Mazvita Paula Marowa realised from an early stage that Zimbabwe did not have a local market for real leather handcrafted designer shoes which prompted her to create her own brand Rukanda Pride to produce these products.
Mazvita has always wanted to start her own company and with the passion she had for shoes, it was a fire ready to ignite. She has been passionate about shoes since she was 14 years old.
Even though at the beginning the business faced some difficulties
Her role model is Strive Masiiwa, the founder of multi-millionaire businesses in Zimbabwe. His desire, passion, and drive motivate her to always want to soar beyond. She is inspired by great entrepreneurs that have gone ahead of her, that have soared beyond boundaries. Furthermore, the desire to earn a better income and to be an influencer in the community has been her ultimate drive.
Even though they had no buyers at the time, she continued working and the consistency finally paid off. She believes that always being motivated to wake up each day and do what you love best every day contributes a huge chunk to one’s success.
Starting the brand was not easy; they started in the backyard with their minimal equipment. She was the founder and the workforce of the company, having sleepless nights to push volumes ordered by clients; as the orders grew they also grew.
‘‘We moved from the backyard to a bigger place, and now we have our own shops that you can walk into, with all the quality dress shoes,’’ she said.
Breaking into the market took patience and desire to make people believe in her brand. The patience finally paid off, as they now have a fair market share and the sales are skyrocketing by the day.
It was not easy to make people believe in her brand, as most local people are sceptical about local products, but the consistency in producing quality made her buyers loyal and realise the quality was genuine.
She believes that young people are the future of Africa, as they are the digital generation. As the world goes digital the young people in Africa have a much greater role in solving Africa’s challenges, such as water and sanitation, as they are the ones exposed more to technology and through that can spend the time to research and solve the problems.
Looking ahead, Mazvita believes there is a need for more entrepreneurs rising in the SADC region to help improve the infrastructure, to build the region and make an impact in the world.
As more entrepreneurs rise, so does development and technology in the region, which will help in solving some of the biggest problems in Africa such as poverty and healthcare. She wants to be part of that next generation of entrepreneurs who will also be helping develop Africa for the good.
