Entrepreneur Beverly Gumbi said she has been able to play in the male-dominated industry of container refurbishment thanks to the drive instilled in her by her parents.
Born to a nurse and an insurance company regional manager, she said they gave her the edge to be a woman who is both solution-driven and passionate. This, she said, ensured her longevity of 13 years in her industry.
She started Isivuno Containers in 2005 and has never looked back.
“What we do is we buy these containers from different shipping lines and then our clients enquire about different specifications of containers and then we tailor-make our containers according to our clients’ needs,” she said.
Gumbi had hoped to be a dietitian but she went the direction of teaching. It’s only when the contract ended that she went to a marketing company that gave her the wings to fly.
“My contract in teaching had expired so I got a job with a telecommunications company which was also doing containers. It was there that I realised I had a passion for container conversion.”
During her marketing visits and call-outs she met a man who was impressed with her marketing pitch. The man suggested that she start something of her own and advised her that one of the development banks was helping with start-up loans. Gumbi then took up a loan at a development bank and the ship has been sailing ever since.
“I started the business when I was in Tongaat, where we set up. We put up the office and we leased a piece of land which was about 4000m². We put up a container office and bought up a few containers as our start-up stock. Then we employed qualified artisans that we sought from other container companies so as not to start afresh by training them and replicating the process and wasting a lot of time,” she said.
“Our very first impressive contract was from Hlabisa Municipality to supply 15 containers which were going to be used as business units. Some were tuck shops, toilets and storage units for street hawkers. That was one of our biggest contracts when we started in 2005. After that I did not look back. I realised that this was something to pursue and something that was really in demand in the market.”
Gumbi is a finalist in the 2018 Entrepreneur of the Year competition sponsored by Sanlam. Now in its 30th year, the competition is aimed at honouring and uplifting SMMEs. Isivuno has won several awards including the regional award in the 2007 SAB Kickstart Business Competition, the national award in the 2008 SAB Kickstart Business Competition and the regional Business Achievers Award from the Businesswomen’s Association of South Africa in 2012.
It’s instances such as providing shelter for the destitute who have lost their homes in natural disasters or providing toilets after incidents of pit toilet deaths that make Gumbi reflect on her chosen path.
“It’s so humbling, I think I did reflect this time around after entering this very competition. I have been recognised in the past by different organisations but this time around somehow it hit me hard. I don’t know whether it’s my level of maturity or what, but this time I did take some time to meditate about how much impact one has had on the South African economy.
“I think my biggest commitment has been making sure that we meet all our target markets, I maintain and retain all my staff and all my clients are satisfied. Sometimes I forget to sit down and review and see how much one has impacted and contributed to the holistic economy of the country and the lives of others as well. All you worry about is God let me do this well and properly and make sure that I meet my deadlines and it’s done to the standard that my clients require.”