A passion for community service and problem solving was the starting point for Lulamile Kalipa.
The 51-year-old K4 Consulting owner, in Gqeberha, ensures that community involvement and public participation are done effectively when new developmental projects are introduced to communities, sharing researched information to all stakeholders involved and identifying early warning signs that might affect the project and resolving them.
Please share background on yourself and how the business was started?
I joined a company that offered stakeholder engagement services where we sought to harmonise relations between stakeholders in developmental projects and fostering an inclusive and participatory processes to ensure that developmental projects are run seamlessly and completed within the stipulated times and achieving the desired results.
I noticed that there was a dire shortage of such services in that more and more developmental projects in our communities were being severely affected due to stoppages by communities or local small businesses because of a lack of information or the community feeling they have not been consulted and made to participate in decision-making regarding development in their communities.
In 2015, I branched out to start my own business where our focus would be to ensure all the concerns of those who are either affected or interested parties in a particular project are taken into account and addressed.
What is your core service?
We offer stakeholder engagement services, popularly known as social facilitation where we ensure that any project undertaken by government entities are well received by communities, ensuring community involvement, seeking community input through public participation, sharing of information among the stakeholders and most importantly identifying early warning signs that might affect the project and resolving those to ensure the project is efficiently and effectively run.
What makes your business unique?
What makes K4 Consulting unique is the passion and the commitment we exhibit in our dealings and the drive to ensure that we achieve a win-win situations for all the stakeholders involved in a project.
If someone wanted to copy your business model, how would they start?
You need to have a passion for what you want to do because there will be times when you don’t get the financial rewards expected but you will still have to push forward despite those difficulties.
What are some of the biggest inhibitors your business faced before getting off the ground?
Finances. I didn’t have the capital to start the business. To make it in this business, one needs to have a car, office space, a computer and a telephone. Those are the biggest expenses incurred in this business together with printing costs.
Do you have any tips for budding entrepreneurs or new business owners?
From the first project you get, it is important to reinvest in your business to ensure that you sustain your business and acquiring the tools of trade needed.
What are some of your biggest challenges in day-to-day business operations and your particular industry?
Cash flow. In most cases, government entities don’t stick to the 30-day payment cycle. A case in point is one of our projects where it takes 115 days to have one invoice paid. We have also had projects where we have been paid 13 months after the project was completed.
What is the best advice anyone gave you on success?
Be a lifelong learner. You must always be willing to learn even from the unlikeliest source. In that way you will grow and stay relevant.
How do you measure or define success in your business?
By the reviews we get from our clients and the referrals we sometimes get. This means that there is something good that we are doing.
What are some of the best practices that have made your business successful?
- Honesty and integrity in our dealings with people.
- Respect for the people we work with and
- Good communication.
What kind of advertising do you do?
What we have been doing is to go through the internet looking for clients where we either forward our company profile to or we seek to book a meeting to introduce ourselves. It is only now that we are investing in a website which is in its developmental stage and should be up and running in a month’s time.
What is your company’s vision?
To offer value-adding services and to be the preferred and go-to service provider in our field.
What is your target market?
Private clients and government entities.
What have some of your highlights been in running your business?
- Completion of most of our projects with the least amount of stoppages that tend to cost the project money.
- The good reviews we receive from our happy clients.
- Seeing the business grow year in and year out.
How important is social media and an online presence for your business?
We haven’t been active in the social media space though we do recognise the immense importance of it. That is why we are now investing in a website. We will also be getting someone who will be running our social media platform because I feel you need a dedicated person to run such platforms as they need to be updated on a regular basis.
How many people do you employ?
We have two employees.
Do you have any plans for expanding the business, and how would you go about this?
Yes, we do have plans of expanding the business. We are in talks with certain professionals to begin offering other services. Also, we are looking into establishing an office in East London.
How did you acquire funding for the business?
I was supported by my wife and family to start the business.
What is the biggest lesson you’ve learnt from your business journey so far?
Complete trust and faith in God. I couldn’t have done it on my own. There have been doors that have been opened for me in places that I didn’t know of before and by people I have never met before.
What have been the greatest challenges and advantages of running your business in a city like Gqeberha?
Challenges: Political instability in our city that has also affected most business in Gqeberha.
Advantages: Gqeberha is a friendly city.
What do you say are the three key traits of a successful entrepreneur?
Passion, perseverance and humility.
What do you say are the key traits of a successful employer?
Open and honest communicator, mutual respect, and good planning and organising
What do you wish people knew about your industry?
We work in very volatile, dangerous and sometimes life-threatening environments but we have to go in there and do the job we have to do. That is where honesty and integrity help in those situations because people see that you have their best interest at heart.
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