Sipho Masondo
4 December 2007
Johannesburg — WHILE overseas doing duty for the national surf lifesaving team a few years ago, Peter Mote of Port Elizabeth spotted a gap in the markets of the countries he visited for South African surfskis, the sit-on sea kayaks used by lifesavers.
However, Mote says inexperience in the business world and pressure from other commitments kept him from pursuing his dream .
Eventually, after retiring as a serving lifesaver in 2003, he decided to give it a try. "In life I have a philosophy that the phrase 'if only' shouldn't be used. You have to get out there and try something and see if it will work or not. In my case it worked and it's still working."
The company he started with two colleagues, called Red Seven, operated at first from his garage, where he designed and manufactured the first surfskis. "We didn't know anything, it was all trial and error."
At the time Mote was running Tarpaulin and Canvas, a business manufacturing tents, truck and industrial covers. But by 2005 Red Seven had grown to the point where he had to make a critical decision on whether to concentrate on the established and safe tent business or pursue his passion -- designing and manufacturing boats. "I followed Red Seven, and it has remained my passion. It just seemed so logical to turn my hobby into a business."
Red Seven's first export order was for seven surfskis from a customer in Australia, a deal he bagged after advertising in an online surfski directory. "The first few orders were all small, but we grew from there and today we supply England, France, Dubai, Australia, New Zealand, America, Tahiti, Canada and Trinidad and Tobago with surfskis and boats."
On average the company now exports about 60 surfskis a month. "All of our product are made to order. We don't manufacture products to decorate our warehouse and hope that someone will come through and buy from us. We are growing with time -- people watch our staff with a lot of interest."
He attributes Red Seven's success to two factors -- the method he uses in designing his products and the way he markets them.
"We use the latest computer technology to help us design our skis. Computers help us design the skis for maximum performance, stability and speed. We also have a simulator in the system where we can test the skis and boats after designing them. With these kinds of design you know it is totally symmetrical.
"That's the biggest advantage, it takes away the element of human error ," he says, adding that in the past boats and surfskis were designed and manufactured manually.
The company has developed a website as its main marketing tool over-and-above advertising on an international website that is popular among the lifesaving fraternity, which he says ensures the Red Seven link gets more than 8000 hits a day. New products are reviewed regularly on the website.
Some of SA's top surfski paddlers, including Matthew Bowman, David Mocke and his wife Nicky Mocke, use Red Seven products, which is also invaluable publicity -- Nicky Mocke recently won a World Life Saving Championship on a Red Seven ski. "When the rest of the world sees what the top guys are paddling, they just follow suit," Mote says.
The websites and the use of top paddlers is the best way of increasing awareness in the market, he says, but the quality of production and designs are also extremely important. "We don't copy anyone else's designs, we do our own. We would rather be market leaders than market followers."
As an exporter, Mote says it is also critical to be able to make intelligent predictions of how the market will look in future. This is a risky business, but he believes it is better to take the risk than shy away from it and miss out on opportunities.
"I realised that paddling was going to be the fastest growing sport in the world, and it turned out to be correct. It is now very big worldwide: there is fishing, sea kayaks, surf skiing and canoeing."
And to attest to his success, Mote recently won a coveted award at the Eastern Cape Exporter Awards, which were held recently. He was recognised as the province's most entrepreneurial exporter .
"It was a surprise and such and honour for me. If you look at the companies that were shortlisted and those whose names are on the trophy, you will realise why I am so happy," he says.
Although Red Seven has a large competitor based up the coast in East London, Mote says he believes there is plenty of room in the local market for both companies . "You can't spend a lifetime worrying about competition. We forget about competition and concentrate on our designs, which we believe are simply the best. But we strive to improve on service and quality all the time, too."
Red Seven employs 10 people and produces an average of two surf skis a day, which Mote hopes to increase to five by the end of next year. Although the prospect of exporting never occurred to him in Red Seven's early days, he says he now knows anyone can export.
"As long as you have the right product at the right time, people will want it," he says.
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