Brenda Mtonga;a devoted youth, Mother and Copreneur

By Winston Muleba
DESPITE the various challenges marriages face, a couple can launch a business after they have agreed on the definition of success.

Today's focus is on benefits of co-preneurship and we feature Brenda Mtonga, a wife, mother and 'co-preneur'. 

'Co-preneurship', in simple terms, is a business activity in which a couple shares ownership, commitment and responsibility for a business. 

Mtonga, 32 was born in Lundazi district of Eastern Province. 

She is the first born in a family of two brothers and five sisters. 

"Having been brought up from a low-profile family which survived by the grace of God, my background was full of ups and downs," says Mtonga. 

Mtonga began her education in Lundazi and then went to Munyukwa Basic School in the same district.

But due to circumstances beyond her control, she only went up to grade nine. This unforeseen circumstance made her worry about her future. But despite being a grade nine dropout, she is looking forward to going back. 

She got married to Frederick Mtonga in 1998 and they have four children; Lindila, Brian, Costain and Favour. 

"The time I got married, my husband was working for his father on a small salary and that made life more challenging seeing that we started our own family and other extended family members were looking up to us, especially my siblings. During this phase of life, my husband was getting a salary of as low as K50 rebased. I thank God my husband is hard working and has taught me a lot of things," she says. To help supplement her husband's salary, Mtonga started selling Macs cool water blocks. 

She realised that being a full-time housewife was not adding value, especially that the children needed to go to school, rent needed to be paid and other expenses were on their list every month. 

"To overcome such challenges, I entered into co-preneurial partnership with my husband and started a business of selling audio tapes with a view to bettering our future. Upon realising some little resources from audio tapes business, we decided to shift from Lubuto Ngwee to Pamodzi in Ndola. Having learnt from my husband that teamwork was a way to go, we decided to set up a kantemba (makeshift stall) in Pamodzi for cocktails," she says. 

From the kantemba, the couple decided to try the taxi business, and hence bought a second-hand Corolla. The taxi thus became their main source of income. The transport business did well and the couple got a loan in form of a Rosa bus and managed to repay the loan. 

"This business was fruitful in that we bought a good number of buses and the company was renowned as FM buses," she says. 

"We decided to diversify the business into lodging and recreational business, hence we got land...with a supplement of a loan." 

Mtonga says the well-known Kambeba Executive Lodge in Ndola is the product of the land they bought. She adds that another lodge was recently opened in Lusaka. The Magodi Lodge is named after a chief in Eastern Province. 

The two lodges offer an ideal venue for family shows, kitchen parties, wedding receptions and cash bar among others. 

Mtonga says her role model is her husband who she says greatly inspires her. She says women should not just sit and wait for their husbands to be the only providers in the house. She urges young people not to give up but to be focused, tenacious and hard working. 

Mtonga discourages begging because she says it promotes laziness. 

She says co-preneurship brings about trust and respect for each other's integrity, ability to manage a business, and helps a couple become emotionally attached. 

She says respect and trust are important to co-preneurship as they provide a foundation for building all relationships. 

In order to build respect and trust in a co-preneurial partnership, Mtonga says spouses must respect each other, listen well and make effort to understand each other. 

She says couples can keep each other's best interests in mind when making decisions, recognise and respect each other's strengths, whilst always appreciating each other's contributions to the business. 

"It is vitally important that both spouses in a co-preneurial partnership are passionate about their business throughout the various stages of the business life-cycle. Spouses should be in agreement concerning the direction that the business should take, as this will ensure that they are both committed to the venture," s he says. 

She says some women fail to succeed in their business because of financial indiscipline, lack of vision and determination, lack of a role model and the fear of taking a risk. 

Even though she is a busy woman, Mtonga says she is a very committed Christian of the Pentecostal Holiness Church. 

"I also ensure that my family is taken care of and all household duties are performed without fail," she says. She also notes with sadness that some businesswomen and men dedicate most their time to their businesses and forget about their family and God Who gave them what they have. 

"It is deceiving to say the business has been smooth throughout; this is to say so many challenges are encountered but thank God I rise to such challenges and keep going," she says. 

Brenda defines herself as hardworking, social person who is open to her workers and thanks God for having blessed her with what she has. For comment:mwenyamuleba@gmail.com / 0966 461 943/0950 594 050