#WIB-Q&A With Vanessa Marques Owner of The Green Board

1: Can you please tell us more about your business?

A. I never dreamed I would own a business of my own. It actually never crossed my mind, even as a child.
Fate and life had other plans for me. I matriculated in 1994 from Mondeor High School and studied
Public Relations for a year not sure where I wanted to be. Once I graduated, I was lucky enough to find a
job at the JSE as a Junior Secretary. Call me crazy, however, that was my biggest fear as a job being a PA.
I quickly ensured that I went to my boss and took jobs from everyone in the division learning as much as
possible.

I was promoted in 2 months to Secretary and in a year, I became the youngest person at the
JSE to work for the Listings Division as a Continuing Obligations Officer. I spent 7 years at the JSE and
loved every minute of it. I then got married and my mom needed help with my grandparents in Portugal
as they both were sick. I resigned and we moved to Portugal. Unfortunately, my grandparents passed
quickly and I spent a year in Portugal. I decided to move back to South Africa and arrived with only one
bag to my name. I proceeded to get divorced as my ex-husband continued to live in Portugal. Work was
difficult to find as the market had hit a recession. I temped at Rennies Travel and Rennies Bank and saw
a position advertised as an Assistant Company Secretary. This job caught my attention as not many
people understand the role of a Company Secretary (it is not a PA position). It is a legal position where the Company Secretary provides legal advice to Board Members amongst other things.

It is a very senior position in a Company. At the JSE I used to check on the listed companies complying with
these areas and this caught my attention as I would work from the opposite side of the fence. Corporate
Governance is vital in ensuring that Companies stay within the parameters of the rules. I then paid for my
own studies through Intec to obtain my qualification. Not earning a lot, I could only use past papers
instead of buying textbooks to study. Being a single mom of 2 babies was not easy at the time. I applied for a temporary position at Tiger Brands and made the top 2.

The Company Secretary at the time called me in and said he had given the position to a law graduate however he would like me to temp for a month. I left a stable job for a one-month position, this turned into an 8-month contract. I then was lucky enough to join Bidvest for a 6-month temping position as well as African Bank and Sun International. I then applied for a position at the SABC and was employed as a Meeting Administrator and we ran all the Board meetings for the SABC.

I loved my time there and learned a lot from a Government perspective. After 2 years I was headhunted by Computershare to start a division offering Company Secretarial services to our clients. This included, listed, non-listed, NGO, etc. This is where I learned that I had sales skills I never dreamed of. Bear in mind I never stopped studying any course I could get my hands on that was affordable. I then left Computershare after 4 years to start my own business and develop a paperless meeting and governance solution.

2: When, how and why did you start your business?

A. After leaving Computershare at the end of July 2012, I started my own business with a laptop,
secondhand desk, recorder, and a leased copier from home. I never poached clients that I worked with
as I believe in integrity. I then contacted programmers and got to building my system. The Company
Secretarial work was my bread and butter so to speak and my moneymaker was the system. I managed
to find new clients and the system took me at least 8 months to build with India. It was a very difficult,
trying time but we got there. My aim was to build something that did not exist. I used South African law
and knew exactly what would benefit the clients having worked in the environment for so long. I also
partnered with the Grow-A-Tree initiative to plant trees for clients who use our product which gives
back to the community.

3: What is your role in the business?

A. Chief cook and bottle washer. I do everything from invoicing to marketing to all of the work. I was
never able to employ people as being self-employed you never know what type of month you will have
and if you can afford employees.

4: Where did you study and what did you study?

A. I have studied almost everything. After school as previously mentioned, I did my PRISA (Public Relations Diploma). At the JSE I studied for my trader’s exam and SAIFM exams (Registered Persons). I studied CIS and any other course you can think of, they are listed on my CV.

5: How did you finance your business?

A. This was the toughest challenge and still is. There are no institutes that help small businesses. The banks will only help if you are employed and I think South Africa really needs to look into this as this is what stops most entrepreneurs from succeeding. I eventually had to resort to loaning from family and trying to get any loan I could. It was really tough.

6: Describe your average workday, if such a thing exists?

A. When I first started, I worked no less than 20-hour days. This proceeded for the next 5 years. I know
have learned that balance is important and unless there are jobs that require unforeseen hours, a line
has to be drawn. I used to wake up early, get the kids to school and start the day. It was a tough change
as I am a people’s person and it was difficult not having anyone to talk to. I then would call clients,
market and spent the balance building my system. Bedtime was mostly 2am and back up at 5am.

7: How do you balance your home life and your work life?

A. As mentioned previously this is something you have to learn. However, when you run your own
business you have to put in the hours in order to build a name and reputation. Once you have reached a
certain status you can then lean back a little and learn to cut off on a Friday and resume on a Monday,
again, this is not always the case as certain jobs do require you to work weekends, etc.

8: What drives you and inspires you?

A. I never wanted to be ordinary. At school, I was always average but never gave up, if I had something in
my mind, I would get it no matter what. I love helping people, training people, and just turning the world
into a better place. I also wanted my children to see that you have to work hard to achieve your
dreams. I have always had ADHD and absolutely know it’s has made me the person I am today, able to
juggle and work really hard.

9: Where and when do you have your best ideas?

A. Most definitely late at night.

10: Where and how do you market/advertise your business for sales leads?

A. Initially, it was word of mouth, internet searches, and cold calling. I then managed to get a free ad in the
People Magazine made the cover of Get It Magazine and advertised in the Khulula flight magazine and
the Boardroom. I was also published in the Lexis Nexis 3rd Edition for Corporate Governance in South
Africa which was a huge achievement.

11: What is next for your business?

A. The initial 5-year plan was to move into Africa and that is still on the cards. I found an investor and we
rebuilt the product to include every feature it was missing and added more. I am confident I have one of
the best products which competes against the world and the price of the Rand.

12: What advice would you give to female entrepreneurs hoping to start their own business?

A. Don’t ever doubt yourself, start small, but start. If you want something bad enough you can obtain it.
There are a lot of speed bumps and “school fees” but you learn and preserve. The only way to learn is
to make mistakes. Go for your dreams.

Short Bio

Vanessa is the founding member and driving force behind The
Green Board. She created the company in 2007 to fill a need in
the corporate environment to move towards a more sustainable
and eco-friendly way to comply with integrated secretarial and
board meeting requirements. Vanessa has a wealth of experience
within the company secretarial field that she gained through
working with a wide variety of entities including the Johannesburg
Stock Exchange (‘JSE’), Computershare, as well as a host of listed,
unlisted and government organisations.
She has pioneered the development of the DigiMeet software
which not only supports paperless meetings but also provides the
required reporting for Integrated Annual Reporting.

Contact information:

vanessa@thegreenboard.co.za
0725535910

Website: www.thegreenboard.coza

Social media links:

Facebook: @TheGreenBoard
Twitter: @TheGreenBoard
LinkedIn: Vanessa Marques