Meet Nedbank Business Ignite finalist who runs international call centre from Grassy Park

Nedbank Business Ignite is back on 702 and CapeTalk, and this year it's looking for businesses that have successfully scaled up.

Entrants stand the chance to win R200 000 to scale their venture further!

Lester Kiewit chats to the first finalist on CapeTalk, Clint Crowster, who is the founder and CEO of a call centre business operating from Grassy Park in Cape Town.

The fact that askOsca is based in the community of Grassy Park makes it unique, says programme coordinator Thuli Magubane, director of consulting company Mint Fresh Advisory Services.

"You have this international business in Grassy Park and the reason they're doing that is to make sure that their workers don't have to travel far to work, in that way maximising the amount of money that stays in their pockets because they don't have to spend money on transport."

Thuli Magubane, Director - Mint Fresh

Also commendable, is Crowster's emphasis on having a long-term plan for his employees, says Magubane.

The acronym, askOsca, stands for 'ask the Online, Sales, Coaching, Application'.

It has grown from a business with four employees to a call centre now employing more than 125 people.

"The idea behind the business was always to help call centre agents realise that they could make a career in this industry, just as their CEO did, over 20 years ago."

Clint Crowster, CEO - askOsca

Future plans include introducing his staff to the real estate business.

Crowster explains why he likes to think of his staff as having more skills than general call centre consultant, paving the way to entering a new industry.

"Generally, call centres call the B2C (business-to-consumer) space and we target the B2B (business-to-business) space. They have high-level conversations with key decision makers across various industries in the world, so they acquire more unique skills."

"How do we make a bigger financial impact in the lives of individiuals and the youth within Grassy Park? It's real estate - getting them to sell and market houses as well, putting into use the good B2B marketing skillls they've acquired at askOsca."

Clint Crowster, CEO - askOsca