Name: Ashley-Juan Van der Hoogen (28)
Region: Southern Region
Job Title: Business Development Director
Years in this position: 6
Company Name: Ranzo Trading and Olbro Logistics
Entry Category: Entrepreneur
AJ Van der Hoogen’s journey as an entrepreneur started at a young age, with competing to primary school tuck shop to selling imported clothing during university to pay for tuition and grow as an entrepreneur.
Ranzo Trading (Pty) Ltd was established in 2012 with one tipper truck while completing his BCom Honours (Accounting). AJ soon realised his passion for strategic business development. Most trucking companies operating tippers would only work for one quarry whereas Ranzo was a Level 1 BBBEE transport vendor to all the local quarries in Port Elizabeth.
Ranzo is built on the morale that makes a difference to society in Port Elizabeth. AJ’s vision was realised in 2014 by one Christmas phone call from a 28Ranzo employee’s daughter, age 10, thanking AJ for all the Christmas clothing and food.
Since then, the company managed to bring young drivers through the employment system. They start out as general employees and end up obtaining their Code 10 or Code 14 driver’s license.
In 2017, Ranzo managed to grow to a fleet of 15 trucks ranging from 8-tonne to 34-tonne trucks.
Today, AJ manages Ranzo and has also joined Olbro logistics (Pty) Ltd as a business development director and shareholder. The company has a fleet complement of over 55 Superlink Tautliners and are currently servicing a few blue-chip clients in South Africa.
AJ’s objective is simple: to see the City of Port Elizabeth and rest of the Eastern Cape prosper. ‘I get excited when I see chartered accountants living in Port Elizabeth as we have so much to offer to the city.’
‘Having a CA(SA) qualification has been a massive contributor to my success and building a sounding relationship with our clients,’ he says.
Some of AJ’s recent achievements are the top 40 young entrepreneurs mentored by Vusi Thembekwayo. AJ is also a strategic business partner to some other businesses, one of which employs over 150 employees. His wife, Anthea Van der Hoogen, is a PhD candidate in Computer Science and has been pivotal in contributing to their business when it comes to advising on strategic decision-making.
