Expert Technology Solutions – How a focus on people led to unexpected business growth

Possible call outs:

• “If you can’t trust your business partners, you can’t run a business”. – Andre Du Preez, Expert Technology Solutions.

• “If you hadn’t pushed me as hard as you pushed me, we probably wouldn’t be here. This business would have been sold.” – Andre Du Preez, Expert Technology Solutions.

As the saying goes, “If you’re not growing, you’re dying”, so naturally, growth is the core focus of any serious business. But the challenge often lies in the how. As a business owner faced with numerous challenges and potential paths to growth, how do you know what to focus on to take your business from where it is now, to where it could be?

This was the predicament faced by Expert Technology Solutions – an office automation and security solutions business based in Alberton, Johannesburg. They had built a successful multi-million-rand business to date, but growth had stalled to concerning levels. Surprisingly, the first solution to this growth challenge was found in an unexpected place – a focus on people.

Andre Du Preez is the Managing Director at Expert Technology Solutions, where he started as a salesman and eventually bought the business from its then shareholders with the help of his friend Corey Badenhorst who became a silent partner in the business.

He was joined by two more active directors, Valdi Venter as Operations Director, and Jacques van Coller as Sales Director.

Over the years, the team was faced with external challenges such a struggling economy, high energy costs and high interest rates, which were exacerbated by internal conflicts and miscommunication, a lack of structure and an inability for the directors to agree on a way forward. Andre described how “…everybody had their own vision, and everybody thought they knew what we needed to go forward, but nobody actually communicated.” 

The directors were also in disagreement about an internal labour issue that needed to be addressed. Andre, who often steered clear of confrontation and wasn’t well-versed in dealing with labour matters, tried to move past the issue as quickly as possible so as to not disrupt business operations; and while Valdi also had the interests of the business at heart, she wanted to follow a different process to resolving the matter. This led to a misunderstanding of intentions between the two directors, and a critical breakdown in trust. 

As Andre reflected on these issues, he said “If you can’t trust your business partners, you can’t run a business.” He went on to explain that, “One of two things was going to happen. We were going to resolve the issues we were dealing with, or we were going to sell the business and run at a massive loss… that’s how scary it is if partners are at loggerheads, and they don’t communicate.”

In efforts to turn things around for their business, the team started their coaching journey with Grow . “We were really at a turning point or crossroad within our business, and we needed help and didn’t know where to turn to”, said Andre. “We then had the meeting with you [Grow], and I think that meeting really came at the right time.”

At first, the directors of Expert Technology Solutions were, understandably, desperate to grow their revenues and focused on finding solutions that would quickly impact sales. And while their Grow coach helped the team create and document a strategy to drive business growth, he simultaneously addressed the interpersonal issues between the directors. 

The team struggled to make progress on executing their growth strategy due to their ongoing internal conflicts. Their coach identified that if Expert Technology Solutions were to build and execute a successful strategy in the midst of a challenging external environment, the directors would need to iron out these conflicts through both one-on-one coaching and team coaching with Grow. 

“My first priority was getting all 3 of the active directors to agree that there was this impasse and that we needed to address it,” their coach explained. “That wasn’t easy because initially they were mistrusting of each other.” This breakdown in trust between the directors made it difficult for them to be open about their personal views and experiences. 

Through expert coaching and mediation, their coach provided various tools to drive a better understanding between the directors and foster a sense of psychological safety; where the team felt comfortable to speak up and disagree openly.

Andre and Valdi, who were at loggerheads about the labour matter, were able to understand each other’s perspective; recognizing that they were both trying to solve the same problem, albeit in different ways due to natural contrasts in their personalities and perspectives.

Their coach described how “The one last bit in that intervention was that we actually drafted a commitment statement, and that commitment statement spoke about how they’re going to handle issues… and we also came up with a few tools on how to “give permission” to raise issues that they wouldn’t have raised in the past.”

The company’s Sales Director, Jacques van Coller also found great success through the Grow programme. “You can ask Jacques, my partner who’s gained the most out of it. He eats and breathes and lives everything Grow. So, I’m proud of him.” said Andre.

He further explained how critical Grow was, in the survival of their business. “If I look back 18 months ago, to where we are now… I can’t believe we made it this far. Just because we were willing to work through it… If you hadn’t pushed me as hard as you did, we probably wouldn’t be here. This business would have been sold. So, I’m truly grateful for that. Looking back now it’s the best thing we’ve done.”

Reflecting on his coach in particular, Andre said “Our coach has been a very good fit for our business, because he’s calm and he’s also very fair… He’s not trying to pick sides. He’s here to grow our profits and to grow our people, and he’s here to tell us how it is.”

And with the business now on track to achieving 20% growth this year and exceeding its growth targets, there’s much to be excited about, and much to prepare for to successfully scale the business even further. The directors must be optimally equipped to handle what’s to come. Andre seems confident about the role of Grow in this journey, saying “It’s been a game changer for us. And we’re very excited about where it’s going to take us and the end result.”