Once she realised an office job was not for her, Siska van der Bijl channelled her talent for handling pressure and love of the outdoors into her role as co-owner of the company Hayterdale Trails and Event Management (Pty) Ltd.
As the owner behind the Great Zuurberg Trek mountain biking stage race and the new three-day Great Zuurberg Trial (GZT) Run, she is living the dream – from the saddle of her bicycle.
Can you give me some background on yourself and how and when the business was started?
I’m a small town girl who grew up in De Doorns in the Hex River Valley. I studied sports science in Potchefstroom and then spent eight years in the Netherlands, since both my parents are Dutch.
I’ve always had a background in sport and started competitive cycling when I lived in the Netherlands.
When I was there, I got a job organising and managing music festivals and sporting events, and noticed that I had the gift of not getting stressed in high-pressure situations. I could manage crises quite well, and being a perfectionist, the two qualities brought me to where I am now.
I came back to South Africa and realised that an office job is definitely not for me.
Having a sporting background and with mountain biking stage racing taking over in South Africa, it was a good move.
One day four years ago, I cycled up the Zuurberg Pass and met the Hayter brothers at Hayterdale Trails.
We had a beer together and discovered our mutual interests in cycling and trail running – and showing off the Zuurberg and Addo landscape.
The brothers’ father stopped farming and the suggestion came to build a mountain bike track to avoid retrenching the employees and keep using the land in a sustainable way. The farm borders on the Addo Elephant National Park, which is what makes it so special.
I work from anywhere that has internet, so I spend a lot of time riding my bike while taking phone calls, and coming up with ideas and recording myself so I am able to remember it later.
What is your core service?
We own or co-own events, but we don’t manage events. This means we take the risk in investing in an event, where event managers would manage an event for someone else and therefore act as a supplier only.
We don’t do that because we believe in the service and risk, and we will always run something in our own name. That is where the focus comes in.
One can get off track by being involved in a lot of small things and events, but I believe in going big or going home. If you are not prepared to take the risk, why do it?
We provide a passionate service to the participant and sponsors with great value, and make sure it’s an unforgettable experience.
What makes your business unique?
We are always looking for a clear, different offering for the market, and the passion we have for our work.If someone wanted to copy your business model, how would they start?
I would not want them to! But more seriously, the key is they need to ensure they have the skill and resources to pull it off – evaluate and plan carefully.
What are some of your biggest challenges in day-to-day business operations and your particular industry?
You have to know how to multi-task and constantly adapt to the changes in the industry.