Two Generations, One Vision

The relationship between a father and son is something special, especially when it leads to a successful business! We spoke to a few dynamic Ballito dad-and-lad duos about how they navigate family life and running a business together.

A Concrete Bond

Schalk Snr and Schalk Jnr own and runRetrolex Construction andBrick Master. While Retrolex specialises in construction and renovation projects, Brick Master produces top-quality cement bricks and blocks for the North Coast.Â

Roughly 20 years ago, Schalk Snr decided to take a big leap and move the family to the KZN North Coast when there was a construction boom in the area. Schalk Jnr has been exposed to the world of construction since he could remember, it was inevitable for him to follow in his dad’s footsteps. In late 2016, Schalk Jnr started managing Retrolex Construction and has been working hard to improve every day.Â

Even though their roles sometimes clash, being so similar, they work towards the same goals. They have grown together while growing the business and crafted roles that best suit their areas of expertise. Schalk Jnr is the current face of Retrolex Construction while Schalk Snr heads up Brick Master. They have each other’s backs to support the other when needed.Â

What they love about working together is creating a legacy for their family that they can be proud of. They bond over recently completed projects and feel pride in the incredible work they have done. They wouldn’t trade this partnership for anything, even if Sunday lunch sometimes becomes a meeting. A key practice for this duo is to balance their family and business life and neglect neither of the two.

For other father-and-son duos who want to work together or start a business, Schalk Snr and Jnr relay, “It is so rewarding to work with people you know you can trust, but you will have to set boundaries and set your roles from the start to ensure this partnership works.”

Two-Man Band

Blarney & Son is an iconic duo who specialise in making any occasion fun and lively, whether it’s birthday parties, weddings, corporate events, clubs and pubs. The band was formed during lockdown when David found himself working remotely and his dad, Tony Blarney, had more time on his hands. They put together a set to test out their dynamic and then started to perform live. Their popularity has grown ever since!Â

The roles they play, so to speak, sometimes overlap, but they lean into their strengths to make each performance a resounding success. Tony has a magical voice and is skilled at learning song lyrics, and David helps out with backing and lead vocals. Behind the scenes, David manages the marketing and sales side of the band. When they’re on stage, however, Tony plays the bass, fiddle, penny whistle and mandolin and David plays the guitar, banjo and bass, completing their sound.Â

Working together deepens their bond as father and son – it’s an incredibly special relationship. They’ve become inseparable best friends who c

an tell what the other is feeling by their facial expressions. As they travel all over the country and share their music with people, they feel a sense of pride and are moved by the positive responses they get from the crowds. For them, that sense of accomplishment after a show is one of the best feelings in the world. It’s not all bliss as they miss special family milestones and often feel

 homesick, but they get through it together.Â

To work with a family member, they advise to keep emotions out of it, as difficult as that may be. Know your strengths and play into them. Most of all enjoy the experience together.

Decking Duo

Afridecks was started 15 years ago with the goal of being Ballito’s largest and best decking company, and the business has certainly made a lot of headway.Â

Afridecks started with Des Hobart’s vision to move to Ballito and begin a grand decking venture. Their very first project was to complete the wooden work around the Fairmont Hotel in Zimbali (now the Capital Hotel). Since then, they have grown in size and popularity with the same carpenters they began the business with.

After venturing into the furniture business for a few years, Trystan joined his father at Afridecks, sharing a love for timber and construction. While they both occupy similar roles in the business, Trystan has introduced modern techniques to streamline work processes. Des, on the other hand, still adopts a time-honoured approach to managing. Even with these differences, they ensure that what needs to be done, gets taken care of.Â

The duo shares the workload, brings in clients and plans the way forward for projects. By combining their modern and old-school approaches, they find alternative solutions to everyday challenges. This does create friction and disagreements between them at times, but they have learned to separate business from their relationships and carefully consider each other’s opinions.

“A piece of advice to other families looking to go into business together is to work on how to communicate clearly, precisely and rationally,” advise Des and Trystan. They believe there are many ways to solve a problem and opinions should be communicated and respected.

Retrolex: http://www.retcon.co.za

Blarney and son: http://@blarneyandson

Afridecks: http://www.afridecks.co.za