Edge Action, Edge Growth’s fund solution for mid sized corporates invested in Save-it in late 2012.
Before investment, Save-It had two individuals managing the business, Craig as Operations Manager, who handled all the day-to-day necessary business operations and Robert as Sales and Relationships Manager. Robert ensured there was a solid base of customer spaza shops and secured and maintained the bulk savings from large companies. However, soon after investment, Craig decided to leave the company due to personal issues and Robert decided to work in his own capacity fulltime in Durban. The result was a poorly managed operation that started bleeding around R30K per month.
In March, ED Action conducted an analysis to determine whether the business could be turned around. The process identified that the business did not have any systems or processes in place and the vacuum left by management was sinking the company. At the same time, we embarked on talks with Robert trying to understand whether he wanted to continue working with Save-It, resulting in his renewed commitment to the business and a return to full time work in Cape Town. The negotiations secured Robert a fixed salary with increased potential commission on outstanding sales for Robert and appointed him as MD for Save-It. hosting information lookup More funds were released to the business to pay Robert’s salary and sustain the cash flow drain. However, with the business development support streamlining operations and improving efficiency and Robert working hard to secure new sales, the business slowly started to turn around. The three full-time staff members were managed well by Robert and his time was leveraged to his skills of managing relationships and sales better.
