I learned this the expensive way.

The first USD 1,000

From Switzerland I lent someone in Zimbabwe USD 1,000 to buy chickens. Three months later they paid me back USD 1,300. So I said: do it again. And again. And again. Every cycle we bought a few more birds.

Growing, but never ahead

From the outside it looked like success. Twenty thousand birds a cycle is a real business. But at the end of every cycle there was never enough money left to enjoy it. Feed, chicks, transport, wages, losses: the money went somewhere, and we could not say exactly where. In the end we sold the operation.

Same problem, different animal

We moved to pigs. Same problem. We opened a butchery to sell our own meat. Same problem again. Three businesses, and three times the same ending: busy all year, nothing left at the end.

Coffee, and a law that changed everything

Eventually we started exporting Zimbabwean coffee to Switzerland. When I opened a café there, Swiss law required double entry bookkeeping. For the first time every dollar had to come from somewhere and go somewhere. And for the first time I could see the fundamental problem.

Three brands, one set of books

Today we roast coffee and ship it by the bag, under three names:

• AfricanCoffee.chOrigin-named coffees, each bag named after where it grew.
• Yedu.CoffeeCraft-focused roasts.
• Zimkaffee.comGreen beans for other roasters.

Three brands, two countries, several currencies, stock moving from farm to roaster to customer. With the chickens, a business this size would have swallowed every dollar without a trace. It works only because of double entry bookkeeping: every franc and every dollar is booked twice, once where it comes from and once where it goes. For the first time, the business grows and the money stays visible.

Why MyBooks.Africa exists

I built MyBooks.Africa so other African entrepreneurs do not have to learn this the way I did. Quotes, deliveries, invoices, bank, cash and VAT in one place, with real double entry books underneath. So you know at any moment where your money is, and where it went.

Why it is free

Right now MyBooks.Africa is free for every company we approve. We are building an opt-in Business Directory, where African businesses that choose to be listed can find each other and trade with confidence. A directory like that is only useful when many businesses are in it, so for now we do not charge. Use the books, the invoicing, the banking and everything else, and help us build it.

And I know how tough running a business is. Every dollar you do not spend on software is a dollar for stock, for salaries, or for the next opportunity.

Free does not mean your data pays for it. We do not sell data, and we never will. If we ever introduce a price, every company will be told well in advance, and nothing will be charged without your agreement. The one exception to "nobody pays us" is your choice: if you apply for financing through us and a partner lender finances you, that lender may pay us a referral fee. Your data is never the product.

Your books stay yours

• PrivateOnly the people you invite see your books. Our own team cannot open them, and we can never sign in as you. What we can and cannot see.
• ProtectedEverything travels encrypted, there are no passwords to steal, and the identity documents you give us are locked in a vault that not even our servers can open.
• PortableSometimes we are not the best solution for everyone, and that is fine. Download all your data with one click, any time, in files any accountant or system can read. If you leave, we delete everything on request.

Do yourself a favour and learn from what I learnt. Don't reinvent the wheel. Build on where I left off.

Tawanda