People and Events

Determined KZN entrepreneur created cleaning business with only R800

Spotting opportunities is an essential skill for entrepreneurs to survive and thrive, especially in rough market conditions, according to Thokozani Potgieter, owner of KwaZulu-Natalbased professional cleaning company ClearView SA.

The first time Potgieter honed this particular skill was during the worst days of South Africa’s drought – not a great time to be the owner of a water-consuming cleaning business specialising in windows, cladding and signs for commercial buildings and residences.

“At the time, I had contracts to clean the windows for car dealerships like Audi and VW. It made me very aware of how often they need to wash the cars and how much water this process uses – at least 25 to 30 litres per vehicle,” explains Potgieter. “So, I put together a proposal to wash their cars using a high-pressure steam cleaner that only used about four litres of water to wash a large SUV. My clients were very impressed with the substantial water savings.”

Not long after his car-steam-cleaning brainwave, Potgieter and his team were cleaning bird droppings off the windows and signage at a private hospital when another idea hit home: why not use steam cleaning at medical facilities, crèches and other public spaces to kill germs, bacteria and viruses with heat.

“I realised we could use highpressure steam cleaning applications inside doctors’ rooms, baby cubicles, and waiting areas with furniture. It would allow us to deep clean in hard-to-reach areas without any harsh chemicals that could cause breathing problems for patients,” Potgieter recalls of his strategy to expand his business to offer these services.

It’s this same problem-solving spirit that induced Potgieter to kick-start his business with just R800 in 2014, after returning from a two-year workingholiday stint in the United Kingdom. During his time working as a window cleaner in Manchester and Warrington, he saved about R150 000 with the dream of buying property or investing in business. But he promptly lost this start-up capital to scammers who promised quick returns in a pyramid scheme.

Distraught but undeterred, Potgieter secured a R800 loan from his sister to buy a telescopic pole and rented a ladder for his first commercial windowcleaning project at the Newcastle Corner Mall.

From there, he leveraged all he had including selling the phones and laptops he’d acquired in the UK, as well as all his household furniture – to buy and rent the equipment he needed to get his ClearView SA professional cleaning business off the ground.

But there were still days he had to eat expired food from the bin outside his local grocery store just to make ends meet, he recalls. “I didn’t even have R2.50 to buy a vetkoek. I ate from the bin, I slept, and I walked 10 km with my ladder to complete my job the next day. I didn’t want to cancel on my client.”

Thokozani Potgieter

Like all small-business owners, Potgieter is having to make some hard choices to get through the COVID-19 lockdown, but he figures his tumultuous journey so far has prepared him to find ways to innovate and strive for excellence during this unexpected crisis: “It’s tough, but I’m using this lockdown time to strategise, plan and work on my marketing and to see how I can recoup my losses when South Africa opens for business again.”

One of his immediate goals is to expand into industrial environments and also to train his team in the use of ropedescent systems so they can tackle up to 50-storey high-rise buildings for cleaning.

Potgieter has one more even loftier goal: “My dream is to one day compete in the annual Window Cleaning World Cup. Last year’s winner from the USA cleaned three office-style windows in just 17.02 seconds. I want to beat that record,” says Potgieter.

Visit the ClearView SA website at: www.clearviewsa.co.za

New location and dates for ISSA Show in US

Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic the ISSA North America show, previously scheduled for 26–29 October in Chicago, will now take place from 16–19 November at the Mandalay Bay Convention Centre in Las Vegas. The new location will allow for a more manageable footprint with enhanced safety protocols according to the ISSA.

For more information on the relocation of ISSA Show North America 2020 visit: www.issa.com