COMPLETING a project on time and within budget is a difficult achievement in the notoriously variable construction industry. Doing it 54% under budget is an astounding feat and an indicator of some serious project management skills.
The quantity surveyor contracted by Business Partners Limited, which financed the completion of the Winvest Business Park in Hartbeespoort Dam, couldn’t believe it, says Jabulani Tshabalala, the entrepreneur behind the project. Tshabalala is the owner of the WinVest Africa Group, which bought a one-hectare plot for R2,5-million in 2018, and proceeded to turn it into a fully tenanted business park worth R55-million at its latest valuation. He had used his own resources to build the first two phases of the office park and needed outside finance for the last two phases.
Even though a bank had agreed to lend him the money, Tshabalala went with the offer of a loan of R9-million from Business Partners. He liked the thoroughness with which they evaluated the project and saw in them a valuable future growth partner, especially if he could impress them with his ability to come in under budget.
Tshabalala tackled the project with very specific strategies to achieve just that. First, he took charge of the project management himself and kept the involvement of outside professionals to a minimum. Relying on his very experienced foreman allowed him to bring in a construction engineer right at the very end for sign-off only, for example.
As project manager he maintained obsessive focus on the timing of the various stages of construction so that there was never any idle labour on site. Materials were brought on site just-in-time so that it would be used on the same day, thereby avoiding the risks of pilfering.
Tshabalala kept hiring costs down by using his own plant and equipment and saved huge amounts of money by engaging in “serious negotiations” with material suppliers with whom he built solid relationships. He worked hard at cutting out middlemen and negotiating a 15% discount at a local hardware supplier.
Such project-management skills do not develop overnight, says Jabulani, who, at 44 years old, describes himself as a serial entrepreneur. Having grown up with the family lore of his grandfather, a renowned livestock farmer in KwaZulu-Natal, Tshabalala knew he wanted to become a businessperson from an early age.
Growing up among the mining towns of the present-day North West province where his father worked as an artisan, Tshabalala thrived at school and developed his leadership skills by becoming the Student Representative Council (SRC) president for his last two years at school. At the time such a position meant not only representing the student body, but actively fighting for change within the education system.
After school, Tshabalala studied mechanical engineering at a college in Pretoria and later commerce at Wits University, where he obtained a master’s degree and later an MBA. His first of many tries at building a business was supplying tools to the mining industry.
Tshabalala describes his style of entrepreneurship as “ a feat of marginal gains” – starting small, building up slowly and learning as much from his mistakes as his successes.
He also actively seeks out business opportunities in industries that have high barriers to entry, and so in 2015 managed the difficult feat of obtaining a pharmaceutical distribution license. This brought him to Hartbeespoort Dam, where he rented a warehouse for his growing distribution business.
