BULAWAYO · SINCE 2021
Know what you are signing.
Agreements are written to be binding, not to be understood. We read them with you, say plainly what they commit you to, and help you negotiate the terms that matter — before your signature is on the page.
A business consultancy, not a law firm. The first conversation is free.
Most agreements are signed first and understood later.
The language is doing work
Indemnity, cession, penalty, personal surety, exclusivity. These are not decoration. Each one moves risk from one side of the table to the other, and the side writing the document is rarely moving it towards themselves.
The cost shows up later
The clause nobody read becomes the reason the lease cannot be exited, the supplier cannot be replaced, or a business debt follows a director home. By then the room for negotiation has closed.
Asking feels expensive
So people sign without asking, or they ask a friend. Good advice on the commercial terms of a deal should be affordable, quick, and available before the deadline — not after the dispute.
Five ways we are useful
Each piece of work is scoped and priced before it starts.
- 01 Understanding agreements You get the agreement explained in plain language, clause by clause, before you sign anything.
- 02 Negotiation support Preparation, strategy and a second head in the room, so you negotiate from a position of knowing.
- 03 Due diligence We check that the business, the partner or the asset is what it is said to be, before your money moves.
- 04 Business consultancy Practical work on the commercial side of the business: structure, process, pricing and growth decisions.
- 05 Compliance Knowing which obligations apply to your business, and keeping them met rather than discovered.
- ? Not sure which you need Describe the situation in a sentence. We will tell you which of these fits, or whether it belongs with someone else.
Three steps, no surprises on the invoice
- 01
A first conversation
You tell us what you are facing. We tell you honestly whether this is work we can help with, whether it needs a registered legal practitioner instead, or whether it needs nothing at all. This conversation costs you nothing.
- 02
Scope and a fixed fee
You get a short written scope: what will be done, what you receive at the end, how long it takes, and what it costs. The fee is agreed before the work starts. No open-ended hourly billing.
- 03
The work, and a plain answer
We do the work and come back with something you can act on: a written summary, a flagged list, a report, a plan. Written so that you can read it once and know what to do.
We are not a law firm, and that is deliberate
A legal practitioner argues your case, gives legal opinions and prepares the documents only a practitioner may prepare. That work is theirs, and when your matter needs it we will tell you so and point you to someone registered to do it.
Our work sits before that point, on the commercial side of the deal: what the agreement actually obliges you to do, whether the numbers are sound, whether the other side is who they say they are, and what you should be asking for. Most commercial problems are decided there, long before anyone reaches a courtroom.
We do
- Explain an agreement in plain language
- Set out your obligations, costs and deadlines in writing
- Prepare and support you through a negotiation
- Check that a business, person or asset is what it claims
- Map the compliance obligations that apply to you
- Advise on commercial structure, pricing and process
We do not
- Give legal advice or legal opinions
- Represent you in court or before a tribunal
- Prepare documents reserved for legal practitioners
- Hold client funds
- Act as your legal practitioner in any matter
Sindiso Mazibisa
Mazibisa Consulting was founded in 2021 on a simple observation: the people who most need an agreement explained to them are the least likely to be able to afford to ask.
The practice was built around closing that gap — giving owners, managers and individuals the same grasp of their own commercial position that the party across the table already has.
Written to be used
Practical notes on the agreements, checks and decisions that come up most often.
When you need a consultant and when you need a legal practitioner
The two roles are often confused, so people pay for the wrong one or go without either. Here is the practical line between them, and how to tell which you need.
What due diligence actually checks before you buy a business
Due diligence is not an audit and it is not a formality. It is the work of confirming that what you have been told is true, before your money moves and becomes someone else's.
Six clauses to read twice before you sign a commercial lease
A commercial lease is usually the largest fixed commitment a small business makes. These are the clauses that decide what it really costs and how hard it is to leave.
Before you sign it, understand it.
The first conversation costs nothing. Tell us what you are facing and we will tell you plainly whether this is work we can help with.