An unmistakable mark of a true entrepreneur is someone who moves to a quiet coastal town for a “slower pace of life” and soon finds himself developing a 100-flat apartment block and an estate with 50 houses.
The remarkable thing is that it truly is a slower pace for Eric Schultz, who built up a sizable civil engineering business in KwaZulu-Natal over 20 years before moving to Langebaan in the Western Cape’s west coast with his family. Eric says his pace back in KwaZulu-Natal was really frenetic, working on six or seven sites at any one time as a civils contractor for the construction giants such as Grinaker-LTA.
He finished school at the age of 17 and immediately started his apprenticeship as a civil engineer. Within a few years on the job he had risen to the position of project manager and started contemplating the idea of starting his own company.
When he won his first contract in his mid-20s, he resigned and never looked back. Eric says he built his business on a few core principles and good habits – deploying good teams and leaders on site, delegating, “and making sure you show your face on every site at least once a day”.
A major breakthrough came when he secured a contract with the construction giant Grinaker-LTA, which led to a steady stream of additional contracts. In the beginning Eric rented all of his machinery, but after winning a significant earth-moving project, he began purchasing his own equipment. Eric’s restless mind also kept on looking for ways to do things better and more efficiently. This drive led him to design and build a machine to fill 5-ton bags of sand efficiently, winning a series of contracts to shore up KwaZulu-Natal beaches.
Yearning for a slower pace of life, Eric decided to move with his family to the West Coast in 2018 where he planned to build “a few spec homes”, before starting a new property development company which they called Western Cape Developments Pty Ltd. He could not suppress his inner entrepreneur, though, and before long he found himself developing a 100-flat apartment complex, with one floor of retail space.
His staff complement rose to about 40 workers, apart from subcontractors. All of the flats have already been sold. Eric plans to rent out the retail space so as to build up a portfolio of what he calls passive income. With the same aim in mind, he also bought an abandoned warehouse in Langebaan which he converted into a brand-new storage facility for the town.
Eric’s current project is a 50-house estate development called the Wildflower Estate. He sought a financier to fund the purchase of the land and the development of essential infrastructure, including sewerage, roads, and landscaping. “As an entrepreneur, you need a financier who believes in your potential and takes a personal interest in you. With so many financiers, you get the sense that they just look at computer screens,” says Eric, when asked why he chose Business Partners Limited.
While Business Partners Limited’s process is thorough, says Eric, their approach was less bureaucratic than most finance institutions when he approached them to help finance the Wildflower Estate. Eric has by no means reached the end of his ventures. Langebaan, which has become an increasingly popular spot for professionals working remotely and retirees, offers what seems to be endless development opportunities.
To ordinary folk, Eric’s current pace may not seem like much of a slow-down, but he says the fact that the work happens all in one place, close to home, and only when new land becomes available, makes a big difference to his lifestyle. The most challenging aspect of property development is cashflow management and debtor defaults, says Eric. He emphasizes the importance of having a financier who in your corner and understands the unique needs of entrepreneurs.
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