{"id":303382,"date":"2019-04-18T13:02:11","date_gmt":"2019-04-18T11:02:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=303382"},"modified":"2019-04-18T13:02:33","modified_gmt":"2019-04-18T11:02:33","slug":"from-chief-grass-cutter-to-successful-isp-ceo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/business\/303382-from-chief-grass-cutter-to-successful-isp-ceo.html","title":{"rendered":"From “chief grass cutter” to successful ISP CEO"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jonathan Mason had one objective when he started CipherWave \u2013 build an independent network operator which can compete with the Big 5 – Telkom, Vodacom, Neotel, Internet Solutions and MTN.<\/p>\n

This was a lofty ideal when he started the company in 2009 in a single 3m x 3m room with only one employee \u2013 himself.<\/p>\n

CipherWave did, however, have a few things in its favour \u2013 it had very aggressive pricing and better service levels than its bigger competitors.<\/p>\n

Another benefit was that the company owned and managed its own national network and wasn\u2019t reliant on reselling services from the other operators.<\/p>\n

Businesses loved what Mason offered, and it took CipherWave only 8 months to break its R1-million revenue target.<\/p>\n

This rapid growth continued over the next decade, and the company is now one of the most successful business ISPs in South Africa.<\/p>\n

From one room to a large business<\/h3>\n

To start CipherWave, Mason borrowed R750,000 from his dad to set up the business and fund its network operations.<\/p>\n

Mason initially ran all aspects of the business himself, but after signing his third large customer he needed help.<\/p>\n

Employee number 2 started after 3 months to assist with new installations and setting up a network operations centre (NOC).<\/p>\n

Mason and his employee did everything \u2013 run a 24\/7 technical support desk, do the accounts, handle marketing and sales, and handle operations.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt started to get hectic and after 6 months we employed CipherWave\u2019s third employee. This was the start of big growth for the company \u2013 both in terms of customers and employees,\u201d Mason said.<\/p>\n

The company\u2019s rapid expansion meant that he could pay back the loan from his dad in 18 months at prime + 5%. All future funding was raised through the profits of the business.<\/p>\n

The company continued its strong growth over the next decade and today it occupies 900 square meters of office space.<\/p>\n

CipherWave\u2019s biggest challenges<\/h3>\n

Mason said one of their biggest challenges was the time it took to roll out its fibre network and commission its data centre.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter our initial funding was depleted, we had to build up a new fund through profits before we could continue with the commissioning of the network,\u201d Mason said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was balancing act between paying salaries and suppliers and investing in the network.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mason said that apart from the R750,000 loan from his dad the company has been debt free, as they only used their profits for growth.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome might say it\u2019s best to use a bank loan to finance growth. However, when it\u2019s your house up as a guarantee you see things differently,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mason attributed the company\u2019s success partly to the fact that every penny that was spent felt like the cash was taken from his personal wallet.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were therefore very focused on watching our expenses and driving sales to support our ambitions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n

CipherWave CEO Jonathan Mason\u2019s tech and business choices<\/h3>\n

CipherWave CEO Jonathan Mason shared his tech and business choices with MyBroadband.<\/p>\n

What was your first ever business?<\/strong><\/p>\n

At the age of 16 I was based in the United Kingdom where I started a company called \u201cMason\u2019s Garden Service\u201d. I bought a lawnmower, created business cards and started to knock on doors in my local neighbourhood.<\/p>\n

I picked up some clients and was pleased when I signed a contract with the local municipality to cut the grass along the walkways.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What was your job and what was your salary?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cChief Grass Cutter\u201d, earning \u00a315 (around R225) per hour.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

How did you get into the tech field?<\/strong><\/p>\n

At the age of 20, I started as a salesman selling LG PABX telephone systems. At 22 I started my first tech company – ETL Communications – selling PABXs and Least Cost Routing.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What laptop do you use?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Apple MacBook Pro.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What smartphone do you use?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Apple iPhone X.<\/p>\n

\"iPhone<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What is the best gadget you have ever bought?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Garmin watch.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What is the worst gadget you have ever bought?<\/strong><\/p>\n

DJI Phantom Drone. It is very expensive, and I hardly use it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What was your best ever investment?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Building a house.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What was your worst ever investment?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Crypto mining.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What is the best business advice you have ever received?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cEarn Their Trust\u201d \u2013 Whether it is a customer, supplier or an employee, by earning their trust you will find new opportunities and cooperation to achieve your objectives.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

Now read:\u00a0The propeller head who built a R450-million company<\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jonathan Mason started his business in a single room as an independent network operator who would compete with the Big 5 – Telkom, Vodacom, Neotel, Internet Solutions and MTN.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":303602,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_facebook_post_id":"","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[20401,35],"class_list":["post-303382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-cipherwave","tag-headline"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303382"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=303382"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303382\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":303626,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303382\/revisions\/303626"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/303602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=303382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=303382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=303382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}