Lebo Gunguluza, Entreprenuer, Strategist and Motivational Speaker - "The Breakthrough Entrepreneur"
Lebo Gunguluza My Story:
THE ULTIMATE BREAKTHROUGH ENTREPRENEUR
Sunday World’s Shwashwi is one of the most
recognized media brands in South Africa, but few know as much about the man
behind this popular gossip sensation, not to mention the countless successes in
both the media, entertainment and hospitality industries. Lebo Gunguluza is an
influential innovator and the ultimate “breakthrough entrepreneur”. He has
overcome the odds that were stacked against him from the start and broke the
boundaries by starting a multi-million rand empire without funding and by
creating a revolutionary organization with a group of successful entrepreneurs
to help aspiring township and rural entrepreneurs start and grow successful
businesses.
Having set clear goals of financial success for
himself at the tender age that: by the age of 25, he must have been a
millionaire; by the age of 35, he must have been a multi-millionaire; and by
the age of 45, he must be a billionaire, Lebo Gunguluza achieved his first
goal, at the age of 27, when he made his first million rand through a series of
entertainment events and activities that redefined the possibilities of
success.
Early Years: Lebo Gunguluza was born in Port
Elizabeth were he matriculated with flying colours. Armed only with R60, he got
on a bus to study at the University of Natal in Durban. This is where he worked
part-time at a retail store to fund his full time studies. After acquiring his
degree in record time, he then decided to move to Johannesburg to get a job to
help support his family.
Getting Started: Lebo Gunguluza’s first experience
in the world of media and business was with SABC, selling advertising space on
black radio stations. This is where he developed a passion for the media
industry. Before long he was promoted as Brand Communications Executive and
spent most of his time designing programme packages that the advertisers bought
into. He then moved through to Metro FM, ending up as Marketing & Sales
Manager, and was sent to USA to attend a broadcast and media-training course.
On his return, he joined Herdbuoys as
Accounts Manager, where he managed key accounts like SA Breweries, Metro FM and
the return of Hush Puppies to South Africa
Gunguluza’s upward-bound career came to a screeching
halt in 1997 when he embarked upon a process of self-discovery that resulted in
his resignation from Herdbuoys. “I knew I was going to be an entrepreneur”, he
says. “I had made the decision to take responsibility for myself and had
decided that I was not be surviving from hand to mouth in a new democracy with
great opportunities, when I also needed to support my family in Port Elizabeth
who were going through a rough patch.”
Entrepreneurial Spirit: Lebo Gunguluza’s
entrepreneurial drive secured his first business deal with the owner of a night
club called Insomnia, where he put together entertainment attractions and
marketed them in exchange for a percentage at the door. The success of this
deal made him a well-known promoter in entertainment circles with a reputation
for organizing the best parties in Johannesburg. He used this opportunity to
partner with YFM, a new youth radio station at that time, conceptualized major
events that made him a big player and helped him reach a peak on his financial
success through his sold-out youth events at Newtown’s Electric Workshop. The
news of Gunguluza's success spread through the entertainment industry like
wildfire and sparked an army of young budding entrepreneurs all wanting to
start similar businesses. He responded to the imitators by establishing Gunguluza Entertainment, where
he diversified his business interest by starting an independent record label
and artist management unit which led him to form strategic partnerships with
key promoters.
He invested most of his resources on these new
initiatives but the return on investment was never realized. The market was
also very fickle and unreliable, and the promoters were not helping either with
their dodgy operational ethics. This was not enough to sustain his business. By
early 1999 his income had slowly petered out and he was left burdened by debt.
He was forced to sell his car and close all his account and had to bear the
humiliation of being blacklisted with the credit bureau. Things got so bad that
for a while he had to rely on his family to pay his rent. He lost weight simply
because he could not afford to buy food.
It was in this, the darkest time of his life, that
Gunguluza learnt three priceless lessons in business by which he has lived ever
since. These were the importance of working with a good paying market, managing
cash flow and the value of planning in business. “This was a light bulb moment
in my life,” says Gunguluza. “As strange as it may sound, it had never occurred
to me that I should carefully manage my cash flow or even plan my business.”
It was also during this time of poverty that he
asked himself a critical question “Why is he so broke, and yet famous figures
such as Richard Branson, Donald Trump and the the Onassis of this world were so
rich.” He made a decision that day to go read about these guys. He spent
endless hours at the CNA, reading biographies of these billionaires, and from
time to time being chased away by staff members for not buying the books.
