New breed of the opulent

Admin   |   30 November, 2015   |   585   |   3980

Ruth Butaumocho Gender Editor: - I was motivated by the team’s passion to earn a living through network marketing. I resolved to acquire as much expertise as I could to impart knowledge to distributors not only in Zimbabwe but across the globe,”

A few years ago, Tendai Chinoperekwei was living on the fringes.

With a banking and finance degree, an administrative job with a women’s organisation, he could only afford to stay in one room together with his family.

It was not until his then boss, Minister of Women’s Affairs Gender and Community Affairs Nyasha Chikwinya, introduced him to network marketing when it dawned on him that life had much more to offer than earning a salary.

Today, 34-year-old Tendai owns a house in the plushy suburb of Borrowdale and drives a top of the range car. All these rich trappings are part of his rewards for his high level marketing skills nurtured over the few years.

He belongs to a growing population of network marketers that are distributing various goods, food supplements and cosmetics across the globe.

“What I have today is a result of hard work, determination to succeed,” said Tendai.

“But above all, I am passionate about assisting ordinary people to change their lives,” said Tendai during a vehicle handover ceremony at a local hotel over the weekend.

Network marketing is the process of developing a network of people who use a product and or service and share the product or service with their friends, relatives and other independent distributors.

As individuals share the products or service, their network organisation grows. The individuals are compensated both for their own personal retail sales and for the volume of retail business that is generated by the people they train and lead in their network.

The GL 320 Mercedes Benz that Tendai received for being the top distributor — three-star manager — in Zimbabwe is the latest offering from his array of prizes that he has won from Greenworld as a result of the volume of retail business that is generated by the people he trains and leads in his own group or team.

Tendai, who has been a network marketer for nearly 10 years, having started with Tiens and eventually crossed the floor to Greenworld, says although he became a network marketer by accident after failing to get a decent job, he is enjoying his newly found fame and fortune.

“I was so devastated when I lost my job in the financial sector after the company that I worked for closed down. I kept looking for opportunities and at one time tried my luck in vending but that did not work,” he revealed.

Determined to change his fortunes, Tendai did not despair but continued looking for a job.

It was while he was working for a women’s organisation as an administrator that he stumbled on a networking marketing opportunity.

“I became a distributor for Tiens products, which deals with health and dietary supplements.

“I worked very hard to expand my networks and in less than two years I managed to build a strong base in networking,” he recalls.

With new opportunities emerging in networking marketing, Tendai crossed the floor and joined his current distribution company. Using his financial expertise acquired from the university and the networking experience he had acquired with Tiens, Tendai immediately embarked on a massive recruitment and training of distributors.

In no time, he had established a team of hard-working distributors who were willing to push the boundaries and become leading distributors in their own communities.

Watching women and men from humble backgrounds — some twice his age and old enough to be his parents — coming to him for training was enough to spur Tendai into strengthening his resolve to become a marketer of repute.

“I was motivated by the team’s passion to earn a living through network marketing. I resolved to acquire as much expertise as I could to impart knowledge to distributors not only in Zimbabwe but across the globe,” he enthused.

Transforming from being a mere distributor to become an international trainer was no mean feat for Tendai, but with responsibility comes the determination to execute diligently, and he has not disappointed.

Tendai, who is a three-star manager at Greenworld, has grown his Southern African network to over 60 000 people.

“Apart from offering flexible working time, network marketing is the only source of employment for most university and college graduates who cannot be absorbed into formal employment.

“Right now, we have more than 1000 people joining the distribution network every month. That alone is an indication that network marketing is actually absorbing a good chunk of the unemployed.”

He however, concedes that networking marketing requires commitment, dedication, patience and perseverance for one to succeed.

“One of the critical elements of networking marketing is product knowledge. You can only convince people to become part of the distribution chain if you are knowledgeable about the product,” he said.

For someone who has been living off products distribution, a business that gives him an opportunity to travel around the world throughout the year, Tendai believes that network marketing is the future.

“Technology is moving fast, and soon most people will be eliminated by technology as machines take up jobs for the worker, rendering thousands jobless.

“When we were growing up, our fathers used to paint cars with a gun and a compressor, but that is now being done by machines.

“And with the growing populations, countries will not be able to create as many jobs to absorb all the millions. Network marketing is the future in employment creation,” said Tendai.

Giving the example of the first networking company to be established, Amway, which started in the 1950’s distributing cleaning products, Tendai said networking marketing is a long term business initiative that can go for years, providing income to its networks and distributors for generations.

“Network marketing is a big industry. Those who choose to ignore it do so at their own peril,” said the father of two, who lost his wife three months ago.