Have a hoppy Easter with your whole family and make it an egg-stra special day!
Livingstone Regatta Challenge:
Livingstone in Zambia is a town full of history that is often untold. But through the involvement of Zambezi Boat Club in the recent Zambezi River regatta's and their love history of Livingstone we can enjoy a glimpse of what was then. If you love history then the Zambezi Boat Club could be your dream in Livingstone.
The Zambezi Boat Club is very proud and passionate about its long standing heritage of which the Regatta is an integral part. A regatta is an aquatic sport which requires a good organisation and adequate funding. To accomplish this, the organising Committee is usually formed or made up of interested club members. The organising Committee is responsible for sourcing for sponsorship for what became an annual event in Livingstone City. From time in memorial this dedicated organisation developed the regatta from its birth to its place as one of the outstanding annual events in Zambezi Boat Club Affairs.
Zambezi Boat Club considers this event as one of the fundraising activities and has continued to take on the responsibility for staging the regatta every year. It has not been smooth sailing though, and the success has been assured only by the fine Cooperation of all those involved from the start.
Further the event speaks to the principle of encouraging mass participation, rowing in unison towards the youth entrepreneurship and Tourism sector development.
The rafting sport attracts participating teams around Livingstone, other Districts and Provinces. Apart from entertainment, the event also provides a platform for sponsoring firms to advertise and market their products and services. In the past Zambian Breweries Plc took an exclusive role in sponsoring the prizes, uniforms and pre- cocktail function for the participating teams and sponsors in addition to advertising the event until sometime in 2011.
But in the recent past we have seen other corporate companies like Autoworld coming on board and associated to the success of the subsequent regatta events by sponsoring T-shirts for the organising Committee and participating teams. The Company has been instrumental in the past ten (10) years now and the Club is elated to that effect.
It is our anticipated view that regatta event will in future attract more prospective sponsors and the Government should identify the potential need for promoting the event with the budgetary support.
6 Reasons Why Driving With Worn‐Out Tyres Is a Bad Idea:
Tyres keep the car on the ground. The importance of good tyre should never be discounted. Even with top‐notch safety features in place motor accidents can occur if not for a good set of wheels. There is no shortcut around this. Get your tyres changed!
1. Bald tyres can overheat
Tyres that are worn down too much are called bald tyres. Bald tyres have a very little tread left on its circumference. As a result, the rubber of the bald tyre is constantly in contact with the asphalt. This causes relatively more heat build‐up compared to a tyre with good groove depth. A new tyre would have grooves to let the air course through. This cools the tyre. Since a worn‐down tyre does not have treads heat would build up and eventually the tyre can blow out.
2. More likely to puncture
The tread of half worn out or bald tyre would be eroded. Because of this, there is only a little rubber left to act as a buffer between the tyre and the roadway. Running over a
bit of glass or any sharp‐edged debris is going to leave you with a flat tyre. Unexpected burst tyre in the middle of driving can potentially cause in a single‐vehicle collision.
3. There is the risk of hydroplaning
Tread patterns or grooves are designed to prevent hydroplaning. Hydroplaning or aquaplaning is when there is a layer of water beneath the tyre. In half‐worn tyres or in bald tyres grooves are worn out making it difficult for water to flow out from under the tyre. Hydroplaning causes the vehicle to slide through the water on the surface of the road. When this happens the driver might lose control over the vehicle.
4. Tyre wear and under‐inflation
Worn out tyres lose air pressure faster making them under‐inflated. Underinflation further wears down the tyres and thus a vicious cycle ensues. Half‐worn or bald tyres when under‐inflated can cause serious problems to the motorists. With a lower tyre pressure also comes lesser fuel economy. You are likely to experience difficulty in steering. There is also a bigger chance of ending up with a busted tyre.
5. Bald tyres put you at the risk of a tyre burst
Without treads, there is a risk of tyres suddenly blowing out while driving. In a bald tyre, the rubber is more in contact with the asphalt. This would cause the tyres to accumulate more heat and burst. You become more vulnerable if you are driving briskly. Debris from the road can damage a bald tyre more than a new tyre causing the tyre to rupture.
6. Takes longer to brake in the rain
On wet roads, worn‐out tyres take significantly longer to come to a stop once the brake is applied. This was observed even in cars with an anti‐lock braking system (ABS). Taking longer and farther to halt after hitting the brake can even result in a vehicle collision.
What should a vehicle’s battery lifespan be?
Ask around and you’ll get several different answers. Some cars will get up to five or six years out of their battery, while others will need a new one after only two years. In general, your car will usually need a new battery after three to four years. Replacing your car battery is another part of routine maintenance. Getting your battery checked and inspected is standard for your service visits after three years, even if you haven’t needed it replaced yet.
