MASTER INVESTOR
Lessons from Simba: Building a Strong Foundation
Entrepreneurial Ventures and Property Development
MASTER INVESTOR
Lessons from Simba: Building a Strong Foundation
Even the smallest perks proved to be a learning curve. Greg fondly remembers how, as marketers, they were given boxes filled with a variety of different products to share with friends and family.
This enabled him to not only promote the brand and its products but also to glean valuable feedback on product preferences and customer satisfaction.
“ Being able to share our brand with friends and family was a weekly highlight for us. It wasn’ t just about getting the product out there; it was about learning from real-time feedback. If a product was still left in the box by the end of weekend, we knew there was something wrong,” he shares.
This early exposure to real-world customer insights was an eye-opener for Greg, teaching him the importance of constant testing and learning. He learned to work with diverse teams, gain insights into market dynamics, and understand the importance of innovation and adaptability – skills that have stood him in good stead as his career quickly moved beyond the food and fast-moving consumer goods sectors.
Entrepreneurial Ventures and Property Development
After leaving Simba, Greg worked at a variety of companies. He says that two of his biggest learning experiences included time as an entrepreneur and almost a decade working within an internationally owned group based in the Middle East on a diverse portfolio of businesses across Sub-Saharan Africa.
This not only enabled him to travel but also to be agile and tailor his work to suit the needs of different countries’ ways of doing business.
Working for the international company based in the Middle East, he was responsible for several assets, including real estate. This necessitated the deployment into the business development role on a high-end gated community development.
He soon discovered that this development had not been run optimally and, as part of its turnaround, his customer centric outlook came to the fore as he actively engaged with stakeholders on the ground – namely, the homeowners. Cultivating strong relationships and focusing on service delivery enabled him to deliver on all the development milestones for homeowners over a two-year period.
20 REI MAGAZINE APRIL 2025