Springing Surprises

source Some of our new clients need an increased hygenic standard or a food compliance certification which we have to adhere to. We will adhere to these standards and obtain the certification if absolutely necessary. The certificate is very expensive and know only of one other company that has this currently. If that is what it takes then so be it.

This morning I had a long chat with my business partner as he has been rather evasive this week. He has been busy building an extension to the factory increasing our capacity by another 30 percent or so. Last year we purchased more machinery and didn't really have the space to house it so we knew we either had to find somewhere else or add an extension. I had no idea that he managed to get the extension built over the last 3 weeks and this is an added bonus. A nice surprise as we are ahead of schedule.

I am happy with the outcome and will post photographs when they come through after it is 100 percent completed. What he has done is moved his office closer to the extruders so he can be more hands on. There is nothing worse than not being in control all the time and now he can be closer to the action monitoring the quality of our product and the volume. New flooring has been laid for the hygienic side of things along with increased sanitising stations. The food industry is the essential part of the businesses that have remained open throughout the lock down and why we are now targeting them with everything we have.

I have always stated that the time to grow is when everyone is doing the opposite. Obviously finances play an important role and only can be done if you are strong enough to absorb the costs. The timing is perfect right now as many competitors are struggling so coming out ahead of them is critical. Sometimes even remaining stationery is enough to move forward as you don't realise how many others have suffered.

SASOL who is our chemical supplier for the raw materials has a policy of supplying the exact amount you require when there are shortages and no more. For us to never worry we have to grow our customer base so our quota can be manipulated upwards and not the other way. This will impact our competitors negatively which is the plan as there will be less for them. There are not that many manufacturers of our product in the country and taking market share away from them is always the plan.

Being a smaller player compared to some of our competitors gives us an edge that they cannot match. Our overheads are so small and most things are hands on. If mistakes are made it is either by one of us as there are so few people onboard. I am not at the factory as it is 500 km away in Natal so I have daily chats with my partner and why it was weird not chatting to him over the last few days.

I spoke a few weeks ago about making our online presence stronger and we have been working on something that should be better for the company overall. There is a closed website open to members only which has a membership of 97 000 businesses. I have known about it for about a year and now we are moving forward with them. All we are after is 1% and that would equate to about 200 companies that are listed in our target category. That would roughly double our client base right now which was a 3 year plan originally set out last year.

Like everything you do you have to have targets in place knowing how you are tracking with the knowledge you are succeeding. Over the last 5 months of lock down we have grown but ever so slightly.The fact is we are far stronger now than we were which is a good sign for the next 5 years. Not many companies can say that these days as they lick their wounds from 5 months of chaos.