The two biggest factors that go into how long your battery lasts are your driving habits and where you live. Inactivity can really bring down your battery’s lifespan. If you don’t drive often or you only use the car for short trips, then it’s going to weaken your battery. If you only use the car for a brief 15-minute commute, try taking the scenic route or going on a road trip sometime to help prolong the battery’s charge.
The climate where you live is the other factor to pay attention to. If you’re driving in an area where it’s hot all year, then that’s going to wear your battery down faster than driving in a colder climate.
Loose connections or corroded battery terminals can damage your battery. Solid brass battery terminals are the best battery terminals to use on your vehicle as they do not corrode as quick as some of the other cheaper options of terminals on the market. For more details on brass Battery terminals ask for details at any of our sales counters.
Having a strong battery holder will definitely save the battery from being physically damaged and avoid it shorting against the metal body of the vehicle while you drive on bumpy roads.
Signs That Your Battery Is Low:
A lot of drivers don’t know their battery is low until their car won’t start. Luckily, there are some warning signs that your battery needs to be replaced. One sign is if it’s taking your car longer to start. You’ll hear the engine cranking for longer and the ignition not turning over as soon as it used to, which means the battery’s charge has gotten weak.
Along the same lines, you may also notice that your interior lights aren’t as bright as they used to be. In some cars, a dashboard light that looks like your battery will turn on when it’s low or has low battery fluid. Another sign to look out for is damage. If your battery is cracked or has started corroding, you’ll be able to see it just by looking at it. Sometimes, you’ll even smell it since it gives off a pungent sulfur smell.
Head on down to your nearest Autoworld and have your vehicles battery checked.
What oil should I use for my vehicle?
There are many choices when it comes to picking the best oil for your car’s engine. The first thing you need to know, is the make and model of your vehicle. Newer engines with high performance are being developed to improve efficiency and that means new oil formulations have been developed to accompany and keep up with those developments.
But along with that it’s important to take into consideration what environment you drive in most regularly. Temperature, as well as paved or unpaved roads, place different levels of strain on your engine. So, keep your surrounding conditions in mind before choosing a brand of oil.
Then there’s the type of oil you use, whether mineral or synthetic based that each have their own have pros and cons. The base oil accounts for approximately 80% to 90% of your engine’s oil, so make sure you understand and weigh the benefits of what type of oil you use for your vehicle.
Keep these things in mind when choosing an oil brand for your vehicle.
Autoworld’s continuing support of Linda Compound Hospice in Zambia
Children in Linda Compound, Lusaka
For some time Autoworld has been donating medicines needed for the hospice in Linda Compound.
Here is the background and context of this initiative. For the last decade Cossie and Noble Findlay (Chairman of Autoworld) have been involved in helping VisionAfrica, now VisionZambia, fulfill their promise to the community of Linda Compound in Lusaka, Zambia. When Psychology of Vision started visiting Zambia in the late 1990's Cossie was asked to find a worthwhile project for VisionAfrica.
“From that request was born this project to bring clean water to the 35,000 inhabitants of Linda Compound. This resulted in a profound drop in deaths from diseases born from dirty water. ”
And so the fund VisionAfrica was born and grown into a charity called VisionZambia. Over the years this charity has been helping the community by:
- Providing clean water and infrastructure
- Supporting the hospice in Linda Compound with access to drugs and palliative care
- Feeding the children
- Providing education
- Working with the people to on appropriate income generating projects
- In 2013 the Friends Helping Friends Community Centre opened.
Cossie Findlay, Autoworld Co-founder
Cossie Findlay is still a committed trustee of the Mother of Mercy Hospice Trust and a trustee of VisionZambia.
“Together with support from Autoworld Limited, we have accomplished what we believed to be impossible.”
And so the journey continues ...
14 Tips on How to Become a Successful Entrepreneur
In June 2011 I was invited to speak at the Kukula Cup Final about my experience as an entrepreneur in Zambia. Planning for the talk made me reflect on the journey that I have been on since starting my first business, Impala Service Station in 1972, and the many lessons that I have learnt along the way. The talk was so well received that I have decided to put together a list of 14 tips that I have implemented on my journey to success and highlight on each of them for the purpose of this article.
14 Tips on How to Become a Successful Entrepreneur
- Choose a business that you will enjoy working in as it will be the place where you spend most of your time.
- Know that what you're doing is morally right.
- Once you've raised your capital, open up a bank account. Banks will only lend you money if they can see your records and can follow your cashflow.
- The location of your business premises must be in the right place for the type of business you are running.
