Entrepreneur of the Week
Rauch
Jan Nieuwoudt
The idea for Rauch started five years ago when Jan Nieuwoudt was living in Kempton Park.
Rauch is the Hebrew word for “wind”. Nieuwoudt said he had been ministering to people living on the street in the area and tried to come up with a way to explain the Holy Spirit, when the windmill popped into his head.
“The windmill is a visible entity that is powered by the wind that turns its wheels. The Holy Spirit symbolises power unseen,” said Nieuwoudt.
“I bought my first windmill from a street seller shortly afterwards and when my daughter saw it, she said she wanted me to make one for her.
“I made it for her, and then my neighbour saw it and wanted to buy it from me, and it all snowballed from there,” he said. Nieuwoudt said he was an on-site quality co-ordinator for Eskom, and that the quality of his work on his windmills was therefore very important.
“It is a long process to get all the correct angles of the windmill wheel. I make it all from scratch, from the bearings to the wheel itself.”
He uses steel to make the body of the wheel and galvanised steel to make the wheel.
“It will take me two full days to make a large windmill, but I enjoy the work very much. My father’s motto was that if you do something, you must do it properly, and be proud to put your name on that work, and so I keep that motto with me.” The entrepreneur makes large windmills and smaller ones that you can hang on your kitchen or bathroom wall, or even on your front door. There are hooks at the bottom of the mill on which you can either hang your keys, dishcloths or face clothes, depending on where you place it in your home.
Nieuwoudt and his wife are based in Bateleur Estate and can be contacted via email on jan@bytesize.co.za, or via his cellphone on 082 903 5153. You can also visit his Facebook page at Rauch Windmills.
Nieuwoudt can also be found at local markets around the Lowveld.