By Margaret Kamba
There's something about Summit Guesthouse, that one does not seem to find anywhere else in Beitbridge.
The Beitbridge's gem has been providing a home away from home for numerous clients who often prefer to postpone their trip if it's 20 rooms are unavailable.
The ambience that accompanies the themes in each room makes the clients feel loved and special.
The family business owned by Tichaona and Lillian Mushipe along with their children Tendai, Tinashe and Tinevimbonashe happens to be the only United Nations accredited accommodation facility in this area and for a reason.
A chat with the two revealed that much thought was put into it as the former agronomist and Primary School teacher followed through on their policies and principles.
"We have a policy of not suppressing each other's ideas and so this is how Summit Guesthouse was born. It was my wife's idea and despite resisting it for six years I had to give in because she reminded me of this policy," Cde Mushipe said.
"As an agronomist I wanted to venture into grain milling taking a leaf from my sister and brother in law. At first, I resisted because I felt that the business needed more money which we didn't have especially since our last born was abroad schooling. My wife never gave up on her idea and reminded me of our policy. The monthly rentals on the property wasn't giving us much money as compared to the repairs that had to be done and the bills being paid. We therefore gave a three months notice to the tenants. During those three months they were only meant to pay the electricity and water bills because we wanted to motivate them to leave and they did."
The renovations on the house brought in a few tensions as the cycad tree which the wife loved could have brought the project to a halt.
"I had to convince her that I would uproot the tree along with its roots all intact and replant it so that we could build a room on the ground it was originally on. None of the financial resources spent on the renovations were borrowed as we had to sell all the excess assets we thought were of value. We sold all the four cars we had and started walking. The renovations took us three years."
In a world where the trends are ever changing, the Mushipes disclosed that if I had to come back in August, I would never find the place as I had left it.
In my mind, I am thinking wow, how innovative and trendsetting this is. I probe the two sitting love birds (they are childhood sweethearts) sitting across me on this.
"Beitbridge is unique. We have lots of travellers. Since the First Lady, Her Excellency Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa's Cookout programme, we have always had clients. The clients will literally ask for specific rooms or postpone their trip."
The Mushipes explained that the naming process to give birth to the names "Monarch, King, Queen, Presidential, Ministerial, CEO. Secretariat must match the status one has in life."
Because the referral bookings are too high, Summit Guesthouse will soon be opening a subsidiary to cater for the high demand for its unique services.
"We will have 15 more rooms because we also want to share our growth with the clients who have made us reach where we are. We are more interested in relationships than money."
The two will stop at nothing to provide a good experience for their clients.
"People are innovating and we must move with the times. A repeat client is very important and referrals are the cheapest form of marketing," they said.
"We are in a bit to have our children take over the business. We give them proceeds from some of the rooms so that they the importance of the cow that gives us the milk. We train our workers as well and pay them well because underpaying them is a loss. They are major stakeholders in our business and treating them well will make them fight for the business."
Summit Guesthouse currently has 21 employees. It's clients are both local and international.