databases and  compete for tenders from government and big companies.

·         Easy access to capital: banks prefer to lend money to registered companies instead of individuals or unregistered partnerships.

I will outline below, the procedure of registering a company under the companies act with the Department of Deeds, companies, trademarks and Industrial designs which is found at 38 Nelson Mandela Avenue corner Angwa street in Harare. The information I am going to share with you is contained in a flier made by the same department  which is available for free on our Information desk.

1.       Name search- The first step in registering a company is to come up with a name for the company. Once you have your preferred name, your approach the companies office and have a name search conducted to see that no other company holds the same name and  to verify that your preferred name is available .

Name search is done on a CR21 form according to section 24 of the act. All documents are lodged in duplicate and a fee of US$5.00 is payable

2.       After the name search, the companies office issues a CV4 form which is a confirmation of the reserved name.

3.       Memorandum and articles of Association- the forms can be purchased from Kingstons Bookshops and completed. These forms are an agreement between the partners on shareholding  and company formation. These are lodged after you have received a reserved name confirmation together with CR6 and CR14 forms which are available at kingstons and government printers. A minimum fee of US$100.00.

4.       CR6 form states the physical address of the company

5.       CR14 states the companies directors and the secretary

6.       A US$20.00 fee is payable in lodging these two forms.

7.       After you have successfully completed the above-mentioned procedures that is when you are issued with the certificate of incorporation for US$20.00.

Total cost of registering company is US$5 plus US$100 plus US$20 plus US$20 adds up to US$145.00.

A presentation prepared by Admire Mutize (Programs and Communications Manager CCDN) for  CCDN”s inaugural road-show at Zengeza 2 Shopping centre on 10 March 2012.

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