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Govender talks to Leadership on music to megabytes
Over a period of 25 years, Durban businessperson Willy Govender has worked his way up from being a data capture clerk to owning a diversified group of information technology companies with an annual turnover of more than R250 million – an achievement that made him South Africa’s Emerging Entrepreneur in Ernst & Young’s World Entrepreneur Awards in November 2009.
The chief executive officer of Spatial Data Holdings and founder of several start-up IT companies has won a number of other awards including Black IT Company of the Year in 2002, KZN IT Company of the Year, KZN IT Person of the Year, Best Outsourcing Company of the Year, and was voted among the Top 20 Unlisted Companies of the Year in 2001 by Business Day.
In 2009 the soft-spoken and humble Govender became the second non-American to receive an award from the International Association of Assessing Officers in the United States.
He says that in addition to hard work, his success hinges on innovation and adapting international technology for the local South African environment – and from seeing opportunities where others do not.
“Entrepreneurs must have the ability to identify business opportunities, and then make them happen, says Govender, who loves music and buys at least two to three CDs a month – anything from R&B to pop and jazz, but with a penchant for trumpet and wind instruments.
His rags-to-riches story begins in Chatsworth, with a childhood he describes as difficult and steeped in poverty. The eldest of two sons, Govender was brought up by his single mother, a clothing factory machinist.
As a little boy, Govender would help his mother make ends meet on weekends by selling clothing and jewellery or Tupperware and AMC kitchen accessories to the community.
Although he excelled at school, both academically and in sport, Govender had to drop out of his studies to become a teacher at the University of Westville (now part of the University of KwaZulu-Natal) due to student protests and limited funds.
Accustomed to working hard and coming out on top, he began his career as a data capture clerk at Cliff Harvey and Partners, a Durban-based land surveying firm.
Although not part of his job, Govender studied computer manuals and books at night and taught himself how to program and write software in between other entrepreneurial activities to supplement his income.
In the 1980s, Govender’s boss gave him the opportunity to pilot the creation of a land information system for Durban. He managed this project as a part-time business in addition to his full-time job.
The success of the pilot scheme saw the Global Information Systems (GIS) project extended throughout KZN, and Govender founded his first company that operated as a close corporation with two members.
The pair designed and wrote software to capture data and automate the GIS output required, creating valuable intellectual capital.
In 1990, Govender was headhunted by the Aircraft Operating Company to lead its land information systems in Durban. Some of this work was handed to him to run as a sub-contractor after hours.
At the same time, Govender saw a gap in the software market for accounting programs for medical professionals, and wrote a suite of medically focused accounting software.
Finding that his part-time income was exceeding his full-time income, Govender and his partner moved full time into their own IT business and co-founded Data World in November 1994.
Growing a start-up business without any capital meant that Govender and his family lived off the teacher’s salary of his wife, Vanessa, for several years.
By reinvesting the money made, Data World grew, doubling turnover and staff consistently in the first few years until Data World became one of the leading GIS companies in South Africa, landing contracts from the Durban and Pietermaritzburg municipalities, Umgeni Water and Statistics South Africa.
“I’ve always wanted to be successful – largely because we grew up in a poor family and I wanted to ensure that my hard-working mother would be taken care of,” says Govender, a former boy scout and St. John Ambulance volunteer at soccer matches.
Living by the values of honesty, integrity and humility, Govender says that author Aziz Hassim advised him early on in his career not to focus on the material things to show success, but to reinvest in the business.
Quick to pick up on industry trends, Govender realised the need to provide web-based applications and formed Spatial Data Holdings in 1998 as an investment company, and created a niche subsidiary Data Matrix to provide Internet-based solutions to government departments.
In 2003 Govender joined the eThekwini Municipality’s IT Hub, starting a business process outsourcing (BPO) company called BizWorks.
The company currently serves British Telecom and Marks & Spencer out of its BPO office at the SmartXChange hub in Durban.
The father of two daughters, Zara and Nika, also ventured into partnership with Indian company Ramco Systems in 2003, creating an enterprise resource planning company CityWorks, which focuses on integrating software to allow various applications to communicate effectively.
CityWorks went on to win the tender to provide the development platform and services for eThekwini’s billing and financial administration.
