The Sandpit

One building block at a time

How exactly did companies manage to survive and grow during the recession?  With a low entrepreneurial success rate in good times, it seems almost impossible to survive, let alone grow in bad times.  How do you turn a local hardware store in Malvern into an industry leader with massive growth potential? And what are the ingredients that go into a solid business foundation that can survive even the toughest storms that the global economic recession casts its way?

Since entrepreneur David Dworcan started the building and supplies company - The Sandpit - in 1993, the company has gone from employing 12 people to just over 100. With plans in the pipeline to grow into a much larger retail outlet, David’s aiming to double that figure in the next two years.

For starters, says Dworcan, one must have passion. “What has been a motivational tool in running this business is passion – I enjoy coming to work, I enjoy what I do and I enjoy the people that are around me.”

While Dworcan initially planned to pursue a career in law after he completed his BCom Law degree, the construction industry got under his skin from a very young age and an opportunity came his way that was too good to pass up. “My father has always been in the construction industry and, as a kid, I used to go to work with him every Saturday and work in the tool shed,” he reminisces.

It has been far from easy, especially coming through the global economic recession, but the growth of The Sandpit over the last decade speaks for itself as far as reaping the rewards of hard work are concerned.

“When I first started, I aimed for increased productivity and the effectiveness of the people around us to maximise returns,” Dworcan states whilst explaining his initial plan of action for The Sandpit. “It was very tough, and we grew slowly in the beginning, but today we’ve turned the company into a large competitor in the industry.”

As any business owner will tell you, there aren’t any shortcuts, and there are no ‘tricks’ to speak of, but there are some basic business fundamentals which Dworcan has embraced that all businesses can benefit from, especially in these tough economic times.

“I believe that, if you haven’t been affected by the recession, you haven’t learnt,” Dworcan says adamantly. “Being able to change in a changing environment is crucial. A lot of businesses, from what we’ve seen, have been stifled because they refuse to change. Change is pain, but if you don’t change in a changing environment, you’re going to get left behind.”

“So change in IT infrastructure, change in people, change in processes; it’s a continuous process all businesses have to go through. It is the only way to realise that things can be done differently and better than before. If you’re not willing to try, massive potential goes to waste.”

Another key point is approaching a problem from all angles and thinking beyond the obvious. That’s what Dworcan and his team did when they realised they were going to have to think out of the box to get some new clients. “There’s a big thing in our industry called loyalty,” he explains. “People deal with and carry on dealing with people that they know and trust, and that they’ve dealt with in the past. So we had to be extremely creative to build new relationships.”

“One of the things I do believe in is always to treat others as I would like to be treated. Having that level of value or ethic has put me in good stead in business, and built a lot of good, strong relationships. Communication is almost as critical as honour, integrity and trust.”

“We had never supplied roads infrastructure, but we had contacts in the game where people knew people who were doing a lot of infrastructure in certain of the township areas. We were introduced, and we started building relationships with these people, who turned into very good clients along the way. We really had to use networks that we had created to access those sorts of clients – clients we’d never experienced before.”

On the subject of building relationships, Dworcan cannot say enough about surrounding oneself with efficient, loyal partners and employees. “It’s critical to have good people around you. You can have a class A opportunity and a class B team, and you will fall; or a class B opportunity and a class A team and you will succeed and fly.”

An inspiration to many businesses that are buckling under the financial pressure of the after effects of the collapse of the US economy in 2008, Dworcan is humble but positive about running a business in the middle of a recession.

“It’s been hard to stay afloat, but the fact that we are still here and trading makes us proud,” he concedes. “Generally speaking, the construction industry is the first to feel bad times, and also the first to feel good times. We’ve been something of a barometer of what the economy does hold, and the good times haven’t hit yet.”

“What we’re seeing is that anything can happen. We’re seeing one phenomenally good day, and then the next day can be very quiet, but as long as at the end of the month you’re up on the last year, and you’re in the profitable stage, you’re smiling.”

The Sandpit prides itself on having both short and long term goals at all times, and even if the goal posts have to be shifted from time to time, the focus and determination that those goals provide cannot but drive a business and its employees forward. While Dworcan describes the challenges ahead as “huge”, he feels that the long terms goals set for 2012, 2015 and 2020 are nonetheless realistic. This, combined with his admirable personal business philosophy, is probably as close as one will ever get to a winning formula.