This learning phase inspired him to continue his
entrepreneurial journey, with two great lessons on hand, the first one being
that “Whatever business you go into, you must love it and know it like the back
of your hand” and the second lesson being that “You must be its number one
salesperson and that all companies are always looking for the best salesperson
to improve their bottom-line”. Instead of allowing depression over his failure
to engulf him, Gunguluza decided to start again from scratch and look for a new
business opportunity that avoided the pitfalls of his last business. “This time
I was looking for sustainability in a business,” he says. “I wanted to target a
more stable clientele than before (a good paying market)”.
The birth of GEM Group of Companies: Lebo Gunguluza
recognized his business sustainability was in the private sector, and that this
market segment is broader and diverse. He secured himself a position in a
corporate communication company to learn more about the business of selling
media space in publishing and corporate events.
Nine-months later, to showcase a clear change in focus he established
Corporate Fusion, a corporate communication and events management company.
Within 18 months, this company that was run from a townshouse with a single
telephone line was generating over R2 Million. Gunguluza rewarded himself by
buying himself amongst other things his first Porsche that he always wanted.
Building on the success of Corporate Fusion, Gunguluza formed GIDE, a youth
development and career guidance development company in partnership with his
brother who also joined the growing group of companies. A year later the turnover had doubled, and
Gunguluza decided to move into proper offices and register Gunguluza
Enterprises and media, known today as the GEM Group, which was established to
overlook the new divisions and growing group of companies.
The GEM (Gunguluza Enterprises & Media) Group of
Companies was born as a multimedia and communication company with seven
business channels namely: a television production company; a training and
development company; a publishing company which produced amongst other
publications a country-wide student newspaper called Campus Times; an events
company that launched the Eastern Cape Awards, the South African Education
Awards, the Soweto Awards and a number of major conferences.
The rise and fall of GEM Group of Companies: The
company started turning over millions and Gunguluza had no experience in
managing such high turnovers, and had no knowledge about investment markets. He
then decided to acquire a million-rand building that the Gem Group was
operating from and the rest of his new found wealth was spent acquiring more
cars. He employed more than 40 people who were randomly recruited based on
looks, friendship and family ties. He
also travelled extensively overseas and started losing sight of his business
operations. While overseas, one of his key projects took a big knock that
affected his major account that used to succesfully sustain his busness. He
came back early from his overseas trip to rescue the project, but it was too
late. He lost that client and two other major clients all in the month of
August 2004. This was the worst time of his life, as his company was fast going
into debt. Within six month (mid 2005), Gunguluza was in debt of over
R2-miliion and had to make some key decisions going forward. He fired most of
his staff, sold some of his cars and businesses, but that did not help much. He
finally closed the company for a while to settle his debts. Some the staff
members took him to the CCMA, and had creditors houding him everyday for the
next couple of months. The pressure became so much that he decided to close his
cellphone line for a period of three months, and used that time to figure his
next move.
New Business Opportunities: As the company
collapsed, Gunguluza learnt his next crucial lesson in business. “I realized
that if you don’t have the right people in your organisation, you don't have
the right support, especially in times of crisis. A big part of one’s success
is the fact that he or she is surrounded by competent and qualified individuals
who excel in their duties and are able to offer good advice at all times.
”An opportunity then existed to operate Primi Piatti
in Rosebank. Gunguluza’s ex- wife went for training to run the restaurant,
while he was negotiating payment terms with the creditors from the Gem Group of
companies. The restaurant became a sustainable operation which provided a
stable income for his household and gave Gunguluza a chance to re-establish new
business opportunities. It took three years to settle the outstanding debt from
the Gem Group. The restaurant became very popular and helped further profile
Gunguluza as a sustainable and celebrated black entrepreneur in South Africa.
They further recieved the most coveted Tenant's Award for the Highest Growth in
Turnover in their second year of operating the restaurant.
Unfortunately at this time that he was starting to
re-build his empire, Gunguluza and his wife went through a divorce, where she
continued by herself with the restaurant business. Gunguluza then continued re-building
GEM Group of Companies by establishing new companies in the media and
hospitality space and forming further partnerships.
He further partnered with Uhuru Communications, the
publishers of SAA’s Sawubona magazine, who also publish an arts & recreation
magazine called Rootz and a campus publication Student Choice. He solidified
his partnership by successfully launching a new publication called Municipal
Focus, which covers the business of Local Government with a nationwide
distribution to municipalities and government departments. He also took on an
active role as a Commercial Director and had to set up the Johannesburg office
to extend the publishing footprint in South Africa and Africa. He further
secured the ultimate government publication that targets top government
officials called Public Sector Manager to strengthen Uhuru’s portfolio of power
magazines. He further initiated the publishing of the Metro FM publication
called Metro Live, Joy of Jazz and Loocha under the Uhuru stable amongst other initiatives.
