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PROFILEWomenat theTOPSmith & MadishaConstructionEstablished a year ago andentirely women-owned,construction company Smith& Madisha is dedicated to ensuringclients’ expectations are not onlymet, but exceeded. Indeed, this is areputation they have already earnedthemselves, and are recognised fordelivering within budget and to thehighest standards possible.Smith & Madisha’s first projectwas the construction of a cardealership for Citroën in Centurion.They also worked on a R19 millionwarehouse in Pomona. “We have hada monthly turnover of R6 millionfor the past six months, and we aregrowing fast,” says company founderAlice Madisha. Smith & Madisha’sgrowing client list includes theDevelopment Bank of Southern Africa,Emira Properties (a division of RandMerchant Bank) and Growthpoint.Madisha is a graduate of theUniversity of Johannesburg, holdinga National Diploma in Building (2005to 2007), as well as a graduate of theTshwane University of Technology,where she obtained a BTech degreein Construction Management (2008).Her responsibilities largely centrearound office and staff management,marketing, accounts reconciliation,estimating and tender finalisation.Madisha cites competition in theconstruction industry as one of theirgreatest challenges, and maintaininghigh standards as another. As it isan industry highly dependent oncontractors, she says, keeping them inline and on time can prove to be quitea task. When asked what the greatestlesson is she has learnt thus far inbusiness, she replies: “Do everythingright the first time, and when aproblem arises, fix it, because it willnever just go away.”Still in its infancy, the companyhas not really felt the effects of therecent economic downturn. “Webelieve that if your quality of workis good, and if your projects arecompleted by the required date, youwill always have work,” says Madisha.She and her business partner havedecided that, while their company isstill young, they will accept projects ofany size and nature, because, in theend, it all makes a contribution anda positive difference to the company’scash flow.Plans for the future include, firstand foremost, establishing themselvesin the industry and expanding intothe public sector, hopefully securingprojects for the Department of PublicWorks. Madisha says they wouldalso like to offer on-site training foremerging contractors to ensure theycan compete with all of the othermajor industry role players. “We wantto assist them with programming,information flow, cash flow, businessethics, contractual requirementsand other aspects that make aconstruction company successful,”Madisha says. “That’s what I see asreal upliftment.” ✥52 I S S U E 1