Learning to Share:
Remmone Modisakeng of Teambix is helping to sustain businesses and jobs by making it easy for companies to outsource their employees
Much is said about the need to create jobs, but few people are focused on sustaining them. Remmone Modisakeng is one of them. He is the founder and CEO of Teambix, a business that lets companies of all shapes and sizes share their employees.
Launched in the first few months of 2020 and based in the heart of Stellenbosch, Teambix is on a mission to create sustainable employment, while at the same time helping SMEs and corporates alike address issues relating to cash flow and labour costs that can impede growth. The end result is a service that helps everyone, from startups who gain affordable access to top tier talent, to bigger enterprises who can now “lend” their team to other companies to earn extra income, and finally to the workers, who can now find employment opportunities in-between work.
Remmone Modisakeng, founder of TeamBix, says it was while studying to become a Chemical Engineer at Stellenbosch University that he was imbued with the entrepreneurial spirit.
Origins in Entrepreneurship
Originally from Rustenburg in the North-West Province, Remmone wasn’t an entrepreneur at first. In fact, it was only while studying to become a Chemical Engineer at Stellenbosch University that he was imbued with the entrepreneurial spirit.
“Naturally, my first company then was about solving student-related issues. During my undergrad, I noticed that students who were not on campus were still required to stay connected but lacked the infrastructure to do so. I tried to negotiate special mobile data packages for students. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite pan out. But I was still determined to help students, so I moved on to my next idea: a second-hand goods platform – but that too didn’t work.”
It was during his third attempt, however, that Remmone would think up the idea that was to be Teambix.
“At the time, I was working on a sort of Uber platform for minibus taxis. Back then, I was using them quite a lot, but never really knew when my ride would arrive. In many cases, the weather was off, or it was just not safe to hang around, so I decided to find a way to track the taxis. I felt that this way, people could make more informed decisions on their commute.”
Turning to Teambix
But rain and ruffians weren’t his only concern. The minibus business was starting to run out of money, and with it, Remmone anticipated that he wouldn’t be able to employ his staff for much longer.
“I didn’t want to lose my team. We had spent so much time together and had developed a very strong relationship and culture. I wanted to keep them for as long as I could. Then it hit me – what if I could outsource my team? This way, their jobs, incomes and livelihoods could be sustained, and they could afford to stay at the company.”
But with no existing company offering the service, Remmone took it on himself to try. He approached a local company and together, the two businesses began exchanging employees. To Remmone’s delight, the plan worked so well that both businesses were able to retain his original team for the next two years. And with the pilot project a success, Remmone set off to make Teambix an official affair.
With little money to fund the business, he looked to startup competitions as a possible solution, and quickly found success.
The TeamBix platform allows companies to outsource their current employees to other companies for extra revenue.
“By this time, it was late-2019 and Teambix was mostly still a concept. I entered a Cell-C innovation competition and amazingly won some seed funding to start developing it into a proper business. From here, we entered another pitch battle competition by Startup Grind Cape Town, which we also won, and then finally – knowing that we had a solution to a national problem – I entered the Gauteng Accelerator Programme’s ICT innovation competition, where we finished first and won some funding too! These competitions really helped get things off the ground.”
The Sharing Economy
Remmone says that his experience with starting Teambix has taught him much about the sharing economy and how it can help create sustainability for both businesses and the people within them.
“When businesses fail, it always boils down to a drainage of funds in some way. Whether you’re a startup, small business or big conglomerate – you’ve always got to be mindful of your money and take wise decisions when spending it. With Teambix helping people share employees and labour costs, I believe we are helping business owners find new ways to maximize all their resources, and in turn, they’ll be better positioned to grow into the long run.
“At the same time, we provide a safety net for employees, who have families and communities of their own to consider. It’s understandable that struggling businesses will need to reduce their size, but by outsourcing their teams, they are able to retain their employees and access much-needed skills, all the while ensuring their livelihoods too.”
With 2021 promising to be another tough year for businesses, Remmone anticipates that more companies will consider outsourcing their employees as a viable alternative to retrenchment.
Remmone says that his experience with starting Teambix has taught him much about the sharing economy and how it can help create sustainability for both businesses and the people within them.
“If there’s one thing that my time in Stellenbosch has taught me, it’s that teamwork, compassion and collaboration are key to overcoming challenges. In this vein, it’s important that we learn to share human resources. This may be a learning curve for many of us, but the sharing economy is effective and there is abundance on offer. We just need to learn,” concludes Remmone.
To find out more about Remmone and Teambix, go to https://teambix.com
