Nhlanhla Dlamini left McKinsey to build a pet food factory in Johannesburg, driven by one mission: creating jobs in a country that desperately needs them. Everyone told him to start small. He built 3,500 square metres instead, because international buyers don’t take small operations seriously. Today Maneli Pets supplies over 1,000 retailers across North America, Europe and the Middle East.
In Part 1: why purpose drove every big decision, the prototyping year before he spent other people’s money, and how he solved the SME talent problem by developing fresh graduates instead of chasing corporate stars.
Part 2 covers his costliest hiring mistakes, probation as the real interview, and AI for lean teams.
