This is Plus 94 – The 20-year journey
In 1998 Plus 94 Research entered the competitive market research industry, with just experience and a vision to contribute towards the provision of dynamic, intellectual and authentic research and a desire to prove that after 1994 black South Africans could build legendary businesses that could drive economic growth and contribute towards the promise of President Nelson Mandela’s vision for a rainbow nation.
The founding members, Sifiso Falala and Tirhani Mabunda, had a vision to do market research that would deliver intelligent research solutions to inform decision making at all levels of business in both the private and public sector. The business launched with an international affiliation to Louis Harris and Associates of the United States, a partnership that sustained until 2014.
Over the past 20 years a lot has changed in the business, from a fledgling new entrant with six staff members to now employing over 120 full-time research professionals and has 400 full-time interviewers and supervisors, as well as a reservoir of 3 000 interviewers on call nationally.
Both founding members acknowledge that the 20-year journey has not been easy and there has been no margin for error. The passion of the founding members has driven Plus 94 to excel. Started with a bank overdraft of R150 000 in 1998, today the business is one of the largest South African-owned market research companies.
Plus 94 has established itself as a reputable market research contributor and has become a key player in the delivery of quality market research solutions to local, regional and international clients.
According to Plus 94, a lot of the growth that the company has experienced has been a result of the management’s belief in purposefulness, a concept that underpins the Plus 94 culture – the business is guided by an unshaken principle to do certain things in a certain way for a specific purpose. Clients are seen as partners. Key to the business growth has been the company’s ability to continue innovating in terms of research design, research implementation, analysis, innovation and ability to take a different lens in looking at each individual client.
The culture of the company is to create jobs and career opportunities through excellence and to create opportunities for individuals and business entities to make a difference.
Looking ahead
The company’s vision is to remain uncompromising in its approach to the verification and validation of research methods and processes. Plus 94 seeks to also continue in the deployment of the best available human and technical resources needed to resolve research problems and to play a part towards creating career opportunities to grow the economy and to play a part towards addressing some of the country’s socio-economic challenges of poverty and unemployment.
From now going into the future Plus 94 Research is moving from actionable to indispensable, and to data that is adaptable for use in real time. According to Plus 94, Research now needs to be in real time and must be integrated into every functionality of life to inform decision making and provide consumers with a voice to provide intelligent insights for shaping market trends.