#WIB-Q&A With Portio Dlamini Owner Of Emakheni
1. Can you please tell us more about your business?
A. Emakheni is a level 1 BEE, 100 % female-owned company. Our focus as a business is mainly on the Industrial & Commercial sectors, where we offer the following Services:
✓ Factory & Office Cleaning, ✓ Hygiene ✓ Specialized Cleaning (high level & High pressure), and ✓ Garden Maintenance.
One of our main focus as a business is to improve Performance and Productivity of General workers and Cleaners through a culture of Empowerment. It is also to build a business that is highly focused on Safety & Quality by transferring the skills and tools learnt in the Manufacturing sector, thus bringing quality service to our clients, a business that is able to service its clients effectively.
2. When, how, and why did you start your business?
A. I started Emakheni in 2013 (7 years ago) after I had been working in the Manufacturing Industry for about 10 years. Throughout my engineering career, I felt that I should have chosen a career/field where I am making a difference in people’s lives. It was after being exposed to Cleaning Contractors and Cleaners while working in factories, where I realised my passion for Empowerment.
I therefore decided to start a Cleaning and Hygiene company that will empower cleaners beyond the Cleaning Industry so that they do not spend the rest of their lives as cleaners (See video interview on our website for more details on this, under the Founder – www.emakheni.co.za)
3. What is your role in the business?
A. I am the Managing Director in the business, where I oversee all the functions in the business.
4. Where did you study and what did you study?
A. I am a Chemical Process Engineer by profession. I first did a Diploma in Chemical Engineering and then a BTech in Chemical Engineering from the Durban University of Technology. I also did Business Management at Unisa. I then worked for different companies including Sappi, Sasol & Unilever in different positions before going into business full time.
The Entrepreneurship programs that have helped me immensely in igniting the entrepreneurial spirit within me and in setting up a proper business infrastructure include Raizcorp ESD Programme and Sekela ESD Program. These were sponsored by Engen & SA Homeloans respectively.
5. How did you finance your business?
A. The first 3 years were immensely hard, but we started doing smaller projects and used Credit facilities (bank overdraft) in order to survive. But as we grew and needed to handle bigger projects, we negotiated with our Clients to pay us upfront so that we could do the work. This really has worked to our advantage thus enabling us to reduce the amount of debt owed to banks.
We have recently received interest free loans from the Enterprise and Supplier Development programmes that I am part of (from SA Homeloans and from the Durban Chemical Cluster -sponsored by the Ferro Group).
6. Describe your average workday, if such a thing exists.
A. A typical day starts at 08h30, after a bit of morning exercise. And my day includes emails, meetings, and site visits to clients and factories. It ends around 16h00. Evenings are reserved for reading, writing Key Reports and Proposals, or work that requires one to think without being disturbed.
7. How do you balance your home life and your work life?
A. This is a difficult one, that I am still trying to master. I am learning to delegate effectively so that I can make time for family and exercise. Balancing my lifestyle is still one of my KEY goals this year.
8. What drives you and inspires you?
A. I am inspired mainly by the desire to succeed, to learn new things, to do more, and be more. What drives me is the strong desire to make a difference in people’s lives. I am strongly driven by the desire to empower and change people’s lives. And for one to be able to do that, they need to have resources, in this case, a profitable and sustainable business so that these resources can be used to create job opportunities and for other worthy causes. I also like living a life that is better than that of my parents or forefathers, and this can only be achieved if one is financially stable.
9. Where and when do you have your best ideas?
A. I have the best ideas in the morning when my head is clear and at peace. I also get a lot of ideas when I’m in touch with nature and in serene environments e. g parks and a calm sea.
10. Where and how do you market/advertise your business for sales leads?
A. We get most of our business through Referrals. But lately, we have updated our website and social media content. People can find us on www.emakheni.co.za. I am also on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.
11. What is next for your business?
A.The plan is to grow the business throughout KwaZulu Natal and then Nationally. We also plan to penetrate the Industrial Sector at a much higher level by creating new divisions that will focus on Waste Management & Fuel Transportation.
12. What advice would you give to female entrepreneurs hoping to start their own business?
A. Know Who You Are and what you really want to achieve in life. Start a business not because you just want to have a lot of money but because you have a passion for something and there is something beyond money that drives you. If the drive is money only, you will be shattered when intense financial challenges occur, whereas Passion and Purpose have the ability to carry one beyond the challenges.
✓ Get Mentors and Coaches – Expose and surround yourself with people that make you dream bigger and who are doing and achieving things that you have always wanted to achieve. Surround yourself with Mentors and Coaches that will take you into your Promise land. These people are not competing with you but instead, they want to help you. Learn from them and invest in spending time with them. This will build you up and ignite a strong desire and will to succeed. It will also help in building a strong character that refuses to give up regardless of the challenges.
✓ Acquire Business Skills & Build Strong Teams – This is critical in making sure that your business is built on solid ground and is sustainable. Learning is continuous and therefore one should be continually learning and imbibing new skills when it comes to different parts of their business. This includes the implementation of systems and building strong teams that will take the business to the next level.
✓ Remain Humble & Approachable – Remain humble and approachable because this is a long journey. Destiny is not fulfilled in one day, just like Rome was not built in one day. You will always need people in order to build a business or to fulfill a Vision/Purpose. No matter how much success you achieve, always make time to lift the down and out and to remain relevant at all levels. As my life coach, Dr. Basil Tryon puts it: “Teamwork makes the Dreamwork”.
- Video link on interview – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=118X0KjyM0g