Startup Story
In South Africa, with more and more people choosing to work from home, sourcing essential products and services and, importantly, getting them delivered, has become a must-have. Tania Moonsammy, founder of The Business Concierge has the solution and the team to offer a bespoke product sourcing and delivery service for her clients.
LoA learned more about this business providing a much needed service to its clients from founder Tania this month.
What does your company do?
We offer our clients the peace of mind that they can use one supplier for all their office and home requirements, whilst enjoying great service delivery and communication throughout the process. We provide them with groceries, stationery, cartridges, branded corporate clothing and gifts, as well as COVID essentials and locally produced gifts and cleaning solutions.
We have also added on an online grocery shopping and door-2-door delivery service to our product offering, which we have been offering corporate clients for over 5 years now, because we find ourselves in a time where more and more people are now working from home.
“Our value proposition has always been personalized service, communication throughout the sales process and great service delivery in a time where the client hasn't been 'Queen' for the longest time.”
What inspired you to start your company?
The Business Concierge was born out of the realization that clients deserve more! That there was a need for a service provider who offers personalized service, can meet tight deadlines without compromising on quality and works flexible hours, because businesses don't close at 5pm. We have also identified an opportunity to position our existing business in the online grocery shopping space, as our swot analysis indicated huge gaps in the current offerings.
Why should anyone use your service or product?
Our value proposition has always been personalized service, communication throughout the sales process and great service delivery in a time where the client hasn't been 'Queen' for the longest time. With our new offering, it includes; full deliveries within 24 hours of placing your order, no substitution without your consent and direct communication with your grocery shopper and all queries are dealt with locally. And we trade from 8am - 8pm, because business and personal needs doesn't operate during business hours only.
Tell us a little about your team
My teams ‘commitment to back-up our brand promise of 'Our End Game Is Excellence' is what is going to propel the business's growth and expansion impetus. Whilst we are a very young team of 5, having been together for just over a year, we have been working hard to be able to operate at the Concierge level, which is paying attention to the smallest of details, communicating with the client at all times, asking questions when we don't understand and not allowing mediocrity to become our service standard.
“My teams ‘commitment to back-up our brand promise of 'Our End Game Is Excellence' is what is going to propel the business's growth and expansion impetus.”
Share a little about your entrepreneurial journey. And do you come from an entrepreneurial background?
My father was an entrepreneur before the word existed and my mom’s superpower was the ability to stretch money beyond human comprehension. Their legacy was one of possibility; "If you worked hard and didn't allow your circumstances to dictate your future, you could do and be anything you wanted." Working for a corporate was out of my comfort zone, being an entrepreneur was my norm. So it was a natural progression for me once I had gained enough work experience and felt ready to take the leap of faith, to start my first business in 2009 and strategically launched The Business Concierge in May 2020, to give other entrepreneurs the hope to do the same.
What are your future plans and aspirations for your company?
I have been looking at ways to alleviate the financial burden placed on so many during this time of COVID. So we've identified an opportunity to position our existing business in the online grocery shopping space, as our swot analysis indicated huge gaps in the current offerings.
My future plans are to hire women to do something that comes so naturally to most of us, shopping. Training them to operate at the Concierge level, until they are at a level to train others and so the cycle of empowerment continues. We will then revolutionize the online grocery shopping industry by plugging the huge gaps in service delivery, accountability, accuracy and consistency.
What gives you the most satisfaction being an entrepreneur?
Being able to identify gaps in the market, innovate and improve on them to create a sustainable business, whilst empowering and uplifting other women in the process.
Showcasing entrepreneurship as an option when people are facing retrenchment, salary cuts and so many other life-altering challenges. Just being a survivor when so many businesses are closed or closing.
“My future plans are to hire women to do something that comes so naturally to most of us, shopping.”
What's the biggest piece of advice you can give to other women looking to start-up?
Have multiple mentors with the expertise necessary to propel you and your business forward and do not look at your current circumstances and allow it to dictate whether you start or not, 'jump and the net will appear.' Cultivate and grow your networks through organisations like Lionesses of Africa, so that you can leverage off that relationships for inspiration, new business opportunities and mentorship.
Failure is only proof that you tried, giving up is never an option!
Contact or follow The Business Concierge
WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | EMAIL tania@baconcierge.co.za
Find out more about the founder
To meet Tania Moonsammy, founder of The Business Concierge, is to meet a woman entrepreneur who is passionate about finding solutions for her clients’ day-to-day business operations, taking a personalized, tailor-made approach to the services she offers. Her goal is to be a trusted first port-of-call to source essential products and services on behalf of the companies and individuals she lists as her clients. Tania has won many competitions and garnered nominations throughout her entrepreneurial journey, some as notable as winning the opportunity to go to Australia to represent the Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship by joining serial entrepreneur, Creel Price on the Ultimate Growth Adventure Bootcamp and pitching her business to James Caan of Dragons Den fame. She was a SACCI woman in business of the year finalist in 2017, won the first EY Pitch perfect competition in the same year, and is a Lionesses of Africa Accelerator and EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women fellow. Tania is a big believer in “When you are Blessed, you Bless others” so she has volunteered her services to the Junior Achievers South Africa organisation, facilitating their Company of the Year pitching competition workshops for grade 10-11 learners, as well as hosting 'The Holy Hustle' community show on Facebook, showcasing budding entrepreneurs by teaching them how to pitch their businesses and interviewing guests to present entrepreneurship as an option.
Why LoA loves it….
Finding a gap in the market and then creating a solution to fill that gap is key to success for entrepreneurs, and Tania is one entrepreneur who knows how to spot an opportunity. Her extensive experience in business concierge services is coming into its own now during these times of remote working expansion. Tania is creating a much needed bespoke concierge service for both corporate and private clients, bringing convenience with a personalized touch to their lives. This is a business model set to grow as more and more consumers are looking for this type of service, and Tania is well positioned for that growth. — Melanie Hawken, founder & ceo of Lionesses of Africa