COVID-19 | 'Closing your own business is like a death'

Creative director Warren le Grange has taken payment holidays on his car and home to stick to his promise to pay his staff for another three months.

Hard-hit by the financial implications of the Covid-19 pandemic, he had to retrench his entire staff complement, and is considering having his business declared bankrupt if nothing changes in the next three months.

Le Grange, 38, founded his Khoi Kreative agency five years ago, with big dreams to shake up the world of live events.

When President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a state of national disaster in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the dream was shattered.

What followed at Le Grange's Bryanston, Gauteng, office were individual meetings with his staff.

“I wanted to cry during every meeting. Those conversations broke my heart. I felt helpless and hopeless. I’ve been able to surround myself with the most incredible people who are dedicated to me and the vision. We were trying to build this big dream that took us decades to get to where we are,” Le Grange said.

The agency was in the middle of its biggest production, bringing US rapper Cardi B to SA for the Castle Lite Unlocks concert, when the country went into lockdown.

Le Grange lost an estimated R30m in income which would have come from live shows, including the Paw Patrol four city tour, the Boys 2 Men concert and several corporate events.

Le Grange and his team have done online events during the lockdown, but he said it is not the same because their expertise lies in live events.

“Virtual is just a new way of doing events. There is a foolish, stubborn or naïve retention of the dream because you know you’re really good at these extraordinary live productions. It’s really like asking a Lamborghini to drive around in the parking lot. It’s tough,” Le Grange said. 

Together with his fiancée, Nicole Smith, group account director at AB In Bev, the couple have had to make drastic changes to their lifestyle. They are in the process of selling their Sandton home and a car.

“Next would be closing down and probably declaring bankruptcy because of all the debt. I’ve held on for as long as I can because there’s something about who you are that’s embedded in what you do. Once you decide to start a business that becomes who you are. Asking someone to close that is like a death to self,” Le Grange said.

* This is part of a series of profiles on South Africans who have taken financial knocks during the Covid-19 pandemic. Read more profiles in the Sunday Times this weekend.

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