Growing his company from personal savings to a billion rand plus annual turnover was a carefully constructed plan by Themba Mthombeni, CEO of Duma Travel
Growing his company from personal savings to a billion rand plus annual turnover was a carefully constructed plan by Themba Mthombeni, CEO of Duma Travel. Themba Mthombeni has always had a vision to start his own business. So much so, that from an early time in his working career he started putting savings aside in order to fund his entrepreneurial dreams.
Growing up in Glencoe, KwaZulu Natal, Mthombeni was one of 12 children living in his grandfather’s three-room home.” He was a good scholar which landed him a scholarship from Anglo American to study a B.Com (Hons) at Wits. He also holds a Master’s degree in Business Leadership from Unisa. After a number of years working for various organisations, including a prestigious position as HR Director at De Beers Marine, Mthombeni realised he had the requisite corporate experience necessary to start his own business. The big question was what kind of business would it be? Travel had always been his passion so in 2002 he resigned from his position at De Beers Marine and established Duma Travel, a corporate travel management company specialising in providing a travel service to both the public and private sectors. It was not all plain sailing. Along with the corporate lifestyle, Mthombeni got rid of his BMW and replaced it with an Uno. “You can’t continue to have the perks of a glamorous lifestyle when you are no longer earning a regular or corporate salary,” he points out. ”Not only does it not send the right message to clients, but I wanted them to know that I was starting from scratch and hungry for business. I was determined that I’d eventually earn the right to once more own a BMW 5 series through hard work, blood, sweat and tears.”
Start-up, challenges and success
Mthombeni used his own savings and sold some of his assets in order to fund the fledgling business. He is the first to admit that he knew little about travel, with the exception of a strategy consulting assignment with one of the large travel groups whilst he was at PWC. “From the outset I was on a steep learning curve, but I was passionate about travel.” He formulated a three-phase plan for his new business. Phase one focused on ensuring the business had sufficient working capital. The second phase involved repositioning the company and adjusting the products to stay competitive. Phase three, or what he calls the ‘harvesting’ phase, involved putting succession plans in place for the company and ensuring that the right people were in place to ultimately take over the reins of the business. “It’s only by preparing your business in this way – as though you were preparing to sell it in the short term – that you ensure that its value is embedded.” Duma Travel’s core focus is to provide a masterful corporate travel service at competitive rates to both the private and corporate sector. In 2010 he set an ambitious goal for the company: to become one of the top five corporate travel agencies in the country with a sales turnover of over R1 billion. “I’m delighted to announce that we achieved this goal in 2015.” However, in spite of having achieved this goal Mthombeni realised that size was not everything. The focus should rather be on being the best travel management company in the industry, offering unparalleled levels of customer service. As a result training, mentorship and coaching have become key components of the company’s quest to continually improve its service to customers. Two additional divisions have since been launched: Duma ICE and Duma Sport. Duma ICE focuses on the incentives, conferences and events for corporates while Duma Sport specialises in creating experiences around local and international sport events for companies who want to reward or build relationships with their clients or employees. Since launching both Duma ICE and Duma Sport have built strong reputations in their respective areas of expertise. In its 15 year existence Duma Travel’s staff complement has grown from one employee to over 200. He eventually even persuaded his wife, Nomvula, a successful chartered accountant to join the business. Nomvula is currently the managing director of the company.
Lessons in entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurs, says Mthombeni, need a combination of leadership skills, the ability to build a team and an over-arching vision, all the while being able to motivate employees to execute their vision. They also need to be prepared to take calculated risks.
Why giving back is crucial
Corporate social responsibility, or giving back to society, is a core component of the Duma Travel philosophy. A level one BEE company, Duma Travel is 100% black owned and 50% black female owned. The company distributes wealth in a variety of ways ensuring that at least six percent of its wage bill is spent on employee development, primarily with black employees. About 70% of procurement is spent on businesses owned by previously disadvantaged individuals. A scholarship programme is offered to 20 children from Glencoe where Mthombeni was born. In Mpumalanga a community programme was established which initially cultivated vegetables but more recently switched to drought-resistant Maringa trees. “Giving back is crucial for our business,” says Mthombeni. In his personal capacity Mthombeni mentors three young men who are partners in a small insurance company. The support initially took the form of financial assistance but has now grown to include strategic advice. Mthombeni proudly reveals that the insurance company now turns over around R250 million a year.
Down time
Mthombeni’s philosophy in life is to do things that he is passionate about. What little leisure time he has is spent with his sons, travelling, reading and going to the gym.
Vital Stats Duma Travel
Start-up capital R1.1m
Current staff 170
Current turnover R1.2b
Year established 2002
Key Players
Bidvest
Tourvest
www.dumatravel.co.z
