To meet the growing demand for its services and products, Let’s Share Trading fosters healthy relations with black owned businesses and local suppliers and distributors.
After working in the manufacturing sector for years, Mellanie van der Byl witnessed the impact that occupational illnesses had on families, both emotionally and financially, and considered this was an area in which she could, in her own way, make a big difference. She then established Let’s Share Trading (LST).
LST is a 100% black woman-owned business that provides financial support to other organisations that are involving in uplifting women out of oppressive and abusive conditions and empower them with skills and necessary tools to help them create better lives for themselves and their children. Although LST’s core business focus is meet the diverse needs of its clientele by sourcing quality specialised goods from reputable suppliers and industry leaders, van der Byl, says the organisation, as a woman owned entity, understands that empowering other women will be a true measure of its success.
LST offers a wide range of quality Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) solutions in South Africa. The company differs from competitors by ensuring that all products comply with the relevant regulatory standards and will not compromise by supplying sub-standard products even if it means lower profit margins.
The company has grown immensely through consistency. “Being consistent in everything we do, whether in giving clients superior service, continually looking for new business, fulfilling all promises made to both clients and suppliers. So, I would describe the three things that allowed Let’s Share Trading to grow as: consistency, consistency and consistency,” says van der Byl.
In 2013, van der Byl was a nominated participant in the prestigious Ernst & Young Entrepreneurial Winning Women Class. This was a fitting recognition of her dedication to entrepreneurship.
Always an optimist in the face of adversity, van der Byl says, while the fluctuating exchange rate of the Rand and labour unrest affect LST negatively, government procurement policies and the drive to grow small businesses have had a positive impact.
van der Byl doesn’t look at anything as a challenge, but rather as an opportunity to find a way around whatever obstacles are thrown in her path. “A few years ago I read Allan Greenspan’s book, The Age of Turbulence. The world is experiencing immense turbulence and South Africa will feel the impact just like any other emerging economy. So business has to adapt, and adjust to working in this time of turbulence.”
