Page 6 - KZN Business Sense Vol.2 No.5

SLG Going BEYOND GAS TRADING
Nkosinathi Solomon,
Group CEO of SLG
SLG was
established
in 2002
to trade piped
natural gas to
industrial
and
commercial
customers
in KwaZulu-
Natal. Since then, the company
has grown its geographic
presence to cover most of the
province supplying to some of
the leading manufacturers in the
region such as Toyota, Sapref,
NCP Alcohols, IPSA, and others.
Recently, SLG introduced
Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)
to supply gas to a leading JSE
listed manufacturer. The CNG
offer enables SLG to distribute
gas to customers located at
distances of up to 150 kilometres
from the pipeline network.
This distribution method
opens up gas access to outlying
areas. The unreliability of the
electricity grid has prompted
many manufacturers to consider
generating their electricity from
Ten Entrepreneurial Pitfalls
Trevor Clark, Business the business has been and where
and executive coach;
speaker and global
trainer
In working
with
business
owners
across
numerous
industries,
the team
and I
witness several common traps
that are all too easy to fall in to.
Most are glaringly obvious
(in hindsight), but hold your
own business up to the mirror
against each of the following
scenarios to spot any banana
skins that could potentially
limit the success your business.
1. Failing to plan or planning
to fail?
It is an age-old cliché yes,
but it could not be truer. We
regularly debate the question of
what is more important – the
plan itself, or the time spent
planning? I personally believe
it is the latter. Business owners
are not putting quality time
aside to take a good look where
6
gas. SLG is taking advantage of
this development by partnering
with its customers to invest in
gas to power generation projects.
SLG is a 100% Black owned
entity with a level 2 BBBEE
rating. Due to our excellent
BBBEE credentials, customers
procuring gas from SLG qualify
for 153 % procurement spend
points. SLG prides itself on its
sound ethical values, which are
customer centricity, people first,
integrity, agility, and growing
shareholder value. Given
our optimum size, we can be
simultaneously entrepreneurial
and dependable.
When customers are
converting to gas, SLG manages
the whole change process, which
includes technical feasibility
studies, regulatory licenses,
installations, commissioning,
and training. Further, we
collaborate with some of the
leading international suppliers
of CNG equipment to ensure we
deliver a seamless offer to our
CNG customers. However, our
value-added services go beyond
connecting customers to the
pipeline network or converting
it can potentially go. It’s time to put your lights out overnight.
put the ‘O’ back into SWOT and
explore the incredible array of
opportunities available to local
entrepreneurs.
2. Does this ship have a captain
at the wheel?
Family businesses are
notorious for a lack of
accountability, and 50:50
partnerships always sound
fair in theory. What happens
when team members are not
pulling their weight, or when
disagreements put the business
into a state of limbo when no
decisions are taken? It is wise
to give a managing partner
ultimate control and a majority
ownership stake – even if it’s
only 51%. Alternatively, grant
a small percentage to a third
party advisor who will serve as
the tie-breaker.
3. Are all your eggs in one
basket?
Depending on one single
customer for more than 50
percent of your company’s
revenues can be a huge strategic
risk. Yes, it is easier to manage
one or two large clients, but
them to CNG ensuring that
valued customers enjoy best in
class after sales support services. tech flue gas analysers that
SLG is committed to health,
safety and environment,
therefore, we provide technical
and safety training to ensure
safe handling and use of gas. We
tailor the training to individual
customer’s requirements
covering topics such as gas
combustion properties, pipeline
specifications, combustion
equipment needs, etc. Moreover,
SLG holds annual customer gas
forums, where leading industry
experts share valuable industry
knowledge with customers. Also,
customers swap lessons learned
via case studies. These customer
gas forums have become an
attractive feature of our annual
marketing events calendar.
SLG is committed to assisting
its customers to optimise
their energy consumption by
providing energy surveillance to
identify opportunities for energy
optimisation. Our certified
technical advisors analyse
the customers’ gas equipment
to identify inefficient use of
gas and recommend changes.
losing one major customer can
4. Are you serving a clear
need?
How often do entrepreneurs
come up with an idea to which
they devote untold resources,
time and money? Only to find
there are no buyers for the
product or service. Determine
whether you have a solid pool of
potential customers by always
doing the market research first.
5. Cream rises to the top
Be profit-focused by charging
the highest prices your
markets will allow. Too many
entrepreneurs try to make
up for low margins with high
volumes. This strategy rarely
succeeds – especially if yours is
a service-based operation. humble office space, furniture,
6. Cash flow is king
Just like new-born babies cost
their parents far more than they
ever expect, a business in its
infancy requires capital – lots
of it. Check and re-check your
financial business assumptions
underlying any proposed
venture and only proceed when
capitalisation can support the
These scientific investigations
are carried out using our high
enable the technical advisor to
accurately measure and record
the appropriate operational
parameters of the gas
equipment. For example, one of
our customers realised efficiency gas and ensures compliance with
improvement from 78% to 85%
on their boiler. Further, SLG
performs troubleshooting of
gas related problems such as
inefficiencies, process control,
incomplete combustion, product
quality, etc.
The NERSA regulates the
pricing of gas, which is based
on an energy basket comprising
coal, electricity, diesel, heavy
fuel oil (HFO), and LPG.
Natural gas prices are lower
than those of LPG, diesel,
kerosene and electricity but are
higher than the price of coal.
However, due to the new stricter
environmental restrictions on
particulates, sulphur dioxide,
and nitrogen oxides, it is not
advisable for customers to
continue using coal. Moreover,
the new carbon tax will
introduce a penalty of R120 per
worst-case scenario.
7. Learn the 80:20 rule
Work out which are the
products or services that
bring in 80% of your profits.
Concentrating your efforts in
that limited area is pretty much
guaranteed to produce better
results than diversifying. It is
far too easy for a business owner 10. Mistakes are OK
to lose focus on the company’s
core areas - product or service,
markets and distribution
channel. ignoring failure. Be ready to
8. Keep it lean
Never let expenditure rise
faster than revenue. Yes, we
all want the better things in
life and a better environment
for our teams, but until profits
can support the costs, retain
etc. Spend when necessary
to achieve your company’s
objectives, but nothing more
until your profits justify the
expense.
9. Know your uniqueness
You know instinctively that
your business is better than
most of your competitors, but
for some reason your potential
ton of CO₂ equivalent, which
will negatively affect coal based
installation. SLG has a track
record of enabling customers
to transition from coal to gas.
Further, SLG has introduced a
pricing mechanism that rewards
customers for responsible use of
NERSA regulations.
SLG customers benefit
from our differentiated value
proposition that includes
product diversity comprising
piped gas, CNG, and gas
to power, pre-sales energy
optimisation and conversion
services, competitive pricing
compliant with NERSA
regulations, after sales safety
training and technical support,
and BBBEE credentials. SLG can
supply customers in KwaZulu-
Natal and Gauteng enabling
them to consolidate their gas
procurement. n
www.slgas.co.za
customers do not. As coaches
we love the process of helping
entrepreneurs define their
Unique Selling Proposition
(often called the ASA, or
Articulated Sales Argument)
and then seeing the substantial
impact this makes on lead
generation, sales conversion
rates and bottom-line growth.
A leading killer of
entrepreneurial talent is
walk away and stop throwing
good money (or time) after bad
when an idea is not working.
If you’re going to fail, do so
quickly, as failure is often
a necessary step towards
success. n
Get in touch if you’d like a free assessment
consultation for your business.
Tel: 031 266 2258
durban@actioncoach.com
www.mastery.co.za