Bokang Mosala: ‘I am an entrepreneur at heart’

Businessman Bokang Mosala has, from a young age, chased financial independence. In high school, he sold sweets and at university he embarked on various business ventures that failed. This led him to a career in the banking sector. But he quit to pursue his dream of being financially independent, which he believes can only come true if you’re your own boss. He speaks to Tshegofatso Mathe about the pitfalls of having a business and how he is navigating them

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You provide tracking services. This is such a niche market. What made you start this kind of business?

I started Bonema Tracker in 2015. The name is just the initials of my name and my closest family members. In the company we offer tracking services. We have since diversified to other sectors such as medical supplies and information and communications technology. 

But to answer your question, after I left my career in the banking industry, I wanted to start something that is uniquely mine. Then we developed a tracking device. I thought there were no black companies doing this, so there is space for me to step in. But to my surprise, the car companies that I was reaching out to already had exclusive partnership deals with other famous tracking companies. So these agreements were 10-year deals, so I felt like I was left out in the cold. 

So, even though I worked to create the best product, I did not consider this, I did not consider the “nos” I’d get. So in 2017, I ended up losing all my pension, savings and I had to move back home to rework my business. But luckily for me, the company has never had debt; I had debt. However, after restructuring the company, I am now proud to say that this year, I’ve paid every single debt. I’m a free man.

What gave you an idea to start the Bonema Tracker? 

I’ve always believed in developing my own thing, that might not be copied elsewhere and I can make money out of it. So, if people want to copy it, then I can sell it to them. So I did research, got information on the global positioning system, you know, and then I was, like, oh, actually, you know, let me go one or two steps further and I shifted my focus to GPS tracking. 

I went through articles on how to develop and create your own tracking device. I mean, I was literally learning how to make my own tracking device from the net. And then that’s when I started getting excited, thinking I am going to make money out of this because of the potential clients I was thinking about. From individual car owners, taxis and other black companies which are out there. I mean, I spoke to taxi associations. In June 2015, I almost closed the biggest deal of my life, then I was going to work with one of the taxi associations I was pitching to. The other meeting was going brilliantly and then, when there was supposed to be a fourth meeting, something happened, which I cannot say. 

How did you deal with all these challenges you’ve faced? 

So the business was still operating but not profitable. So I moved back home. It was supposed to be a year, but it ended up being three years. That is when I started building Bonema. When I started, I felt like I was competing with big guys. I had offices in prime areas in Hatfield, Pretoria. I wanted when people walked in to see that this is not a makeshift company, we were competitors of big tracking companies. So I spent a lot on the aesthetics of the business. However, I ended up losing everything. 

But as I scaled down I started shifting my focus on to other companies we can offer our services to. We targeted our offering to businesses that would benefit from data analytics. Our first  corporate client was Metro Global Telecoms, a Singapore company, then later Sasfin Bank and Lime Bike in Australia. We did free trials to expose our software and targeted small fleets using our flexible pricing options as we own the entire supply chain from manufacturing, software development to installation. This showed us that we need to constantly adapt.

Tell me about your upbringing? 

So I grew up in Boksburg, moved to Durban and then I went to Pretoria. I was raised by my mom. She’s a chartered accountant; she has always worked very hard. She has encouraged me and two of my other siblings to do the same, and to get into accounting as well. But it was very tough. She was divorced at a very young age, I was three months old when it happened, and I did not grow up with a father figure. 

But growing up I’ve always been the quiet one. Apparently I only started speaking at five years old. I’ve always been to myself, as my mother tells me. And that’s how I’ve always generally been. I don’t need a person to tell me: “Let’s do something”. If I believe it, I’ll make it happen.

I also started working at a young age. In grade 11 I was waitering at Spur and after that I worked for some time at different restaurants. So I became financially independent, which is what I’ve always wanted. And when I was in need of money, I found ways to make it. 

You started other businesses at an early age as well. What were they and what led to their demise?

I am an entrepreneur at heart. When I was in Varsity College in 2005 in Durban North, I started a carpet-cleaning business. But then our funding was affected. After we waited like a good year or so, we kind of lost momentum. Then I ventured into events management. Actually, that’s one of the things that made me leave Durban, because we did a big event. We worked with the Design Indaba, South African Fashion Week, KwaZulu-Natal Fashion Week and the KwaZulu-Natal Society of the Arts (KZNSA) Art Gallery. 

So things were going well, but I was then betrayed by my business partners. Those were the people I thought I knew, but I was blindsided and I completely left the group. And I came to Pretoria, to complete my studies.

Then you went to corporate, making good money. What made you leave?

After all of that, I thought, clearly this business thing is not working at this moment so let me finish school. And then I did my internship at FNB Private Clients. Then I worked for the Remig Group that does utilities management. That’s where I grew from a technical and from a professional perspective. 

I then went on automating Absa Bank’s bulk account payments process. I also worked at Redefine Properties, Arrowhead Properties, Netelek, Rural Maintenance and Eskom. 

So I guess after getting all that experience when I was just 27 years old, it gave me confidence to walk back into the world of business. I thought people could now take me seriously based on what I’ve done.

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