BRAINTEC: The brain behind cleanliness
BRIAN KETSHABILE
The meteoric rise of Braintec Cleaning Services, basically underscores the value of investing on human capital, quality customer service, strong brand equity and most importantly revenue diversification. The business, which was formed ten years ago looks forward to another ten years of success and citizen empowerment. In between his hectic schedule, General Manager, managed to respond to questions from
BOTSWANA GUARDIAN: Braintec Services Limited was formed ten years ago. Looking back, what would you say are some of the major achievements the company has made?
BRIAN KETSHABILE: Reflecting on the 10 years of existence, I would say our major achievement is growing from operating in a room at home to Braintec having its own office, growing from having my wife and I as the only employees to having 60 plus employees. Creating employment for 60 plus families is an achievement worth noting. We have further transitioned from just a cleaning company to laundry services and manufacturers of cleaning chemicals as well as selling hygiene consumables such as brooms, mops, cleaning trolleys, mop caps, toilet paper etc.
BG: What are some of the impediments the company has faced and how have you managed to deal with them? BK: The biggest challenge we have faced to date would be finding the right employees. It is a challenge as a small business to have the right employees with the right skills and competencies to be able to deliver positive results to the business. Skilled personnel are expensive to hire and retain. From experience, many potential employees prefer working for an already known business with nice offices rather that a start- Up with a small office operating from home, this does not matter whether the start- Up pays well and on time, they just want to work in a commercial area. They look down on a business that is operating from home and even when they agree to work, they’re only doing it to earn money, not committed to delivering at their job.
BG: How supportive has the government been since the company opened
its doors?
BK: Our expectation since inception has always been for Government to avail opportunities. These opportunities have been plentiful and it’s upon us to seize them. It has also become easier to acquire/ renew trading license as compared to back in the days when we started. For example, it took the entire month for council to come for a health inspection. Nowadays, it is a matter of two days before you get assistance!
BG: How has been competition in the field you operate?
BK: In every sector there is always competition and the cleaning industry is no exception. It has always been our stand that while there are many cleaning companies locally which will present themselves as competition, we will continue to differentiate ourselves in terms of how we service our customers. In this industry, quality service is of paramount importance. For example, the manner in which we communicate and relate with our customers counts
a lot. In the past year, we managed, to start manufacturing of cleaning chemicals, selling of cleaning consumables which has differentiated ourselves from the perceived competition.
BG: Which initiatives are there within Braintec that are aimed at empowering locals?
BK: As Braintec, we have a strict policy that we source all our supplies from local companies. Some of the services and products that we source, include but not limited to branding services, staff uniform, marketing, promotional among others. We continue to adhere to that policy because we believe that by growing the local demand, this will grow the economy as more businesses will exist, and demand for cleaning and cleaning consumables which will benefits our business in the long run.
BG: What is the importance of human capital to Braintec?
BK: Human Capital is a key component or driver of our business. It is by far the most important of our internal operations. As a business, we ensure that we build a team with relevant skills, experience, health and training. This has ensured that we have a valuable and productive human capital that will drive the business objectives with absolute efficiency. The more robust our human capital, the better experience we are going to give to our customers in terms of customer service as well as quality products. We continue to invest in our human capital by recruiting the right skills and experience, train employees on the right skills and knowledge for continual improvement, promoting and rewarding performance and successes and placing skills where they are best suited for optimum performance. And