By MAIMBOLWA MULIKELELA –
DIVERSIFIED   Industrial Staffing founder and president Todd Palmer says high unemployment levels have placed Zambians in an advantageous position to be a nation of successful entrepreneurs.
“In the United States entrepreneurship is an option. Here, it is a matter of necessity, and reconciling this in practical ways has the potential to create a nation of highly successful entrepreneurs,” Mr Palmer said.
He was speaking in Lusaka at a public lecture on empowerment towards development organised by the University of Africa.
In 1997, Mr Palmer with a just a landline telephone, directory and a couple of hundred dollars, founded his company that specialises in providing highly skilled manufacturing employees to industrial clients.
The company generates an estimated US$120million in revenue per annum.
He debut book, “The job search process” provides practical guide to landing a job. While his second book on developing entrepreneurs is set for release this year.
Mr Palmer’s prescription to existing and potential Zambian entrepreneurs focuses on discovering and providing superior value to customers, both now and the future.
It also entails doing it faster and better than competitors and earning different approaches.
“You will fail, and accept to fail as long as you are learning different approaches and finding combinations that work best,” he said.
He cited his spectacular failure when his company was riddled with a US$600,000 debt and faced bankruptcy as an example of failure leading to success.
“That failure jolted me into re-engineering the business model and re-negotiating terms with his financers. This led to a turnaround that has made us successful,” he said.
In a related development University of Africa Vice Chancellor Dr Tobias Doyer says revitalising Zambia’s manufacturing sector could spark economic growth
Dr Doyer said the manufacturing sector held huge potential to generate wealth for the Zambian people.