A young Bermudian has been given an invaluable insight into running a new business and working in a completely different environment half way round the other side of world.Stratton Hatfield, a maintenance sales representative at Air Care, flew out to Johannesburg for three-and-a-half weeks in March to work with the company’s sister company Amabane, assisting in the training of staff in sales and meeting with more than 25 clients during his time out there.But it was not all work he also found some leisure time to go on safari at a game reserve and climb Table Mountain as well as paragliding from 1,500 feet.Arriving fresh from Bermuda, Mr Hatfield said that most people in South Africa’s perception of the Island was the ‘Bermuda Triangle’, but he soon explained to them where he was from, the work Air Care does and its connection with Amabane.Admitting that he was probably a bit over ambitious in what he hoped to achieve during his short time in the country’s biggest city, Mr Hatfield said it was a real eye-opener moving from a team of more than 70 managing more than 500 service agreements to a staff of three servicing four agreements.Air Care already has strong links to the African continent, with a number of South Africans and Zimbabweans working for the firm and in the future there are plans to recruit more to be trained up and sent back home to its sister operation and Bermudians going in the opposite direction to gain the experience of a different market.Amabane, which is based in one room doubling up as an office and storage space for split systems (air conditioning units) in an industrial area in the south west of the city, was set up two years ago and is run by Henri Hanekom, who multi-tasks as the accountant, dispatcher, receptionist and sales man among numerous other duties.“It was fascinating for me as a young Bermudian to experience working in a start-up business and see how a small team operates a new business,” he said. “I also got to observe the company growing and the challenges they face. One of the best parts was working with new team out there.”Initially Robert Platt, general manager of Air Care, came out with Mr Hatfield to help Mr Hanekom put together a business plan for the company the next year. This set the pace for the trip.One on the ground, Mr Hatfield met with a number of different customers and set up appointments with multinational and local businesses, including pitching a full service programme for one of the Nedbank buildings which houses 7,000 people and meeting with HSBC to discuss local business and banking support.He was also exposed for the first time to cold calling and door-to-door walk-ins and involved in the hiring process of a new employee, Samantha Derham, who was trained up by the Air Care team via Skype.Mr Hatfield teamed up with former Air Care employee Lolo Lefoka, who worked in Bermuda for two years and is a 25 percent shareholder and service operations manager at the new company, and Benson Banda, who had progressed from shop steward to apprentice doing installations and maintenance work.There were several areas he identified which he believes will be key to the future success of the company, including gaining Black Economic Empowerment Accreditation a grading system to ensure that everyone is given a right to economic development in addition to partnering up with local engineers and developers, focusing more on the service aspect rather than selling split systems, and maintaining regular communication links between with Air Care.“It was challenging as a young Bermudian to go out there and immerse myself in this big city environment working with some of these big clients,” he said.“But it was also an eye-opening experience from the standpoint of working with a start-up business and two unique partners.“And thirdly it was very rewarding to get the ball rolling in my work out there with Henri and to get my first taste of travelling independently.”In his time off, Mr Hatfield managed to get out to a game reserve where he was given a personal tour by Mr Hanekom and Eloize Mellet and camped out, as well as visiting the Cape of Good Hope the South-Westernmost point of the continent and making the gruelling climb up Table Mountain and paragliding off the top of Lion’s Head mountain which overlooks Cape Town.He is also bullish on the opportunity and development going on in South Africa right now with a fast-growing economy and numerous other ventures, including those created by last year’s World Cup.On his return to Bermuda, Mr Hatfield gave a presentation to the management and staff of Air Care which was well received.“What I really came back with was a feeling that I took part in planting seeds that will need to be nurtured to grow into a well-developed forest and successful business one day,” he said.“Overall I felt extremely fortunate that Air Care gave me the opportunity to travel abroad to South Africa and open my eyes to a whole new realm of business and I believe I have learned and gained a lot from the experience and vice versa hopefully played a part in the development of the new company.”