Civil Engineering May 2021 | Vol 29 No 4

36 May 2021 Civil Engineering Please tell us about your experience starting a business. AG I started my career in 2001 in the geometric design office of a consulting firm in Cape Town. There I developed an interest in traffic and transportation engineering and went on to work for sev- eral businesses specialising in this field. In 2009 I was afforded the opportunity to join SANRAL as a traffic engineering specialist for the Eastern Region, which includes KwaZulu-Natal and the Free State. I left SANRAL to establish my own business – AG Traffic & Transportation Consultants – in February 2015, using my retirement savings as a seed fund. This was a big risk, but it paid off. Today my business consists of my wife and I as full- time employees, with several individuals employed on a contract basis as and when we are awarded projects that require the additional skills and manpower. This has been an excellent strategy to manage my finances through difficult periods, espe- cially during the Covid-19 pandemic. Starting out I was lucky in that I had a very good first year, and at that time government departments were much better at paying on time. However, I had to work hard to establish myself and my business. For example, I had no hands-on experiencing in performing road safety audits (having only reviewed them while at SANRAL) and needed to acquire expe- rience in this area before I could tender on my own for those jobs. I approached another company that had been awarded a road safety audit tender and asked to be involved in the project and write the report without any remuneration. My intention was to acquire the skill; I knew if I could do this, money would follow. Thereafter I was able to tender on my own, win projects and build my profile to the point where I am now a recognised Road Safety Auditor in South Africa. In another instance, I once gave a service provider a 65% discount to undertake a non-motorised transport study because I did not have hands-on experience in this area and needed to improve my skillset. Early on I would perform traffic impact assessments at a very low cost in order to build my company profile. I had to perform a lot of jobs for a low price to gain experience and establish my business as reputable. At that time, my focus was not on making money but on building my profile. What are some of the main challenges facing entrepreneurs in South Africa? The biggest challenge for any entrepre- neur is finance. It is often very difficult to get a loan from the bank when starting a business because of the risks involved – despite that being the time when you need finance the most. Even if you can get work, late payments are a major concern . In our sector, the majority of small businesses are appointed as sub-consultants or sub-contractors, and therefore only get paid after the main con- sultant or contractor is paid. In instances where the main consultant/contractor is paid late or invoices late, it has a direct impact on your cash flow. And even if you are lucky enough to work directly for gov- ernment, late payment is still a problem. Although 30-day payments are man- dated for government entities, we know that in practice this is not always practical or implemented. Oftentimes getting the work is much easier than getting paid. It appears that many finance departments Entrepreneursh i p Advice for young engineers The South African government strongly supports the growth and establishment of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as a means to create jobs in a depressed economy. However, starting a business comes with many challenges, and it is commonly said that 90% of businesses fail within the first three years of launch. Civil Engineering spoke to SAICE member Andile Gqaji, owner of AG Traffic & Transportation Consultants, about his experiences as an entrepreneur. Andile Gqaji, owner of AG Traffic & Transportation Consultants