From renting out his mom's car to building up a fleet of 1000s - Pace Car Rental's success story
Business founder Grenville Salmon tells the story of his entrepreneurial journey on The Money Show.
Anyone who's started their own business will know of the myriad obstacles that have to be faced and overcome.
The story of Pace Car Rental is an illustration of overcoming challenges - founder Grenville Salmon bought one minibus and when the first booking request turned out to be for something different, he rented out his mom's car!
That was almost twenty years ago. Now Pace has a fleet of thousands of cars and employs 400 people.
He always wanted to start his own business, Salmon says, and after working for a car hire company after completing his articles, he took the leap.
The entrepreneur gives Stephen Grootes some idea of their rocky start when he started the business with his wife.
"I bought a house on auction in Sandringham... It had everything, including five double-length garages, and that's where we started."
Grenville Salmon, Founder - Pace Car Rental
"I created a website and I waited, and the phone never rang! Then I started using Gumtree, but we also phoned a lot of the other car rental companies and said 'if you run out of 14-seaters or minibuses' phone us, and they actually did."
Grenville Salmon, Founder - Pace Car Rental
Salmon said they also had to be extra careful about vetting clients because car rental insurance doesn't cover you for absconsion and they were terrified of losing vehicles.
"It wasn't easy. At the time I never looked up. You're just looking at the next step; you never look at the top of the mountain or you'll give up."
Grenville Salmon, Founder - Pace Car Rental
What is Pace Car Rental's secret sauce in this competitive market?
It's all about good service, Salmon says.
"I think in South Africa quite often just doing what you say you're going to do, is enough. When people asked for a car to be delivered at a certain time we'd deliver it then."
Grenville Salmon, Founder - Pace Car Rental
As they're not able to get a kiosk at the airport, the company delivers cars to clients there, so it's a case of 'the car waits for you, it's not you waiting for the car'.
Today, Pace is one of the largest privately owned, home-grown car rental brands in South Africa, says Salmon.
They have branches in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town, Gqeberha and Umhlanga.
"Pace is not here just to do a job. We are here to grow and build our clients, our staff and our community."
Pace Car Rental
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