Lee Varrie in consultation with one of her employees.
A recurring theme for companies recounting their experiences of the Industrial Development Corporation's (IDC's) Women's Entrepreneurial Fund is the recognition of the fund's thorough, professional and efficient handling of all fund applications.
"I really enjoyed the fact that they were so swift and professional," says Lee Varrie, owner of Wrap Tite, a Cape-based manufacturer of stretch film used to wrap anything from palletised products to food.
"The process required a lot of paperwork and spreadsheets, but the IDC was very thorough and also helped us understand more clearly what we were doing. It's not something that happens overnight, but you can appreciate that when you're dealing with professionals." Wrap Tite qualified for funding from the fund, which made it possible for the business to invest in additional equipment that extended both its capacity and its capabilities.
Varrie says she and her husband had been in the manufacturing industry for more than 20 years, although that experience had been in the supply of machinery. But,she says, they had always been on the lookout for an opportunity to get into the manufacturing game. When the opportunity arose to realise this dream, the business was started with an investment in palletwrapping manufacturing equipment.
Discussions
"We had put all our risk into this entire basket," she says. "We knew, though, that we had to stand on more than one leg, which is when we started having discussions with the IDC about our plans to grow and expand the business through additional production equipment."
After the loan was approved, Wrap Tite invested the money in shrink-film and food-film production lines, and bought an eightcolour printer, which made it possible for the business to expand into other markets. "I don't think we would have grown so rapidly without theirsupport," says Varrie.
Wrap Tite's staff count trebled to 29 in less than a year, with another six to eight positions due to be created in the next six months. In addition to capital funding, the IDC loan was also used to help Wrap Tite to achieve the stringent Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) safety standard.
This certification is critical for companies supplying the food industry, and Wrap Tite is now one of the few local plastics suppliers to have achieved it.Varrie says the extremely favourable terms under which the loan was granted have been crucial to the company's growth and its future sustainability.
Wrap Tite's commitments for the first year of the loan are restricted to paying the interest but it already reaps the benefits of the increased output, which improves cash flow. "The finance has also allowed us to put appropriate and key people in place in the most critical parts of the business," she says.