Identifying a gap in the market when it comes to preferential procurement, Gerald Ndlovu quit his job as a project manager at the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants and founded Black Suppliers, a company that offers innovative ways of linking customers up with credible and capable artisans.
One of its initiatives, a database called Artisan Finder, aims to link up customers of building materials and hardware supplier Cashbuild with reliable artisans in their area, which is proving to be successful.
Ndlovu said he always had a passion for development but didn't want a social initiative: "I wanted a commercially viable initiative with a good social impact."
With support from Cashbuild, Black Suppliers recruits interested artisans — plumbers, painters, electricians — who are taken through a rigorous vetting process, which includes infrastructural verifications and monitoring visits.
If deemed competent, they are added to the database. The database is accessible inside Cashbuild stores using a free-standing computerised kiosk, which was designed by Ndlovu's team.
Cashbuild funded a pilot initiative using kiosks in eight of its shops, largely in Soweto and surrounding areas, since November last year.
Initiative successful
"One hundred and sixty artisans in Soweto have been vetted and added to the database," Ndlovu said.
He said the initiative was more successful than he could have imagined. "In the first two months, the customers were calling our suppliers every day."
Now, on average, artisans receive 10 calls a week as a direct result of the Artisan Finder database in the stores. By being part of the database in the year that the project has been running, artisans have earned a total of R500 000.
The artisans pay an annual subscription fee of about R500. Those who have joined, such as electrician Cliff Mpshe, say joining has been well worth the initial investment.
"You need to take chances. Sometimes if you just sit, you lose. I realised I wanted my business to grow."
Mpshe said he receives 20 to 30 job enquiries or referrals a month as a result of being on the database.
Not enough awareness about the database
Themba Mabonele, a plumber in Soweto, said, although he supported the initiative and has seen some benefit, he believed there was not enough awareness about the database yet.
"The idea is good, but people are not even aware of this thing," he said, referring to the in-store kiosks.
He said the Artisan Finder has, however, given an advantage to qualified South African artisans, who now no longer have to wait outside Cashbuild stores in the hope of attracting customers who are in search of cheap labour.
The budget for the initiative, which was provided by Cashbuild, was just less than R1-million.
"We identified a need on our side from the customers — many people coming into our stores have a project to complete and often ask us to recommend artisans," said André van Onselen, operations director at Cashbuild.
"It is not easy, especially in some of the outlying areas, to find an artisan who is competent and trusted to complete the job … We serve approximately 15-million customers a year through our stores and the first intention was, when customers ask us if we can recommend artisans in the area, that they have a database they can go to."
Not responsible
Van Onselen said it was important to Cashbuild that the artisans belong to some sort of certification body.
"Although we go through a rigorous vetting process, which includes reference checking on completed projects, we — Cashbuild or Black Suppliers — cannot be held ultimately liable should something go wrong.
"However, customers can at least be assured that they [artisans who provide unsatisfactory service] will be removed as a member of the Black Suppliers database and that we will support them to resolve issues as best we can."
The Artisan Finder, Ndlovu said, is expected to be introduced in 200 Cashbuild stores across South Africa.
"There are things you learn out of this kind of thing," Van Onselen said. "With the subscription fee, for example, some of the artisans are less financially able to do that. All in all, the model is a viable one. All indications at this point in time show that the service being made available to our customers is necessary."
The Artisan Finder database, because of the subscription fee, tends to recruit established artisans who are often part of a small or medium business.
More in the pipeline
Another model in the pipeline, with the support of Builders Warehouse, will try to formalise smaller craftsmen, including those who wait outside Builders Warehouse stores hoping to find a piece job.
Chris Lourens, operations director at Builders Warehouse, said the sheer number of artisans outside Builders Warehouses hoping for piece jobs had become problematic. But instead of seeing this as an issue, the company saw an opportunity.
"Builders approached Gerald [Ndlovu] to build a unique business model — to take these guys from the side of the road and formalise them … We are trying to upskill them," Lourens said.
In many cases, those standing outside the gates are foreigners who don't have proper documentation. As part of the initiative, such artisans may be helped to obtain the correct legal documents.
The idea is that the artisans will not pay a subscription fee and will instead receive the majority of the commission from jobs acquired through Black Suppliers.
"An initiative like this should not be charity-based," Ndlovu said. "It has to be a sustainable business."