Starting a Small and Medium Sized Enterprise: Teresa Wyngaard’s Journey

Starting a Small and Medium Sized Enterprise is not easy. Just ask Teresa Wyngaard, owner of TW Office Services. Mama T, as this feisty and driven 58-year old is also known, grew up tough and literally clawed her way to being a successful company founder and owner. With her incredible determination and hard work, Wyngaard has built TW Office Services into a thriving staffing services company.

Today, Wyngaard runs her company from her home in Brooklyn, near Milnerton, Cape Town. TW Office Services is responsible for providing staffing solutions to Astron Energy, serving their Cape Town head office, the refinery in Milnerton, as well as the companyÔÇÖs offices in Johannesburg.

Wyngaard’s journey to success has not been an easy one. At the age of 16, she began working in retail to support her family after her father became disabled due to Polio. Starting as a casual worker, she gradually worked her way up through various roles and responsibilities. She managed to put her two brothers through university, and they are now successful Chartered Accountants running their own finance companies.

After years of hard work, Wyngaard took a major step in 2002 by registering her own company, TW Office Services. However, it took five more years before her opportunity truly arrived. In 2007, Wyngaard seized the chance to apply for a tender to provide switchboard operations for Chevron South Africa. She worked tirelessly, with the support of her brothers, to prepare her tender submission, pouring all her efforts into it. And it paid off – she was awarded the tender and her dreams became a reality.

Despite her success, Wyngaard still had doubts and asked for a six-month contract initially to prove herself. However, she quickly proved her capabilities and has continued to grow her company’s services to include head office reception, the refinery, and the Joburg offices of Astron Energy.