Junior Business Rescue Practitioner: RTgroup
As the business rescue process becomes a more effective tool to help companies address their financial distress, it is vital that young talent is attracted to the industry to take on work with experienced business rescue professionals who will teach them the ins and outs of the profession.
A stark reality of the profession is that the average age of a typical BRP is over 50 years old. This highlights the importance of marketing the profession to a younger generation who will choose to become a BRP as opposed to stumbling into it by happenstance or by circumstances where they are forced to learn a skill in order to earn an income.
In this edition of Profession Insights, we take a look at the story of Ruan van Niekerk, who is a Junior Business Rescue Practitioner at the RTgroup and is believed to be the youngest certified business turnaround practitioner in South Africa
What it takes to become a business turnaround practitioner
Van Niekerk believes a tertiary education in business sciences and/or entrepreneurship is an essential foundation for a career in business turnaround, and so is getting practical consultancy experience through internships and work experience within both distressed and flourishing businesses.
He was lucky enough to study under Professor Marius Pretorius at the University of Pretoria – he is the only individual in South Africa to hold a Doctorate in Business Rescue. Ruan completed his training, with distinction, to become a certified Business Rescue Analyst. His course was endorsed by the Turnaround Management Association (TMA) which allowed him to register with the Companies and Intellectual Properties Commission (CIPC) as a Business Rescue Practitioner with a letter of good standing provided by the TMA.
Beyond certification, Van Niekerk also believes those entering the field of restructuring and turnaround need to be passionate about entrepreneurship and problem-solving. On a practical level, networking is important too. “Using LinkedIn and attending industry events for young professionals are good places to start connecting with the turnaround industry. It’s important to push yourself in front of the right people to get noticed. Networking is super important.”
The value of tough work experience
Before joining the RTgroup, Van Niekerk worked for a number of distressed businesses and was retrenched twice by the age of 22. “This kind of work experience is invaluable because it teaches you what not to do in business as much as it teaches you how to run a business. It’s also a big learning curve to work for a business that is going into liquidation.” Having worked for various successful and unsuccessful companies, he believes people with a truly entrepreneurial mindset are the best at turning failing businesses around.
Image By: Dom Fou via Unsplash
“I’ve learnt that the people who are able to turn businesses around are good at looking for their ideal target markets, new markets and developing new products, or keeping only the product lines that are successful. You have to be able to cull the loss-making product lines.”
One of the greatest reasons businesses end up distressed is when entrepreneurs stagnate in the managerial phase of their business growth – and stop innovating. “You need to balance growth and management, keep good cost control and remain creative,” says Van Niekerk.
Ultimately, business success – and turnaround – required a lot of creative thinking and problem-solving.
Why Gen Zs should become restructuring and turnaround professionals
Van Niekerk believes that the Gen Z generation is uniquely positioned to understand market changes, how to market to younger consumers, connect with people with high emotional intelligence, and think creatively about business problems. “Young people can challenge old and stale ways of thinking and help businesses to move with market shifts. They also understand the value of marketing in a business turnaround which contributes to its success.”
Ruan is the first to admit that a very young consultant can rarely tell an older business owner what to do. But young people are typically good at informally relating to the staff and getting “the real truth behind the story”. “Young people are also good at sharing information with staff in ways that they can understand because their approach is less formal. Young consultants often have a way of inspiring businesses with new ideas and approaches.”
He concludes: “The beautiful thing about business turnaround if you do it right, is that you can give people hope. Hope is not a plan, but a plan can give you hope.”
