Your Business – May 01, 2018

FEATURED

Patience, focus and willingness

are the ingredients that Thabang

Legoko, CEO and founder of Lehoko

Energy, believe have helped him to

build up a multi-national corporation

within the traditionally monopolised

petroleum wholesale environment.

Lehoko Energy, a division of Lehoko

Holding, was established in 2015 and

is aimed at become South Africa's most

preferred licensed wholesale supplier of

petroleum products.

"We combine the best of our client's

industry-specific needs with our years

of entrepreneurship experience and

expertise – we find that people usually

want to do business with people they

know, trust and can deliver to their needs,

with our background in the industry we

are in a position to provide world-class

service and products to our customers.

This is achieved through the effective

implementation of a network of trusted

local and international manufacturers,

individualised branding options and skills

development programmes."

In terms of their fleet, they have

partnered with industry leaders in the

distribution and delivery of petroleum

products, in order to honour the

commitment to serve clients with

premium quality. "Compliance with

Hazchem Safety Standards and ISO

accreditation, as well as an impeccably

maintained fleet of tanker trucks and

our trained personnel, contribute to the

delivery of quality products combined

with quality service. We have capacity

to deliver between 5 000 and 120 000

litre capacities to meet our clients'

individual needs, and since we have an

open-hand approach to the market, we

have capacity to increase our fleet on

demand," says Legoko.

When it comes to collaboration, the

company has a unique and individual

commitment to driving strategic BEE

partnerships to greater heights. They

are registered as a 100%, Level 1 BEE

contributor, fully black owned business.

"This milestone achievement serves

testament to our philosophy that says

'there's no hard work that goes without

reward'" says Thabang Legoko. For him

though, he says the greatest reward for

his efforts is being able to meet each day

with the drive and passion to succeed,

and being able to reach beyond his

comfort zone and educate himself about

his client's needs and expectations. He is

living out his very own success story.

Power to the people

Advertorial

Thabang Legoko,

CEO and Founder, Lehoko Energy

It is during our

failure that we

discover our true

desire for success.

It's about just

taking the first

step with faith, and

remembering that

the way you think

creates a reality for

yourself.

THABANG LEGOKO of Lehoko Energy tells us what it's taken to build a business

that aims to employ at least 200 of South Africa's youth in five years...

"Our mission was to establish a dynamic

new role-player within this competitive

environment, servicing the SOEs, marines,

mines and multinational conglomerates

across Sub-Saharan Africa. We saw vast

opportunities in the private and public

sector, along with a lack of young, black,

previously disadvantaged entrepreneurs in

mainstream business," explains Legoko.

A fresh start

Legoko himself is no stranger to

disadvantage, and experienced first-hand

the challenges of working for his father as

a taxi driver, and then having to drop out

of school when his father passed away

and he could no longer afford to pay his

fees. "I was made to believe that I was no

good and would never achieve anything

in life," he says. "That's when I decided

to re-locate from Duduza, Ekurhuleni

where I was born and raised to stay at

a backroom in Davyton with nothing – I

couldn't even get employment because I

was blacklisted for my unpaid school fees.

I took some of the advice I now pass on to

other young people struggling; and made

the decision to create my own way, to stop

complaining, be positive and just make it

happen. I started afresh and set up my first

business of hiring out tents and chairs."

Legoko admits that becoming an

entrepreneur without any business

knowledge, experience, funding or

understanding of the market was no easy

task, but through the difficulties and by

working with different people every day,

he developed a perseverance which is

what kept him going. "It is during our

failure that we discover our true desire for

success. It's about just taking the first step

with faith, and remembering that the way

you think creates a reality for yourself."

World-class products and

services

Legoko's reality is now a 9-person

strong team, offering a wide range of

comprehensive petroleum products

namely; diesel, petrol, aviation gasoline,

liquefied petroleum Gas, Paraffin and oil.