Don’t delegate what you don’t understand; that’s suicide for any franchisee. That’s the business mantra of Sbonelo Mbatha, co-founder of the PetroConnect franchise.
Mbatha’s entrepreneurial journey in fuel retail started 17 years ago when he worked as a pump jockey at a service station in Durban. He had a diploma in cost management accounting but couldn’t get a position in that field, so he took a job on the forecourt out of desperation.
Earning R800 a month, Mbatha applied himself with gusto and his boss got him to work in the office where he learnt about cash flow, bank reconciliation and gearing.
One day, by chance, Mbatha was working front-of-house and a stranger approached him and asked him for his number. The man complimented Mbatha’s customer service ethic. It turned out the stranger owned a chain of service stations and wanted Mbatha to manage one in Pietermaritzburg, at three times his salary.
After running the service station for two-and-a-half years to bolster his CV, he was approached once again by a woman who needed a service-station manager in Pretoria. Emboldened, Mbatha asked for a salary of R7,000 (more than double his wage) and she obliged, meaning he could afford to get married.
He ran the Pretoria outfit for two-and-a-half years and his wife spotted an advert in the papers calling for applications for a BP entrepreneurship programme. A few interviews and a psychometric test later and he was on the programme for a year. It meant he had to resign but it paid a monthly stipend of about R10,000 and put him in the queue to eventually buy his own filling station.
With all his experience but no opportunities to buy a fuel station, he opened three bank accounts and on the strength of his stipend slips got credit cards from each. That enabled him to put down R45,000 deposit to buy a driving school business while waiting for his ideal service-station opportunity. Two years later he paid that off and a BP service-station site was earmarked for Dube Village, Inanda, but not for first-time operators.
Mbatha pleaded with BP to let him run the station as a manager for a year and, if it worked out, to let him buy it. Ten months later he received an endorsement from BP and financed his first station.
“I paid that loan off in three years rather than five because I didn’t own a watch in those days. I lived at work.”
Since then Mbatha has bought another nine filling stations under a variety of brands including Engen, BP, Total and Sasol. He employs more than 300 people and has chaired dealer council forums and become a specialist on legislative issues related to fuel retail and franchising.
Eighteen months ago, Mbatha and Mark Harper started PetroConnect. They formed the company in response to their own, at times, bewildering experience managing petrol stations. They own two in partnership.
Watch the video | Connecting communities
PetroConnect provides back-office tools to run service stations efficiently
The A-to-Z service provider in fuel retail and franchising
Don’t delegate what you don’t understand; that’s suicide for any franchisee. That’s the business mantra of Sbonelo Mbatha, co-founder of the PetroConnect franchise.
Mbatha’s entrepreneurial journey in fuel retail started 17 years ago when he worked as a pump jockey at a service station in Durban. He had a diploma in cost management accounting but couldn’t get a position in that field, so he took a job on the forecourt out of desperation.
Earning R800 a month, Mbatha applied himself with gusto and his boss got him to work in the office where he learnt about cash flow, bank reconciliation and gearing.
One day, by chance, Mbatha was working front-of-house and a stranger approached him and asked him for his number. The man complimented Mbatha’s customer service ethic. It turned out the stranger owned a chain of service stations and wanted Mbatha to manage one in Pietermaritzburg, at three times his salary.
After running the service station for two-and-a-half years to bolster his CV, he was approached once again by a woman who needed a service-station manager in Pretoria. Emboldened, Mbatha asked for a salary of R7,000 (more than double his wage) and she obliged, meaning he could afford to get married.
He ran the Pretoria outfit for two-and-a-half years and his wife spotted an advert in the papers calling for applications for a BP entrepreneurship programme. A few interviews and a psychometric test later and he was on the programme for a year. It meant he had to resign but it paid a monthly stipend of about R10,000 and put him in the queue to eventually buy his own filling station.
With all his experience but no opportunities to buy a fuel station, he opened three bank accounts and on the strength of his stipend slips got credit cards from each. That enabled him to put down R45,000 deposit to buy a driving school business while waiting for his ideal service-station opportunity. Two years later he paid that off and a BP service-station site was earmarked for Dube Village, Inanda, but not for first-time operators.
Mbatha pleaded with BP to let him run the station as a manager for a year and, if it worked out, to let him buy it. Ten months later he received an endorsement from BP and financed his first station.
“I paid that loan off in three years rather than five because I didn’t own a watch in those days. I lived at work.”
Since then Mbatha has bought another nine filling stations under a variety of brands including Engen, BP, Total and Sasol. He employs more than 300 people and has chaired dealer council forums and become a specialist on legislative issues related to fuel retail and franchising.
Eighteen months ago, Mbatha and Mark Harper started PetroConnect. They formed the company in response to their own, at times, bewildering experience managing petrol stations. They own two in partnership.
Watch the video | Connecting communities
PetroConnect provides a range of back-office tools to run service stations efficiently. The company acts as an adviser in the sale of petrol stations.
It puts prospective fuel station owners through in-house training to test their suitability, with the option of mentorship for one year after successful placement at a service station.
“You need to know the A-to-Z of this business, or you will get badly bruised. My own story sounds great, but I burnt my fingers many times. I learnt how to handle money and identify problems quickly.”
Mbatha says PetroConnect has a pipeline of 40 trained candidates waiting to be placed.
Franchising can be seductive because it offers a tested formula and safety in numbers. But you have to have your eyes wide open.
Due diligence on a site is critical. Is a new road to be built nearby that would take your customers away by diverting traffic from your site, for example?
Be under no illusion: don’t get into franchising if you aren’t prepared to immerse yourselves in the business for at least two years.
“It’s highly demanding. We’ve built systems that can protect you from the vultures, but this business is not for everyone. In order to scale up, you have to learn to delegate, which requires trust. That’s why I hire on attitude and train for skill.”
Mbatha says the relationship with Nedbank has been critical to the company’s success.
“Any successful franchise needs strong support from a banking institution. Nedbank has been that pillar for our business. Their quick turnaround time and efficient personnel set them apart from the rest.”
Visit the PetroConnect website for more information.
For more information about Nedbank’s franchise division contact: franchising@nedbank.co.za.
This article was paid for by Nedbank.