Tell my why you became a plumbing contractor – Diamond Sekokope
By David Smith
BUSINESS AND TRAINING 17
This month we chatted to Diamond Sekokope of Talkzinto Projects to find out about his experiences as a plumbing contractor and the value of doing things the right way .
David : Hi Diamond , what can you tell us about Talkzinto Projects ?
Diamond : Talkzinto Projects is the name of the company which I initially started in 2006 . At the time I was still working for other companies while it was in the process of being registered . My dream was to start my own company , even if it meant that I started while still employed by someone else . This only became an officially registered business in 2016 . We are a small to medium sized business and there are several people who , like myself , depend on this business . We are contracted to several insurance companies and we also deal with a number of geyser manufacturers and we do guarantees for them . In addition to referrals , or ‘ private clients ’ as we call them , that ’ s how the company survives . We don ’ t normally take time off for holidays as a lot of other plumbing contractors do , in our minds this is an essential service . We believe that there is no point in being in the plumbing industry without giving it your all .
David : It often feels like the end of the year is when we need plumbers most ! But tell us , how did you get into the plumbing trade ?
Diamond : [ laughs ] Now that ’ s a story . The way I entered into plumbing was by desperation because I was looking for work at that time , I will never lie and say that I was looking at plumbing as my lifetime career or something like that . Somebody gave me a call because they were hiring so I went there with my CV but unfortunately I had no plumbing experience in those days – only my driver ’ s license . To my advantage however , there was someone there who was experienced but who did not have a driver ’ s license , lucky me . I must take a moment to mention the guy who groomed me , his name is Marcus Posthumus . I have to mention his name everywhere I go because without him I wouldn ’ t be the contractor that I am today . The name of that company was Just Geysers . That guy never lost patience with teaching us and I will never forget it . He was the one who got me to enrol in a series of short courses on solar heating and that was my first certification . That was when I saw that is a serious thing to be done . And the commitment that this guy saw was that whenever he would go away on holiday I was the one responsible for taking excess money to the bank , calling clients , scheduling jobs , sharing jobs according to the way the teams are
Diamond Sekokope of Talkzinto Projects .
February 2023 Volume 28 I Number 12 www . plumbingafrica . co . za