- Once you've established your business you've got to advertise and do marketing.
- Be innovative to ensure that you're always one step ahead of your competition.
- Maintain consistency in what you are doing to encourage consumer loyalty.
- Plough your profits back into the company to enable expansion and replacement costs.
- Maintain a healthy cashflow where your income is more than your expenditure.
- Pay suppliers promptly.
- Give good customer service.
- After identifying reliable customers, offer credit facilities to enable expansion of your business.
- The people you employ are an important factor in your success so make sure they are experienced, dedicated and offer training facilities.
- Set a goal of what you want - aim high and aim for the best.
Backtracking a little
Before I started Impala Service Station I didn't have much experience working for other people, however the little work that I did do has helped me so much in running my own business. In hindsight I would always advise to gain as much experience as you can working for other people because it will teach you so much about business and will enable you to learn about the mistakes first without them affecting your own bottom line.
After finishing school I started working for Lusaka City Council in the buying and stores offices where I learnt about custom clearing and stock control. The Lusaka City Council sponsored me to go to the UK to do a course in business management which specialised in purchasing, marketing, economics and finance and what I learnt there helped me tremendously when I eventually started my own business.
How I Implemented the 14 Tips
1. Choose a business that you will enjoy working in as it will be the place where you spend most of your time. I was interested in cars so I knew that I'd be happy running a business dealing with spare parts and accessories. When I later opened Autoworld and expanded this business I ventured into selling boats and engines because boating is my hobby so going to work has been like doing my favourite sport.
2. Know that what you're doing is morally right. I'll give you an example of determination. When I was studying in England I had a part-time job selling encyclopedias door to door. Each sales person was given targets. If we sold 3 sets of encyclopedias each evening we would be given a £50 bonus on top of our pay. I was usually the only one to get that bonus because I applied the sales language and method of selling that I was taught which was designed in such a way to make the person agree to the sale and it worked every time. We were even taught to hide certain information such as the bit at the bottom of the form which enabled the customer to cancel the order up to 48 hours later because the transaction was made in their own home. If we made customers aware of that option it would give them choice which would ultimately lead to doubt and this would not be good for a guaranteed sale. So we were taught to fold this bottom section of the form so that the customer never saw it when they filled out the sales form. The moment I realised that I was selling these encyclopedias to people that didn't need them and couldn't actually afford them I couldn't sell anymore. So you've got to be happy with what you're doing and know that you're doing the right thing selling what you do. When I opened Impala selling petrol and spare parts I knew that this was something people needed and that felt right.
3. Once you've raised your capital, open up a bank account. Banks will only lend you money if they can see your records and can follow your cashflow.
The funny thing with banks is that before they lend you money you have to prove to them that you don't need their money. In my case I didn't have the money when I started my business so my mother loaned me K1,000 back in 1972 and with that money I opened a bank account. Within 3 days of opening the account I had an overdraft!
4. The location of your business premises must be in the right place for the type of business you are running. Before opening Impala Service Station I applied to Caltex for a petrol station and they offered me the one on the Kabwe Road heading out of Lusaka. It was the perfect location to capture motorists entering and leaving the city as well as coming into town to do their business around the Cairo Road area.
5. Once you've established your business you've got to advertise and do marketing. One of the first marketing campaigns that I initiated was leafleting cars which was a suggestion from Caltex at the time. I paid people to go out and put a leaflet with a picture of a car with 4 tyres on it. After inspecting the car they would mark on the leaflet which tyre needed replacing. The blurb on the leaflet was something along the lines of "We've taken the liberty of inspecting your tyres and we've indicated which tyre needs replacing. We currently have tyres in stock at Impala Service Station and we'd be happy to fit them for you". It worked! After this we tried a few raffles where customers who bought a certain amount of fuel or products in the shop would be entered for a free raffle with the first prize being a brand new car. Again this worked too. Another thing that I have found is people often think that in order for a business to be successful you have to sell a high yielding profit item, however what I've found is that this is not always the case. I found offering a 'carrot' like cigarettes, cool drinks or a vending machine in the spares shop encouraged customers to stop and buy their fuel at Impala. While they were there, they ended up seeing other products which they then went on to purchase as well. So you've got to make the whole customer experience something that makes them want to come back again and again.
6. Apply innovation to ensure that you're always one step ahead of your competition. Before I opened Impala I was helping to run a family business selling beer in Emmasdale. I compared the profit of a litre of beer sold to a litre of fuel that I would be able to sell at the filling station. The profit was higher for a litre of beer sold, however fuel took the lead with greater volume at less profit. I also discovered that the profit in running a petrol station doesn't come from the amount of fuel sold, but rather the amount of engine oil sold. When I started Impala you couldn't buy engine oil in smaller containers as it only came in big drums. So I went to the compounds and bought used small containers of cooking oil, cleaned them out and decanted the oil from the drums into the containers. This way I was able to offer oil to my customers to buy and also offer the service of an oil top up to customers filling up with fuel. Within a short space of time I had so many women bringing me hundreds of containers on a daily basis from the compounds.