To strengthen his publishing interest, he partnered with Realm Digital to drive
his publishing interest into digital publishing. Mr. Gunguluza further acquired
an interest in Ezweni to form the first 100% black owned magazine distribution
agency in South Africa. Mr. Gunguluza is due to launch 3 new publications in
the next 6 months, which includes Destinations, a publication that will extend
our footprint beyond SAWUBONA magazine, as a travel publication. Other upcoming
publications are SOE Review, a publication that looks at the progress of SOEs
in South Africa and PLATINUM, which will be the first men’s magazine in South
Africa to compete directly with FHM and GQ.
Gunguluza also partnered in a R6,2-billion
development deal in Gauteng, which is 10 minutes away from the OR Tambo
International Airport. The first phase of this development kicks off in
November 2011 with a R330 Million Hotel. His hospitality interests are
activated and marketed under Izani Media and Hotels, a wholly owned division of
the GEM Group. In 2011, he further partnered with the Premier Hotel Group, to
invest in new hotel developments in Bloemfontein, Polokwane and Midrand.
His partnership with the Premier Hotel Group has
further allowed him to acquire a 10% interest in the SIGMA Car Rental, which
has a nationwide footprint. In 2011, he further increased his transport
interest by acquiring an interest in PASTRANSCOR, a special transport company,
which his interest mainly in Armoured Vehicles and Defence transportation.
His interest in Communications has remained strong,
his partnership with Two Tone, a branding and advertising agency based in
Sandton and Blue Flame, a specialist design agency has given him the ultimate
position of being the biggest 100% black owned advertising group in South
Africa, winning accounts such as the South African Airways, MTN and more.
As part of his vision to empower young
entrepreneurs, Mr. Gunguluza introduced the 12-12-12 Campaign, which seeks to
recruit 12 young Entrepreneurs in 12 Months to run 12 new Enterprises, which
will be supported by the GEM Group of companies and his network of business
associates. Mr. Gunguluza launched this campaign on 12 December 2012
(12-12-12), after two years of planning.
Mr. Gunguluza launched Izani due to an overwhelming
number of requests from young entrepreneurs requesting mentorship from him, he
decided to start Izani, which translates to a calling that says “I have heeded
your call, Come! (Izani), let us work together”. As a result he embarked on shortlisting
young entrepreneurs with the most potential.
The entrepreneurs are already working in his Sandton
office, and has to date recruited 7 of the 12, and has 5 more months to go. He
has to date dedicated his salary and any other forms of support to fund this
campaign and the entrepreneurs, their office infrastructure as well as their
resources as they run their enterprises. For more information on these
enterprises visit www.izani.co.za
In 2011 he also launched GEM Capital, the Gem
Group's venture capital and private equity arm, which is already involved in a
number of deals including a R230 Million mining venture in the Northern Cape
and R4.2 billion rand retail project in Ballito next to the King Shaka
International Airport. He is also finalizing a deal to acquire a R200-million
broadcast studio in Johannesburg to venture further in his passion for
broadcasting. Gem Capital in partnership with Pastrasncor has secured an
exclusive distribution deal with an international Defence Group and will be launching
that division in February 2012 as a national operation. To date Gunguluza has
learnt a great deal about partnerships, and believes one should not reinvent
the wheel, but also learn and build on opportunities that already exist.
Contributions: Gunguluza has been honoured with
Africa Heritage Youth Entrepreneur Award for his dedication and contributions
to the South African society. He is the co-founder and President of the South
African Black Entrepreneurs Forum (SABEF), a section 21 organisation established
to promote, inspire and grow entrepreneurship in the black communities as the
source of poverty alleviation, job creation and economic growth in South
Africa. He is also the co-founder and Chairman of the Local Government Business
Network (LGBN), a voluntary organisatoion established to promote the
relationship between Local Government and the private sector.
Today Gunguluza heads up the GEM Group of Companies,
an integrated media, hospitality and communications group that offers holistic
media, hospitality and technology solutions to their clients. He continues to
share his entrepreneurial successes and failures through radio and television
interviews and special sessions that are meant to empower and motivate
entrepreneurs and employees of big corporations . This has further assisted the
South African Black Entrepreneurs Forum (SABEF) reach a breakthrough membership,
made up of aspiring entrepreneurs, emerging and established entrepreneurs
Mr Gunguluza is considered one of South Africa’s
most celebrated media entrepreneurs, a strategist and a motivational speaker –
the ultimate breakthrough Entrepreneur
Mr. Lebo Gunguluza joined the professional speaking fraternity in August 2011, by December 2011 he was chosen as one of the Top 3 new motivational speakers of 2011 in South Africa by a leading speaker bureau. Well Done Mr. Lebo Gunguluza!!!
