Some entrepreneurs see the light, while others deliver the light – Ian McCullough is one of the latter, as his company, Sundowner Skylights, provides a range of aluminium tubular skylights with accessories, in various colours, along with full installation and after-sales service on a nationwide basis. In addition, he provides domestic, commercial and industrial air extractors and blowers, as well as specially designed blowers for areas such as braais.
Ian says that what sets his business apart is the fact that he designs and develops all his own products and never compromises on the quality of the product or the workmanship. He relishes the challenge of identifying niche markets and developing a product to meet that specific need. Seeing such a product become a success in the market is his primary daily motivation.
He suggests that his next goal is to reach a point where he can supply and install skylights into mass low cost housing schemes, to save on overall power consumption. He also wants to penetrate other African nations and establish distributorships in these countries. Finally, he aims to establish an export market for his range of uniquely designed hot air extractors.
Ian explains that he is in the process of developing a plan, a strategy and an organisation to break into the international trading arena in sub-Saharan Africa and South America. He also requires a well-trained marketing person with the ability to identify new target markets and further develop the company’s existing market share.
As for his final destination, he simply wants an international business that is successful. This should be soon, he adds, as the necessary finance is available, along with the premises for increased production capacity and the required technical expertise. Moreover, the existing products are there and there is more in the pipeline, so he believes that things are truly ready to kick off.