7. Maintain consistency in what you are doing to encourage consumer loyalty. When I opened Impala I maintained consistency by setting opening hours and ensuring my customers knew these hours. I maintained sufficient stock levels because I knew that a disappointed customers will always go to my competition and I would then run the risk of loosing that customer especially if my competitor was offering a better service. I ensured that I always had oil and air. I also offered a 24 hour tyre mending service which we offered for at least 40 years before having to close it recently due to feasibility.
8. Ploug your profits back into the company to enable expansion and replacement costs. I started Impala with 8 employees and I now have 300 employees between 13 branches nationwide. I did this by never using my profit and constantly putting it back into the business - expanding my product and service range as well as opening new branches.
9. Maintain a healthy cashflow where your income is more than your expenditure. Your cashflow is what determines whether or not you will go bankrupt. You've got to be thrifty in how you run your business and buy what you need, not what you want. This means only buying what you can afford.
10. Pay suppliers promptly. I've always adhered to payment terms and this has enabled me to continue a good relationship of trust with all of my suppliers. What you want is a good reputation and respect because when you give someone respect they will also respect you.
11. Give good customer service. Without your customer you have no business so it is vitally important to put time and effort into ensuring that they are treated well. Caltex offered staff training which involved things such as greeting a customer nicely and thanking them at the end while asking them to call again. When a car came to fill up with petrol my staff would be trained to ask the customer if they wanted their windscreen cleaned and tyre pressure checked. I bought my own compressor to offer tyre pressure. I wanted my customers to leave with a positive experience from the visit to Impala so that they would want to come back again.
12. After identifying reliable customers, offer credit facilities to enable expansion of your business. I looked out for regular buyers and got to know what sort of a business they were running and if it was a reputable organisaiton I offered these customers credit facilities. It meant that I got to sell more sooner and this all contributed to me being able to expand Impala into Autoworld.
13. The people you employ are an important factor in your success so make sure they are experienced, dedicated and offer training facilities. I have always looked for employees that are keen to share in my vision for my business. Training is essential to ensure that everyone is operating on the same page and equipped with the right skills for the role.
14. Set a goal of what you want - aim high and aim for the best. When I first started Impala I could see the potential for the business if I managed to implement a successful business model. I was able to do this at Impala and this led me to opening my first Autoworld branch. I remember, on the day of the official opening of the branch, walking my mother around who had come to cut the ribbon and telling her my plans for expanding the premises and my goal of having a branch in every provincial centre.
I hope that you find these tips useful and I wish you the greatest success in your business endeavors. Do you have any tips that have contributed to the success of your role as an entrepreneur? Feel free to share these points in the comments section below.
Positive improvement for the motor trade with the 2013 Budget
Over the coming months we will be adding new categories to the News section of our website and this month we are pleased to introduce you to Notes From the Chairman. This news category will contain brief memos from the Autoworld Chairman, Mr Noble Findlay, who has over 40 years of experience in the Zambian motor trade. It is a chance for you to be a fly on the wall hearing some of his words of wisdom gained over his years in the industry. We would love to hear your thoughts on this topic so please take the opportunity to comment in the section below this post. On that note, we hand you over to our Chairman...
For as many years as I can remember I have always advocated reduced duty on products in the motor trade. High import duties on boat engines and boats have made it impossible for so many to afford these items, making them more of a luxury product than an essential item for both the tourism industry as well as commercial fishermen.
When the 2013 Budget Statement was announced last October I was very pleased to hear that boat engines that used to have a duty of 15% would now be duty free. Additionally, boats that used to have a duty of 25% would now be duty free as well. As sole distributor of Mercury Marine engines and a wide range of boat dealerships at Autoworld we are now able to pass on this reduction in lower prices for our customers.
This makes a significant difference for Zambia because now the lodge owner is able to afford the luxury boat to enhance their clients’ tourist experience. The commercial fisherman now has a boat engine within his reach.
Another very positive improvement from the 2013 Budget has been that truck tyres that had a duty of 25% are now duty free. This significantly reduces transport costs, which are one of our main bottlenecks in Zambia. In time this knock on effect should result in cheaper products for the Zambian consumer.
Zambia is a nation of tourism and growing development and after 40 years of being in the motor industry I am very excited to see the direction that we heading.