Elite Fire Protection celebrated its third year since officially opening in 2018.
Using our strong points in experience, which the owner has, and some business skills that I have learnt in my time working in the corporate environment, we took a huge risk and never in our wildest dreams realized we would be here.
It took one client to be convinced and put his faith into the company. It was this single project that opened doors for more opportunities and enabled Elite Fire to grow and although still quite small, it has allowed us to provide employment opportunities.
It has been nothing short of obstacles, frustration, and successful moments.
As Lorne Michaels said, “Sometimes the wheel turns slowly, but it turns turns”. That is what has kept us going this year. Just knowing that it could never be all bad and our turn for celebration was coming.
It has proven to be quite a challenging year and although difficult, giving up was never an option. When you have a team that is committed, hardworking and reliable, they deserve to be recognized and we would not be here without them.
Whilst at times it may seem that you work in isolation, the key to any successful business is to have good team dynamics, and that’s what we hope to continue into 2022.
We are also truly grateful to our clients, past and present, our family and our friends that have supported us along the way.
What have we learnt?
Not having a background in fire protection and being an “outsider” to this essential industry, has opened my eyes into a whole new world.
I can, without a doubt, say that many people outside of the fire protection industry do not realize the importance of proper and quality fire protection in the workplace, and the seriousness of not protecting your building.
What they do realize and then become hesitant is the cost of fire protection.
Fire protection in the bigger scheme of things, is not costly at all. When considering your property, being able to run your business and the lives of yourself and employees, the cost becomes less important. The bottom line is, if you do not have the right fire protection, you stand the risk of losing everything.
This brought me the idea to start creating awareness and promote the fire industry in general. While yes, we live in a competitive world, we all need to have one common goal. Spread Awareness and educate on safety. We all have a role to play.
In South Africa, spreading awareness and educating on fire safety is not a priority and yet the cost associated with damages and the loss of lives, far outweighs the responsibility by the fire industry to promote and protect.
We have also come to learn that a few clients do take shortcuts with fire protection systems which is a huge concern and the risks that are associated with this: damages, loss of lives, risk of insurance non-payments. There is a definite need for awareness. As a matter of urgency, when you take shortcuts on fire safety, you’re taking shortcuts with lives. Protecting your people.
Every so often, we also come across fire protection companies or their subcontractors’ taking shortcuts and need to be called out and reported where negligent. In the few instances where this has occurred, it has been found that certain property owners were not aware of these issues.
While creating awareness and education should be a common goal, ensuring that fire protection companies uphold the standards of safety belongs to the individual company and of course associations, and consultants conducting the inspection.
What do we foresee happening in 2022?
More celebrations, more competition, and perhaps more collusion.
While we cannot disclose information yet, we do have some exciting news to share in the new year, which is cause for celebration.
More companies may bid competitively for tenders, and tenders that they never saw themselves bidding for to expand their business.
Competition is always healthy, but what is not is collusion. Covid has affected many businesses and the financial struggle is real. This may in turn tempt individuals to collude in tenders to secure business, and this will result in further damage of the fire industry as a collective.
What do we hope for the New Year?
- Success
- Building trust
- Have more fire protection companies create awareness and education without crossing the line in business and sharing company information.
- End of collusion
While we cannot force companies to jump on the bandwagon to educate and create awareness, I sincerely hope that my posts have ignited a flame in at least just a single person or organization to start spreading it.
Going into our fourth year we say, “onwards and upwards”
