Denise Knight – Parow: Be proactive and reinvent your business

I used to import and sell curios online to American buyers. I shared our home with my 58-year-old brother who was working as a repair man fixing TVs in Parow.

When my brother was forced to retire due to illness, he complained how tough it actually was to find boards and backlights (LED lighting strips) to repair flat-screen TVs in Africa.

As I already had an export /import code, I now had an idea, and started to import boards and backlights from China. Soon my online curio business was a distant second to the TV parts import business, so I closed the online curio business down.

I advertised on Gumtree and started to receive orders from all over Africa.

Import business brought to a halt

Working from home, it seemed the new business at first was not that impacted by the coronavirus.

Even when the Chinese went for their New Year celebrations I was not that stressed, for this was as expected and anticipated..

Then the coronavirus hit China, and my business more or less stopped.

Yes, I could still obtain boards and backlights from the UK, US and Europe, but the exchange rate is horrible vs the Chinese yuan.

I suffered, and took a lot of profit losses by having to order the boards from elsewhere..

Finally, my suppliers in China began to return e-mails, Shanghai Airport reopened for cargo, and business started to resume.

Then the coronavirus seemed to suddenly “explode” worldwide, and South Africa went into lockdown.

This lockdown was so severe it meant no couriers could operate. So, although I could still place orders with businesses in China, I couldn’t get the items any further than Dubai (then also on lockdown).

Finally Dubai opened enough for my orders to finally reach Johannesburg, where they sit to this day…

Survival strategy

Now desperate, I decided to get “proactive”.

I researched online, found, and started to order face masks — fancy three-layered ones — which not only look good, but come in a variety of colours and can be hand-washed!

Then I hit yet another snag. As a “sole trader”, I could not register for an essential service certificate from www.bizportal.gov.za. I had to be a registered company

Now it was do or die, register or starve.

Today I registered my “company”.

It’s still nameless, as even the part of the government responsible for registering names is on lockdown, but I now have my certificate and can legally import — and sell — the masks I have ordered!