Last week, we introduced you to 115 Electrical, a successful early-stage business that took part in the second phase of our Entrepreneur Internship Programme. With 21 entrepreneurs having graduated from the programme, we have no shortage of success stories to share.
Here’s another inspiring story that shows how a little out-of-the-box thinking and entrepreneurial drive can go a long way.
Headed up by Jan Vreken and located in City Deep, Johannesburg, Kimmo is a leading manufacturer of rigid honeycomb cardboard and laminated paper products. This honeycomb technology is an extremely strong yet lightweight packaging material that is an innovative and cost-effective alternative to wooden pallets and crates.
Before Jan joined the EIP, his business employed seven people and manufactured its product in a 500m2 mini-unit factory. After graduating from the programme and having taken his business on an incredible journey of growth, Kimmo now manufactures its products in a 4500m2 factory with 35 staff.
Jan says that the programme taught him the important role that systems and processes play in running a profitable business. “We learned to formalise and systematise ways of doing things, which had previously been an ad-hoc for us. This helped us free up time enabling us to delegate to others and put repeatable processes and systems into place.”
When Jan decided to take the leap into starting his business years ago, he says he will never forget about that one loyal petrol attendant at his local garage who asked him for a job. It turns out that was this individual’s lucky day. Eight years later and that man is now a qualified and self-sufficient forklift driver in Kimmo’s manufacturing plant, demonstrating the power of entrepreneurship.
Our EIP programme was a collaboration between our enterprise development initiative, Zimele, and Aurik Enterprise and Supplier Development. Learn more about our work in enterprise development and how we inspire entrepreneurs to help move South Africa forward.