Memoirs of an ambitious entrepreneur
Inspired by his mother who used to sell farm produce, Rinos Mautsa, the founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Tech24 Group had entrepreneurship traits flowing in his blood from a tender age.
“My mother influenced me to be who I am today because I saw her working hard, producing results despite being a widow with little resources. She managed to take all her kids to tertiary education pushing us to do better. I lived with that inspiration till this day,” said the 37-year-old, Mautsa in an interview.
“My dad was a focused man, when he passed on my mother had to work hard to maintain the standard of life that we had always lived when he was still alive.”
From Manjanja Primary School to Emmanuel School in Nyanga, hard work and determination saw him sail through the various stages of his tertiary education until he attained a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in business administration, and a doctorate in Customer Relationship Management.
“I also did an executive leadership programme with Oxford University,” he said.
Due to his passion for entrepreneurship, he bought a home theatre to run a movie business while he was studying for his first degree at the Midlands State University (MSU).
Dr Mautsa said he started with very little capital and it took him years to record success because he lacked mentorship. At some point, he lost everything due to poor management skills.
Despite the challenges he faced in building his career early on, Dr Mautsa said he did not give up, but rather, remained focused until he ‘crossed the bridge’.
He began his journey to the top in 2010 with a non-profit making customer experience service provider, Contact Centre Association of Zimbabwe, where he worked as the executive secretary.
and the director of the integrated technology company, Tech24 group which is now operating beyond borders in countries like Zambia and Malawi.
“After my first degree, I relocated to South Africa where I learnt about call centres, at 24, I came back to Zimbabwe and established the first call centre and software development company, which now has presence in Zambia and customers across South Africa.
“In the same year, I went on to set up the Contact Centre Association of Zimbabwe (CCAZ), which is now one of the largest associations in the country,” he said.
He is also the chief executive officer (CEO) of Picco Construction company, a construction solutions provider, director of the liquid petroleum gas (LPG) distributor, Energy Plus and the Leisure Plus which provide tourism services, all of which he founded.
Dr Mautsa is also the co-founder of the Chartered Institute of Customer Management, which has a footprint in more than 10 countries across Africa.
“In 2014, I established Chartered Institute of Customer Management, which is headquartered in South Africa with presence in over 10 countries. Since then, I started following my passion and I diversified my empire into construction, tourism, energy and real estate,” he said.
The business now has over 100 employees in Harare and Manicaland.
“I have been promoting the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry, contracting with an external service provider to perform an essential business task in Zimbabwe through CCAZ.
“When we started, we had no BPO operations at all. Currently through our efforts over 20 000 people are now working in the Business Process Outsourcing space,” he said.
Through his philanthropy work, Dr Mautsa set up Campus Community Foundation that is mentoring hundreds of students from tertiary institutions and also paying school fees for 32 pupils till tertiary level.
He now adds ten more students on the list every year on his birthday.
Apart from being an entrepreneur, Dr Mautsa is also an author and published his first book – “The Will of Time” – which was launched two months ago. Dr Mautsa however underscored the importance of mentorship, be it from local or international mentors, something that helped shape his career path development.
Going forward, he sees his construction company dominating the region in the next five years targeting strong presence in at least 10 countries with a view to bridge the housing deficits in the region.
Dr Matsa is also looking to resolve energy poverty by wholesaling LPG through partnerships with established entities in the Middle East and Russia, while the Chartered Institute of Customer Management is seen spreading into Asia, Middle East and Europe in addition to the 13 countries they already operate from. He however highlighted that determination remains key, although there may be
challenges along the way.
“Every day we face new challenges, however it is my purpose and goals that keeps me going,” he said.-The Herald