At the age of 27, he became one of South Africa's youngest self-made black millionaires, without any funding or tenders from government, and over the years he built a mulitmillion rand empire where he had to overcome tremendous odds on his entreprenuerial journey. He is one of the key founders of the South African Black Entrepreneurs Forum to address issues facing black entreprenuers in South Africa. Gunguluza adapted the title of "'The Ültimate Breakthrough Entrepreneur" and was awarded with the "Africa Heritage Youth Entrepreneur Award" five years later. He also became a resident millionaire entrepreneur on a youth TV programme called "Take 5", where he guided, motivated and inspired aspiring youth entrepreneurs who are starting or running their own businesses. He was recently honoured by the Millionaires Club with the Leadership Award in May 2010, and also received the Bethesda Business Award for his contribution to the development of Entreprenuership in South Africa.
He is the Founder and Group Chairman of the Gem (Gunguluza Enterprises and Media) Group establlished in 2002, an intergrated media and hospitality group with interests in companies that serve in the media, communications, hospitality and IT spheres.
Mr. Lebo Gunguluza, the President of SABEF, has an extensive experience in communication and media having consulted as National Director of Media Communications for membership-driven organisations such as Nafcoc and the Institute for Local Government Management. Mr. Gunguluza's career started at SABC where he was responsible of promoting the African Language stations, and later Metro FM. He then left for a broadcasting course in the US, and came back to join Herdbouys Advertising. That is where he gained strong understanding of the media and advertising business. His journey as an entreprenuer started in entertainment through his first company Gunguluza Entertainment and later refocused his businesses towards corporate communication and media spaces.
He then later founded the Gem Group which has diversified to various portfolios within the media, leisure and hospitality space which include publishing, television, media technology, restaurants, hotels and resort properties. He is also the Chairman and Principal Consultant of the Local Government Business Network (LGBN). Having an interest in Uhuru Communications, has had him oversee the Commercial Direction of Uhuru Publishing, which publishes Sawubona - SAA's inflight publication, Metro Live - Metro FM's new publication, Municipal Focus and So Joburg amongst other publications. He further acquired an interest in Star Hero Communications, a specialist tabloid newspaper publishing house which publishes Kasi Times, The Red Carpet and the Career Developer, where he is currently the Chairman. He is also Chairman of Izani Speakers, South Africa's leading wholly black owned speaker bureau, which also plays a major role of motivating high risk/school dropout youth in the townships. He is partner at Pastrascor, South Africa's leading passenger transportation company that provides and manages any kind of passenger trasnportation logistics and servicesn, from providing Air Charters, Yachts, Armoured and Luxury Vehicles to both government and private sector. He also Chairman of U-move, South Africa's leading fully black owned and managed Car Rental company, with a breakthrough car rental proposition that does not require a credit car from customers, to cater for the majority of South Africans. He also drives Izani Media and Hotels, which activates and provides specialised solutions to media and hotel owners, as well as Izani Travel, which provides and manages travel solutions, hospitality and holiday packages for corporate, government and high-end consumers.
He then later founded the Gem Group which has diversified to various portfolios within the media, leisure and hospitality space which include publishing, television, media technology, restaurants, hotels and resort properties. He is also the Chairman and Principal Consultant of the Local Government Business Network (LGBN). Having an interest in Uhuru Communications, has had him oversee the Commercial Direction of Uhuru Publishing, which publishes Sawubona - SAA's inflight publication, Metro Live - Metro FM's new publication, Municipal Focus and So Joburg amongst other publications. He further acquired an interest in Star Hero Communications, a specialist tabloid newspaper publishing house which publishes Kasi Times, The Red Carpet and the Career Developer, where he is currently the Chairman. He is also Chairman of Izani Speakers, South Africa's leading wholly black owned speaker bureau, which also plays a major role of motivating high risk/school dropout youth in the townships. He is partner at Pastrascor, South Africa's leading passenger transportation company that provides and manages any kind of passenger trasnportation logistics and servicesn, from providing Air Charters, Yachts, Armoured and Luxury Vehicles to both government and private sector. He also Chairman of U-move, South Africa's leading fully black owned and managed Car Rental company, with a breakthrough car rental proposition that does not require a credit car from customers, to cater for the majority of South Africans. He also drives Izani Media and Hotels, which activates and provides specialised solutions to media and hotel owners, as well as Izani Travel, which provides and manages travel solutions, hospitality and holiday packages for corporate, government and high-end consumers.
For more information on Gunguluza's activities visit www.sabef.co.za, www.lgbn.co.za, www.gemgroup.co.za, www.empowaspeakers.com
R60 and a whole lot of nerve. That’s what Lebo Gunguluza had on him when he arrived in Durban in 1990, determined to enrol for a BCom at the University of Natal. His father died when he was a child and his mother worked as a nurse. There was not much money to go round and what she had managed to save for his tertiary education went on getting him, his brother and his sister through high school in the turbulent late 80s.