Curiosity

Makes this business owner no “roll-over” CURIOSITY TENACITY &

A willingness to break stereotypes and relentless curiosity are a couple of the key attributes that help to make a business owner successful. This is according to Arnold February, Regional Investment Manager at Business Partners Limited (BUSINESS/PARTNERS) – one of Africa’s leading business loan and equity providers and 2019 Gold winner: SME bank of the year (Africa) – who points to their client, Christine Geldart, as a great example of this.

“A s the owner of Marven Equipment – a manufacturer of vehicle equipment, accessories, and apparatus – Geldart has held her own in a male-dominated industry, having grown her company to one of South Africa’s top metal vehicle equipment manufacturers. This is mostly due to her insatiable curiosity about science, the world, and how things work; coupled with a restless energy which she claims to have inherited from her father,” says February.

Today, the 52-year-old business owner runs a 2 100 square metre factory in Benoni, which employs 46 workers and boasts state-of-the-art metal vehicle equipment. Geldart studied IT at the then Wits Tech and went on to work in the corporate world as a data capturer. She gained experience working at the likes of Toyota SA and Ford, leading many IT teams and specialising in enterprise resource planning and material requirement planning applications – a skill which later proved useful for her own company.

It was due to her in-born restlessness that Geldart decided to join her husband’s factory making catering equipment in 2004. “I jumped at the opportunity to do my own thing, and I found the freedom of entrepreneurship exhilarating,” she recalls. Soon, Geldart was running her own bakkie canopy-making business to complement her husband’s business, starting with just one employee and some rudimentary welding and grinding equipment.

Learning everything she could about metal manufacturing materials and techniques, it wasn’t long before Geldart started innovating - introducing square canopy designs which proved much stronger than the rounded canopies that were on the market at the time. She targeted large corporate fleet managers and soon they were building work stations and specialised canopies for fleets of bakkies. Christine Geldart, Owner,

A further opportunity presented itself in 2007, when a Marven Equipment new law required mine vehicles to install protective roll bars and reinforcement against falling objects. Fending off a major international competitor who was ready to sell their existing systems to the local mines, Geldart built no fewer than nine prototypes before building a stronger, more light-weight product: the Ndlovu range.

“One of the highlights of my career was when I presented my rollover protection structures to the board of BHP Billiton – as one of only three women in a hair-raising meeting of more than 40 men - and came out on top,” she says. By 2010, all the big mining companies had approved Marven Equipment’s new Ndlovu design, and the orders came streaming in.

However, double tragedy struck when Geldart was diagnosed with cancer in 2013, and a SARS audit on her business just a year later resulted in a large tax bill. While other business owners may have been discouraged, Geldart endured. Having no luck with the banks, she decided to approach Business Partners Limited (BUSINESS/PARTNERS) to assist with financing the tax shortfall; which they agreed to.

“What is great about BUSINESS/PARTNERS is their mentorship. They don’t just support you financially and leave you alone, but they are not in your face all the time either,” says Geldart, who is also making use of BUSINESS/PARTNERS’ Technical Assistance facility the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), where the company links business owners with expert consultants to help diagnose their business challenge and provide customised solutions. Geldart is using the facility to gain ISO accreditation for Marven Equipment.

Ever the tenacious business owner, Geldart’s current goals for the company are to build specialised bodies for working vehicles and to convince the minibus taxi industry to adopt the Ndlovu design, which could potentially save many lives. Even as she spends some time away from her business in order to regain her health, Geldart’s strong team - which includes her daughter – continues to manage the business and keep things moving forward.

NQ JEWELLERY’S Jewellery’s new factory opening

Soweto-born jewellery designer and manufacturer and Tsogo Sun Entrepreneur alumnus, Nqobile Nkosi, opened a new NQ Jewellery factory at the Rand Refinery Estate in Germiston during December, representing successful business growth from a humble start in his first 3m X 3m ‘factory’ built of tin in Soweto in 2007.

In 2009 NQ Jewellery won a community award that enabled him to build a four-room facility in Soweto, which has been the company’s home until this move to Rand Refinery.

NQ Jewellery’s new Rand Refinery 200-square-metre premises employs eight people, as well as interns from universities and FET colleges. The company designs and produces custom-made, high-end jewellery that retails at various outlets around the country, including Bryanston Organic Market, Tourvest retail outlets at airports, and at Shishangeni Lodge on Kruger National Park’s border.

At the opening, Nkosi said opportunities opened for his business when he was crowned Tsogo Sun Entrepreneur of the Year in 2016. “Through the Tsogo Sun Entrepreneur platform, we launched our first corporate division, designing, manufacturing and supplying high quality items such as key rings, cuff links, jacket pins and trophies. This led to our incorporation into the Rand Refinery Supplier Development programme.”

Nkosi also gives credit for his business success to his partner, Jerry Nkeli, the first black paraplegic person to qualify as an attorney, the founder of Jerry Nkeli & Associates law firm, who invested in NQ Jewellery and is chairman of the company. NQ Jewellery maintains a strong local focus, using only local raw material, which include silver, gold, platinum, coloured gemstones and diamonds, and employing local artisans and designers. Nkosi notes that this is significant as up to 80% of jewellery sold in South Africa is imported.

Nqobile Nkosi, NQ Jewellery

NQ Jewellery’s services include designing and manufacturing corporate gifts according to specifications; laser engraving; silver and gold jewellery design and manufacture with gemstones and diamonds, including wedding and engagement rings; and jewellery repairs and polishing. Products include a full range of jewellery, money clips, corporate badges, sports medals, and more.

At the opening, Nkosi thanked individuals and organisations that have contributed to the NQ Jewellery journey, including Mr and Mrs Nkeli, Tsogo Sun Entrepreneurs, and Rand Refinery. “This educational journey has enabled me to understand the two different worlds of art and business, and how they can work together. It will always be an important lesson in my life – and one I will continue to learn.”