Accountant by ­profession, leader by heart xxxxxxxx

Koos du Toit believes that in a competitive market, if you're doing something well, then people notice.
Octavia Tsibes
Elizabeth Joseph



Koos du Toit took on the role as the financial director of the Paramount Healthcare Group while maintaining his position as the CEO of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Namibia (ICAN).

He was part of the group that built the healthcare administration company.

In respect of the Paramount Healthcare Centre, this was a move outside of Du Toit's comfort zone of healthcare administration.

“We saw the opportunity to create a unique healthcare service provider company which for a good eight years was the primary private sector provider of chemotherapy in Namibia,” he says.

Over the same period, the Paramount Healthcare sub-acute facility introduced and established the healthcare concept of sub-acute/frail -care facilities, by being a hospital that is focused on patient recovery.

Du Toit believes that in a competitive market, if you're doing something well, then people notice.

“Today there are at least seven other sub-acute/ frail-care facilities across Namibia who have followed Paramount Healthcare's example. This just means, with competition, you just have to go and find and develop your next business idea, he said.

Du Toit became reputable professional early in his life.

By 1989 he became a senior lecturer in accounting and auditing and by 1994 he hung up his teaching toga. In the year 1990 he had already established BDO Spencer Steward as an audit practice in Windhoek.



The journey

We asked du Toit how his experience at Paramount.

“Being part of a start-up of any business is always going to be an exciting journey. Being shareholder and financial director from that start of the healthcare administration company has been a rollercoaster ride, like everything in life there are ups and downs. There are milestones when you cross certain thresholds in terms of the size of the business, when you open a new branch office, when you take on a new big client or when you buy your first business property,” he said.



The world out there

Du Toit mentioned there are normal business management activities such as doing regular strategic planning and performance appraisal exercises. According to him, these activities help one to be aware of what is going on around you in a business sense, but in many cases this can be a reactionary process where you are reacting to business conditions.

“Far better in terms of overcoming constraints is to move around them, to leapfrog the constraint and in this respect I believe that in our industry we have not leveraged sufficiently on technology. We will need to be innovative in using technology to bring better, cheaper, more effective healthcare services to Namibia. Overcoming constraints will require innovation,” he added.



The near future

Given the state of the economy, which is not expected to improve significantly for the next two to three years, Du Toit says it is vital for their business operations to be lean and mean. “We will have to look at training and the development of staff so that they can contribute more to the operations, while not necessarily increasing the headcount of the business.”

The Paramount Healthcare Group will need to look at finding partners who can use the unique skills and capacity of the group, while at the same time supporting Paramount's own business objectives.

“In tough times, there is greater business strength in working together for a smaller profit, but lesser risk, in a win-win combination,” Du Toit said.

He said when they established Paramount Healthcare Administrators it was in a market where there were already three large corporate companies as their direct competition, so it was exciting and challenging to be mixing it with the 'big boys'. But when it comes to Paramount Healthcare Centre, he is most proud of venturing into the unknown and having others follow.

“Sometimes the best compliment you can get is when other businesses start copying what you have done.”



A day in the office

Typically Du Toit's day kicks off with clearing and answering emails and then following up on the different actions or projects they have running in the company.

“Of course doing research, writing reports, financial analysis, treasury or cash flow management are all in the mix and are generally accompanied by meetings or Skype calls, whichever is the most effective. I spend quite a bit of time on industry-related matters which involves engaging with Namfisa or the health ministry, which is all part of being aware and up-to-date with the business environment around you,” he added.