When brothers Faan and Dirk van der Walt graduated from the University of Pretoria more than 25 years ago – as a teacher and marketing professional, respectively – they had no inkling that their concept of bringing buyers and sellers of motor vehicles together would develop into the country’s largest second-hand retailer, valued at billions.

Their story starts in Bronkhorstspruit, as youngsters who learned to repair cars from their father. They spent a lot of time tinkering with engines from an early age. While still at school, Faan sold his first vehicle for a profit after he had fixed it up – his Yamaha XT500 motorcycle. This was followed by another, so the success of this hobby gave him the idea to turn it into something much bigger.Faan van der Walt

While his brother Dirk was completing his BCom degree in marketing, Faan and his wife Tanja moved to the United Kingdom in 1998 for two years to teach. “The money we made in the UK was used as the initial capital investment in WeBuyCars in 2001,” he says.

For many years the brothers did everything themselves. “We learnt a lot about the car game, the diverse society and about business.” Dirk’s degree in marketing proved to be very useful in the development of the company. WeBuyCars grew slowly and organically over the first 10 years. In 2010 they bought property in Silver Lakes, Pretoria East, and built a vehicle warehouse which had capacity for about 100 cars. Six months later they had to buy the neighbouring property as well, as they needed more space.

This rapid growth continued over the next few years. “The business had to keep on buying and developing land until there was capacity for 700 cars.” The turning point came when WeBuyCars went national. The first step was appointing buyers to help them cope with the increased demand for their services. “Trusting someone to do the job you love was a big thing,” says Faan. Over the next five years, they opened warehouses in Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth, as well as Africa’s biggest car showroom at the time: a vehicle supermarket in Midstream, Centurion, with 1 100 cars under one roof. They also expanded their range of services to include financing, insurance, tracking and – most recently – online auctions.

For 16 years the company was self-funded with no operational debt and a year-on-year revenue growth of roughly 60%. However, further expansion required increasing digitalisation and a bigger cash infusion. They sought an investor with both technical and business expertise. It came in the form of Fledge Capital, which acquired a 40% share in the company in 2017.

This was a necessary sacrifice. “Due to the knowledge and expertise that this partner could bring to the table, it was not a difficult decision to make,” says Faan. “We realised that it was necessary if we wanted to digitally transform and expand our market share.”

The beginning of 2020 saw the launch of an online car-buying platform to make transactions more accessible during the COVID-19 lockdown. This was followed by the launch of online auctions in July 2020.

The incredible growth of WeBuyCars has led to a very fast-paced, dynamic and hard-working organisational culture. From about 25 employees in 2012, it employs roughly 2 400 people in its various branches today. “Since the beginning, we have placed great importance on employing the right people for the right positions. This is one of the most essential elements of the success of any business.” With the increasing digitalisation of the business, the company’s worker profile started to change. “We began recruiting more technically minded employees, especially those from diverse backgrounds and a problem-solving mindset. We felt that these attributes would help create a workforce that took a more proactive and innovative approach to challenges,” says Faan.

Today WeBuyCars has a presence in all nine provinces, with 12 branches and 41 buying pods nationwide. It is generating billions in revenue. Some of its bigger branches stock more than 1 000 vehicles. The business currently has more than 300 buyers around the country, with more than 460 drivers to collect cars and deliver them all over South Africa daily. In a single month, the company trades roughly 11 000 cars. Its website attracts over 2.2 million unique website visitors per month.

According to the Van der Walt brothers, the business’ rapid growth can largely be attributed to the fact that they adapted to challenges along the way, particularly those brought on by various economic crises and unexpected events, such as COVID-19.

In 2020, the company attracted the attention of JSE-listed Transaction Capital, which bought a non-controlling 49.9% stake in the company. This company has since increased its shareholding in WeBuyCars to 74.9%. The remaining 25.1% of the shares are held by the founding shareholders, Faan and Dirk.

Faan strongly believes in having a passion for what you do. According to him, the essence of being an entrepreneur is to never be satisfied with a situation, and to always see room for improvement. His advice to young entrepreneurs and business owners is to ‘stay focused’. “There is no such thing as an instant reward. What people see in WeBuyCars today is the outcome of 21 years of hard work,” he concludes. ­