Yesterday I met up with the local industrial and commercial property agent that I use in our area to pick his brains and check out the contacts he has. The other night I was lying in bed thinking who would be a great source of information to help in fast tracking the packaging business. The local property agent leasing out the warehouse's in the South Of Johannesburg region should know plenty of potential customers and I have known him for many years and recently used his services last month. The timing has to be right and this meeting was not planned and was spontaneous.
The idea that he could compile a list of contacts which would get me through the front door already knowing they use the various packaging products I am selling would be a bonus. Over coffee I explained what we are doing and restarting the business that we shut down over the lock down period. The money part he would be making peaked his interest and he came up with 6 customers immediately which has now turned into 20 having spent a day thinking about it.
He is a salesman like myself which is actually a good thing and mentioned his fiancée is out of work and that she could do this type of work. personally I do not care who sells the packaging material and if he wants to go that route then I am all for it. Jobs are hard to come by and if you can work for yourself then at least you can control what you do.
What this means for my business is I have someone else on the ground in Johannesburg selling besides myself. This would involve hands on training from my part which I am happy to do as the more successful they are the better the company does. This thinking about it is a dream result as the agent will be looking out for any new potential leads which he will pass over to his fiancée so in an around about way have got two agents for the price of one.
The 20 clients is a very good number to kick off with as not knowing the volumes this would probably make for 5 decent customers and well on the way to making a decent monthly salary. Once they understand the numbers that can be earned and physically see the money then this will be a home run having an extra sales person onboard.
Finding the right people to work with is harder than it sounds as I have had a couple in the past and one dropped off fairly quickly and the other is still recovering from a melt down even though this lady is very well connected. Seeing the physical cash being earned from the sales is what is going to drive her and I am just trying to get her to move forward in life without having to be her psychiatrist at the same time. I draw the line when someone becomes a hassle and takes up too much time and I am very close to moving on as my patience has been wearing thin.
The plan is once we have met up making sure the fiancée is the right fit and can be trained then we will proceed. The first 20 clients I am happy to help work with her making sure we get the desired results and that should be all the training she would need. Learning on the job through listening and watching is the best training one can have and should raise some questions which will help her understand the business. This year has started off fairly slowly and this is just the extra boost we needed to achieve our goals for 2026.