Thilomi Govender

14 years ago, a young start-up company entered the telecommunications service arena in South Africa, armed with a name that most people could not spell, a logo with a pot and sun, a business model that was to evolve as directed by the earning of any revenue, a cost centre model , a lifespan that was based on luck , led by a few individuals that occupied corporate offices in the heart of Sandton, which was run and directed by a group of investors that looked at the company as being a conduit to large equity deals. However, she had a 5-year contract awarded to her in a space in the market that was uncontested, needed someone to find her and give her the impetus to become the lady of the industry that she today is. The following recordal is the story of Obscurity to Popularity; I take pleasure in introducing to you Nterra Solutions PTY LTD: A Specialised Infrastructure Development Services Company in South Africa. Nterra Solutions started its operations in October 2003 of the back of a 5-year Master contract with Telkom SA. She was conceived, funded, and owned by three entities that found success in marketing her as an entity that could proliferate the market at a time when BEE debuts were considered the strategy of many large corporate entities. Nterra was 1 of 6 Master contractors in Gauteng contracted to provide telecommunications Build and Maintenance services. Her operations were totally outsourced and she received her revenue as part of the percentage that was incorporated as a Project management cost. In May 2005, the investors were not sure about the companies future, and the cost centre model that was initially employed proved to be the wrong model as the company was not reaching a break-even point and was at a stage where it required investment in order to continue surviving.
Ms Thilomi Govender was brought on board via one of the investors to relook at all operations and to restructure all companies under the investment portfolio to maximise ROI . It was at this stage that we found that by repositioning Nterra and by restructuring the activities and the modus operandi that we could maximise her position in the market.