Seeing computerised valuations as a growing opportunity, Govender researched international trends and began eValuations in 2004 to make the most of the business opportunity to be found around the legislative changes to municipal property evaluations in South Africa.
eValuations has grown to become the largest valuation company in South Africa, and is expanding, through joint ventures, into India and China.
“Innovation has always been a key ingredient in the companies I have created. Largely being self-funded and debt free requires innovation.
“Our slogan has always been: to think, innovate, create,” says Govender.
Another niche business using digital pen and paper technology, Xcallibre was started in 2007 with the acquisition of United Kingdom-owned Destiny Wireless SA. Xcallibre is the only company in Africa to provide the technology for mobile-based computing, servicing blue-chip firms, and is exploring opportunities in the Middle East and India.
Govender, whose client service motto is to make his customers look good, says one of his key clients is the United Nation’s Food and Agricultural Organization, which uses the technology for animal disease surveillance in rural parts of Africa.
Remaining focused on IT-based services, but selecting niche products, has differentiated the companies owned by Spatial Data Holdings from the more traditional IT companies.
“Even the BPO-related BizWorks separates itself from others by sticking to technical support and high-end customer support,” says Govender.
The innovation that he offers has grown largely out of integrating different technologies to develop particular solutions required by customers. Another example of this is Vista Imaging, which is building street-level imagery content for South Africa.
“Using a camera system that is mounted to a motor vehicle, we are driving and recording imagery of all major streets in all the major cities of South Africa – similar to the imagery now available on Google Earth,” says Govender.
A top achiever at school, he says: “I’ve always maintained that getting first place is half the journey. Staying in front is the hard part.”
Govender describes himself as financially risk averse, as a result of his childhood and experiences as a young adult, and has built his businesses through hard work and very limited borrowing.
“My mom always instilled in me a culture of hard work and discipline, and I think that has played a critical role in my success,” he says.
“I believe in a very hands-on approach and a flat management style that stimulates innovation. Being in the IT sector demands that I be involved in most layers of the business and have in-depth knowledge of our customer requirements and what the solutions are.
“It is also important for our customers that we provide leadership of their projects, and I am normally involved in the larger projects at that level,” he adds.
“We’ve had to revise strategies and deal with the economic slowdown, but on the positive side, it has allowed us to be more creative and start to develop some innovative products that we are bringing to the market in 2010.”
“The effect of the stronger rand is impacting on our BPO business. Our customers are also affected by the recession and there we have very little flexibility to increase prices,”
says Govender.
The companies he owns through Spatial Data Holdings have cash reserves of more than R50m and net income of about the same figure, with liabilities of only around R10m. This is a strong platform for growth, and Govender is looking at acquisitions as a means to do this.
Already under discussion is the acquisition of valuation companies in the Western Cape and Gauteng to expand the area of service offered by eValuations, as well as the purchase of a 25% stake in US-based Spatial Comps to expand into the US valuations market.
He also is looking at licensing for an internationally patented technology for fibre-optic broadband provision and the acquisition of a significant equity stake in a listed BPO company in South Africa.
Govender, who recently acquired the new four-seater Porsche Panamera to suit his family lifestyle, says he plans to grow the combined turnover of his IT businesses to R1 billion within five years, with a profit before tax of 20%, or R200m.
As far as technology goes, next focus is speech recognition. Govender says he already has entered into partnership with a leading Indian company to implement solutions-based automated voice response and speech technology.
Also under discussion is the purchase of a majority shareholding in a company specialising in audiovisual and multimedia solutions.
Govender, who is fond of curries and Thai and Japanese food, says Vanessa has had the biggest impact on his business life. “She gave me the freedom to start the business and live off her salary for a few years, and has always stuck by me and listened to my ideas and problems.
“Having a stress-free environment away from the office creates a balance that ensures my mind is focused. I tend to be a very private person, and having this space is great,”
he says.
Too busy to read anything except business magazines such as The Economist and the Harvard Business Review, Govender says now that his mother is taken care of financially, his focus has shifted to job creation.
His businesses employ more than 500 people around the country and have a very strong black economic empowerment shareholding and BEE partnerships.
Through his involvement in Durban’s SmartXChange business hub, Govender has assisted with the creation and start-up of several BEE companies. ▲
Sharon Davis
