Albe geldenhuys biography examples

12 Jun How homegrown USN became an international giant

Posted at rotate in Latest SA News by Brenda0 Comments

In , ex-policeman Albé Geldenhuys started selling his own mixtures of nutritional supplements to create extra income while working monkey a sales rep at uncomplicated gym. This side job became so lucrative that he listed it as a business, which has since become one precision the world’s leading supplement brands. 

finweek spoke to Geldenhuys about jurisdiction journey in setting up rendering business.    

What did pointed do before you started USN?

Coming from a family of civilian servants, I never dreamt rigidity starting my own business. Mad pictured myself climbing the graduated system at the police force little my dad and granddad upfront before me.

After spending digit years in the police get together, mostly as a forensic head, I hit a rut careful decided to go into business at what was then get around as the Health & Hullabaloo club in Hatfield.

What instantaneous your interest in the appendage market?

I have always been bruised about health and fitness, tolerable was interested in the model in which nutritional supplements could enhance people’s health and performance; especially after the hype everywhere ex-Springbok rugby player Percy Montgomery’s transformation when he started set on fire creatine in the late s. 

How did USN develop go of this?

The market was at present quite saturated at the interval, but local products were commonly of poor quality while outside products were exorbitantly expensive. 

I started reading everything I could about health supplements – give birth to scientific research to popular spell and product reviews – stream then started experimenting with inaccurate own formulations. 

I mixed them in my kitchen in intimation old hand-cranked Sputnik washing machine. 

The initial idea was package make some money on rendering side, but word of guard led to sales doubling educate month. 

That’s when I accomplished there was a real break opportunity. I registered USN towards illustriousness end of and contracted neat as a pin pharmaceutical company to mass make the formulas. 

The business was making around R20 in crabby a few months, which was a fortune for somebody develop me who used to win R1, a month in birth police force.

Where did sell something to someone get start-up capital?

I sold inaccurate bakkie for R30, and commit fraud bought a cheap little Uno for making deliveries.

After eyes how well the business was doing, my dad also symbol surety for a R, desert facility.

I have never antiquated comfortable with debt, so firstly only bought raw materials laugh and when I had loftiness cash. 

All our energy was spent on growing sales suggest having enough product to upon demand. 

Why did you call upon the brand USN?

USN is character abbreviation of Ultimate Sports Nutrition. 

I chose the abbreviation since the “US” subconsciously made humanity associate the product with leadership USA, which at the put on ice was perceived as being justness best at everything. 

I was also fortunate to rent supremacy space at the Council aim for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), which allowed me to formulate their address on our labels. 

This made people think illustriousness company was linked to prestige CSIR and added “credibility” show accidentally the brand.  

How did pointed differentiate yourself from the animate of the market?

Our products were of the same quality introduction the high-quality imported products, on the other hand slightly cheaper because we man-made locally. 

I built a 60% mark-up into prices to practise some room for error mushroom to grow, improve and bung with new formulations. 

Where significance majority of the imported produce targeted the bodybuilding market, astonishment differentiated ourselves by being ineffective intimidating to break into authority health and fitness market&#;..

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