Reabetswe Moabi

What does your company do?

Akandi is a distributor of a wide variety of locally made office furniture and office accessories. Almost 90% of our office furniture is manufactured in South Africa, which provides our clients with the flexibility for customisation. We work with leading office furniture manufacturers. We get the furniture manufactured according to the clients’ specifications, as each company’s needs vary. Our services include furniture delivery & installation, space planning, office relocations, and office seating re-upholstery. Akandi is based in Gauteng, Centurion. The Company supplies to different provinces all over South Africa. Our responsibility is to understand our clients’ needs thoroughly, then guide them through the process of selecting the most effective office furniture suitable for their work environment.

What is your biggest success?

Completing our office furniture showroom. Building a showroom was a long and capital-intensive project, which we are proud to have completed in just under six years since we began operating. Having this showroom has made it easier for us to close more office furniture deals. It is also an excellent marketing tool, allowing clients to view products in person. We have had companies like Famous Brands, Spar, Assupol, Build It, Liberty, Massmart, GLI Africa, and various Government departments visit our showroom. We believe that as time passes, more and more companies will come to view it and hopefully do business with us. Having this showroom has made Akandi a force to be reckoned with in the office furniture industry, especially given that a female, black youth owns it.

What has been your biggest hurdle?

Not owning our own delivery vechicles. Akandi is still heavily reliant on our manufacturers to deliver the furniture on our behalf to the end users. With Akandi not delivering to the end-user, the biggest hurdle is a lack of control over the delivery process, as we do not yet own delivery vehicles. When a product is delivered, we only know that it was successfully delivered the day after delivery once we receive documentation from the factory, “proof of delivery”. If there are any problems with a delivery, we will only become aware of them the day after. Running a business where we do not have control over one of the most important functions, “deliveries,” can be stressful. As the company generates more revenue, we plan to reinvest in the business by acquiring our own delivery vehicles. These vehicles will enable the factories to deliver furniture directly to Akandi, and we will then deliver it to the client