Water, Sewage & Effluent January February 2019 | Page 26

WSE: As a child, you always knew
you wanted to be an entrepreneur.
You entered the corporate world at 19
and built up capital, and in nine years
you had enough to help fund your first
business at 28 — a coal analytical
laboratory in Mpumalanga. Tell me
more about the work that went into
building up this capital: how did you
go about it, and what obstacles, if
any, did you encounter?
AM: As far back as I can remember, I’ve
planned my life. I remember as a child,
telling myself that by the age of 21, I
would have my first car. I also told myself
that I wanted to retire at the age of 30,
since I was going to be a multimillionaire
by then. But in my early 20s, I came to
the realisation that I was working for
a corporate, and that was not the right
platform for my dreams to be realised.
So, I made my decision. Although I
was a full-time chemical engineer in a
corporate environment, I started saving
— at least 30% of my pay cheque each
month. By the time I was 28, I was able
to start my business by investing my
savings and my provident fund.
AM: When I found myself in the
environmental space — and more
specifically in the waste-management
space — I saw a lot of opportunities,
which I felt needed tapping into. The
company I worked for at the time, and
for whatever reason, was not realising
these opportunities and they were not
tapping into them. I soon realised that
the opportunities were even bigger than
I initially thought, and with fewer players,
which made the move to do my own thing
just that much more appealing.
We realised our
weaknesses and strengths
early on, and came with the
approach of highlighting
and focusing on an
awareness, and consulting
in that space.
What inspired Green Output
Solutions?
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WSE: How did the name come about?
AM: I knew that what I wanted to do
and the impact I wanted to make, would
have to do more than just waste. The
company’s function would span solid
waste, water, consulting, solutions. So, I
wanted a name that would reflect what
it is we did and encompass all of it. We
wanted our brand to talk to what we are
all about — having the ‘green’ footprint,
and that we ‘output’ solutions.
WSE: How did Green Output Solutions
develop into what it is today, in just
three short years?
AM: To be honest, it’s been a
challenging journey. The spaces we
tap into are not easy. We’re involved
in waste management, and if we’re
short on assets like trucks and bins and
so forth, it’s a difficult business. In the
environmental space, there’s the need
for engineers and managing personnel,
and all these consultants need to be
paid. However, we somehow managed
to pull through. But the challenges
themselves opened up avenues for
us. When you take consultancy, for
instance, it is typically white dominated.
When we come in, we are black and
young, which makes it that much easier
for us to approach projects.
Our business model is designed around
waste and all the ‘servicing equipment’
that goes with it. When that proved
challenging in terms of us being ‘asset
poor’, we realised that we have ourselves
— our brains. We identified the gap in a
niche market. When most people think
about waste, they think about disposal
— physical disposal. We realised our
weaknesses and strengths early on, and
came with the approach of highlighting
and focusing on an awareness, and
consulting in that space. This is how we
developed into an 80% consultancy, and
20% hiring of equipment.
WSE: How do you market your
business and which tactics have been
most successful?
AM: It’s a mixed bag. We work with a
number of well-established companies
with whom we form partnerships on
certain projects, and then we rely on
our branding — and its visibility for the
duration of the project — to market our
services. We sponsor local schools,
where our branding is also highly
visible. We also partner with local
communities and municipalities in clean-
Water Sewage & Effluent January/February 2019
up campaigns, where we’ll give out caps
for instance, to get our name out there.
Although we’d love to see our name
splashed across a billboard on the M1,
it’s not financially viable for us right now,
so we do what we can to reach as many
stakeholders as possible. Platforms like
SAB KickStart has also been very helpful
in giving us exposure and the mileage
needed, to get our message out there.
WSE: How do you define success?
AM: Personal success I’d say, is when
you find yourself in a space where ‘all is
well’ and everything is okay. Regardless
of your financial position, you are in a
good space. That is personal success.
From a business perspective, for
me, success is more about changing
perceptions and in so doing, changing
behaviours and attitudes towards our
environment. Success is when we see
people following the waste-management
hierarchy and making a difference to the
environment. Successful business for
us is when we’ve managed to educate
the everyday South African in waste
management, where they can pick up a
piece of rubbish, realise its value, take it
to a recycler, and make money out of it
for themselves.
WSE: If you were to speak before
a class of Grade 5 pupils on Career
Day, how would you describe your
business model to them?
AM: Our business model is all about
protecting the environment, doing the
right things, and making money out
of it. Making money out of garbage!
We see waste as a commodity; it’s a
currency. When we see an empty can,
we see money. When we see a piece of
paper, we see money. In so doing, while
making money, we are protecting the
environment for future generations.
As a child, I remember how valuable
a one-litre cooldrink bottle was. I
couldn’t wait to take my empty bottles
back to the shop and get my ‘deposit’
money back. Even as an eight-year-
old, I could appreciate the value in
‘rubbish’. The kids of today cannot
really appreciate that.
WSE: What do you look for in an
employee?
AM: Someone who’s dedicated, who
has the same vision as the company.
I think the influence in this mindset is
from my own experience working for
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