Bio

I spend the majority of my time focusing on my business, my family and training. Find out more about me by reading about how these three areas influence my life.

Business

Online Innovations

Dirk Erasmus and I, Kevin Grey, started Online Innovations in 2000. I was always an ambitious and entrepreneurial individual and in my late twenties decided to take that chance that our folks always talk about. I refer to the one you have to take to prevent yourself from one day sitting with your grandkids saying "I should have” or "I could have”. To me 30 was that perfect age, I was arrogant and confident, and felt that the past 10 years had taught me everything I needed need to know about business (how wrong I was) and young enough to bounce back should something go wrong.

Fortunately, everything went well for the most part. Yes, there has been what Dirk often refers to as "school fees” along the way, but it’s been 12 years now and Online Innovations has become a major player in the internet services industry in Port Elizabeth and for that matter in South Africa (Online Innovations was included in Computing SA’s Top ICT Companies in South Africa in 2004).

The success of Online Innovations, I believe, is that we have always had the right mix of skills, passion and personalities – right from the get go.

Focus

We have always been exceptionally focused, and by this I mean we have never diversified much - although often been very tempted to, and been careful of growing too quickly. A friend of mine, Glenn Henning, once told me, ”Be careful of growing. Your turn over may grow, but with it, so do your costs. It’s rare that you make more profit.” It’s this conservative bearish approach that has stood us in good stead over that past decade and more so over this past recession.

The team and workplace

We have also not taken too many risks that may affect Online Innovations and its staff adversely. Dirk and I feel responsible for the team that has helped our success. We realize that Online Innovations has a responsibility not only to its employees but to their families as well. We have always made sure that all are remunerated well and have focused on making the work environment comfortable and pleasant to work in.

It is my belief, and often tell the team, that there is something very wrong with waking up in the morning and not wanting to come to work. I have been warned, and know, that adopting an informal approach to the workplace can be dangerous and difficult to manage as a company grows, but I think the culture and environment that we have created has ensured that this privilege is not taken advantage of.

My areas of excellence

Other than motivating people and myself and always being positive, I have found my talent to be having a good balance of creative and logical understanding. This I believe has given me the edge in the internet industry. In this industry it is paramount to understand the importance of brand and corporate identity as well as the boundaries and opportunities that the underlying web technologies deliver.

I am an internet consultant and specialist. I have a flare for understanding, analyzing and suggesting business processes, and deploying and refining them on the World Wide Web. Complementing this I specialize in- and have expert knowledge in Information technology, Design, Development, E-business, E-commerce, Search engine optimisation, Internet marketing and Social media

Future

There are no immediate plans to exit Online Innovations. I enjoy what I do and have fun doing it and hope that Online Innovations sees another 12 years.

Continue to my family and lifestyle interests...