It is often said that many thriving businesses can trace their origins back to a time of upheaval, and that recessions and other economic crises, for all their hardship and disruptions, are also times of great renewal. Bongani Ngulele is living proof that the same can be said for the global Covid-19 pandemic of 2020.
The name of his freight-forwarding and logistics company, 2020 Logistics, proudly proclaims its origins in the crucible of the Covid-19 epidemic, which shook the global economy and disrupted lives. Bongani was a mid-career logistics manager at one of the big South African freight-forwarding corporates when his job, along with those of millions of others, suddenly became precarious as international trade shut down and supply chains broke in the first few months of 2020.
Rumours of restructuring and retrenchments were flying about the company where he worked, which he found very unsettling. He remembers clearly one morning in July of that year when he woke up and just decided to start his own business. His decision was less impulsive than it sounds. Ever since he started his career in logistics just after school in 2005, he knew that he would one day own his own logistics company, but he just did not know when.
Bongani was born in the late eighties in Tembisa in the East Rand, Gauteng. There was no money for tertiary studies, so he took up a learnership in logistics at a large South African trade logistics firm. He steadily worked his way up in the industry, getting to know all aspects of air, road and sea freight, as well as the intricacies of exporting and importing processes.
Just as importantly, he built up a network of relationships all over the world. As he moved from one company to another in order to further his career, he found that certain clients would move with him because they valued his expertise and service.
This turned out to be an invaluable asset for Bongani when he stepped out to start his own business. A Canadian agency that he had worked with since the start of his career had always followed him, no matter for whom he worked. They did not hesitate to pledge their support when he informed them about starting 2020 Logistics.
A global logistics company has to operate in a vast network of companies and agencies, and it took Bongani about a year to get 2020 Logistics plugged into the global trade system with all the required affiliations and accreditations.
But Bongani says the hardest part of starting his own business was cash flow. The logistics industry generally works on a 30-day payment lag, and it takes a while for a new company such as 2020 Logistics to establish accounts at the various service providers. He had some savings to tide him over, and he soon knew that it would not be enough, especially at the rate at which his business was growing.
Bongani looked around for working capital finance at the banks but decided to take up Business Partners Limited’s offer of close to R1 million.
It has been almost five years, and 2020 Logistics already boasts turnover of R25 million a year, a team of ten employees, and an office in Cape Town and Durban, with its head office in Bedfordview, Johannesburg.
In the near future, 2020 Logistics will most likely start acquiring its own warehouses in Johannesburg and in South Africa’s port cities as volumes grow. Bongani says growth has always been incremental and steady, and shows no sign of slowing down, despite the infrastructure and management problems at Transnet and Portnet.
Given the international trade crisis out of which 2020 Logistics was forged, it seems that there are not many obstacles that this feisty company won’t be able to overcome.
About the Author: BPL Admin
