During a recent visit to Malawi, we visited some of our growth programmes for an extensive interview with the entrepreneurs about their company, their lives and entrepreneurship in their country.

In the heart of Blantyre, the capital of the Malawian Southern Region, Hartfield Investments assists countless customers with all their printing needs. Founded by Harrison Longwe, Hartfield Investments prides itself on only employing local employees, thus countering the dominance of foreign companies in the region. Today, Hartfield Investments is looking to grow their volume by investing in new machinery, further professionalising their printing capabilities while continuing to support the local population of Blantyre with decent jobs and a steady income.

Part 1: Work

Can you tell me a bit more about Hartfield Investments?

Harrison: Hartfield Investments is a printing company. We do offset printing, paperwork like calendars, books and posters, but also digital and promotional printing, like the branding of vehicles and offices, the printing of billboards, and working with PVC materials. Apart from this, we also do screen printing, branding of T-shirts and other clothing, and we embroider logos. 

How and when did Hartfield Investments start?

Harrison: We started this company in 2012. At the time we started, we did not have a single machine and would outsource some of the jobs. Then we bought an offset machine and slowly started building the company from there. We would still outsource other things, like the cutting of the paper or the finishing of some products, but because of the demands, we were growing in volumes. We started buying additional machines and have been growing steadily since.

What inspired you to found this business?

Harrison: Let's start with a bit of my background. Academically, I'm a chartered accountant. Previously, I used to work for another printing company, managing their finances. I started growing in the workplace and was promoted to the management side of the business, learning the operations and making sure that the production is up to scale. From there, I gained some experience and exposure with the suppliers we used to deal with. After that I worked at an NGO for a while, but still there was a burning desire to do my own thing. And I could see the gap in the market in terms of the printing business, with a focus on, offset printing. So when we started Hartfield it was my dream to close this gap. Most of the printing houses then were big companies, owned by Indians. One of our focus points was asking ourselves if we as indigenous Malawians could not have our own things.

I was also inspired by the time I was laid off. There were a lot of people that were laid off with me on the production side at Blantyre Printing. I wondered, if I can start my own thing, is it not possible to employ those people? Slowly this dream came true, because as of this interview, most of the people that are walking around the premises used to work with me at Blantyre Printing and are still here with us today. 

What are you most proud of working on the past years?

Harrison: To me, I think the thing that I'm most proud of is having kept the jobs of these people for all the years that we've been here. Employing my fellow Malawians and giving them something to do and seeing them educating their children, helping their parents, I think that's the thing that inspires me most, next to growing the company and making a profit. 

So there's a social aspect to this as well?

Harrison: Yes, I think the social aspect is the most important thing for me. But I'm also proud to have grown as a business. We entered into an industry that was dominated by big, internationally owned companies. For us as Malawians, coming in and setting up a structure like this has been a huge milestone, because we started at a small place. Coming here now, we feel like we are making progress and because we are paying taxes, we are also contributing to the economy and wellbeing of Malawi.

What are your ambitions and long term goals for Hartfield Investments?

Harrison: One of our long term goals is to ensure that we continue growing and to have our own infrastructure where we can house everything, a warehouse and a factory. We want to grow the machine park as well, because this world is one of competition. Technology, in all aspects of our business, is a key thing that we all need to embrace. We want to focus on digital so all kinds of new machines can adapt to the technology and allow us to compete on the same level of our competitors. We want everyone to feel at home when they come to Hartfield, and to know that whatever they want, it will be done at the speed and quality that they need, and that they will never regret the service that they get and bless us as their own.

Part 2: Exchange

What has your experience with Exchange been like?

Harrison: I would say it's been a mixed bag. I think  the technical expertise that they have sent to us has helped us to see some areas, especially on the side of machinery and skills, where we will improve our efficiency and the quality of the jobs that we do. That exposure is something that we really value. Of course, on the other hand, the partnership is more on the technical side. I think the biggest challenge that we have - and this is not necessarily on the side of Exchange - is the economy. Because in our economy, it's very hard to get a loan from the bank to buy more machinery. They're looking for security, but because this company is still pretty small, our hands are tied in terms of value. So it's becoming difficult for us to match the expertise we have received from Exchange with the new machinery that we need to implement this expertise. For now, we have not yet started fully enjoying the benefits of the technical expertise. But we believe that if we continue growing the volumes, if we can bring in the kind of machinery that they have advised us to bring in, we'll be moving ahead.

Financially, I believe that there could be opportunities for us in Europe concerning machinery and financial facilities. We don't want anything for free, but we would love to apply for a long term loan that helps us afford new machinery, grow our volumes and then pay back the loan over the next five to ten years. In this way, we believe that there can be steady growth and we believe that that kind of collaboration can really get us to the next level. 

Can you tell me a bit more about your relationship and experience with the Exchange coach?

Harrison: I think it's been a very good relationship because Vincent (van Horenbeeck, ed.) has tried to really understand what we do and then look at the gaps that we have. He has been working hard to find the technical expertise to fill these gaps. So far, we've been moving in that trajectory. And I really value the follow-ups after every visit and the fact that he's overseeing the progress that we are making along the way. It's a good relationship, because the coach doesn't just leave you to do things on your own, but assists and follows up. That really means a lot to us.

Looking forward, what is your next goal with Exchange?

Harrison: I think since the last visit, we really want to work on the side of offset printing. Our employees doing the offset jobs have been learning a lot on the job, but they have never had someone who has worked with the machines come over to teach them how to optimally use them. We want to work on the quality of the output, because one of our challenges is reducing the amount of rejects that come out on the machines. We want to improve in terms of our quality, because each piece of paper that is rejected is a loss on our side. Whether it's a full color or a black and white job, it has to come out perfectly. On the other hand, we also want to grow on the finishing side, but the problem that we have is that our machines are old fashioned. So with the advice that we received, we can only really improve on the finishing side of our business if we can invest in new machinery. But we believe that if we can fill these gaps, we will be making a lot of progress.

Part 3: Life

Can you tell me a bit more about yourself?

Harrison: I am Harrison Longwe, born in a family of nine people. Unfortunately, one of our brothers passed on. I was born in a family where our parents inspired us to push on in life and believe that we can all become independent. With that kind of background from the family, we've all tried to work hard to reach this stage. On a personal level, I'm a real family man. I'm married and we have four kids, one boy and three girls. One of them is working with us. The girl is at the university, but she's also doing an internship at Hartfield Investments when she's on holiday. Our other two girls are in high school and in primary school. Who knows, in the end this might become a family business.

What inspires you in life?

Harrison: I'd say I'm a religious person. I think what keeps me going in life is that every day I read the Bible and I get inspired by the life of Jesus Christ, who is our Lord and Savior. We should have faith in life, faith in whatever we do, and believe that nothing is impossible. That inspiration helps me to move on in life, despite facing challenges. You know, the outside world sees our country as a poor country. But I see it differently, because I see happy faces everyday. I see people that are moving with a kind of vigor to achieve things in life and to work hard. So that inspires me to say, I think in life, if we work hard, we can make the world better. Because as long as my neighbor is able to eat, have decent housing and clothing, and educate their children, we'll keep going. And if we can live in harmony and in love, that inspires me in life.

If you have free time, how do you like to spend it?

Harrison: First of all, I love my family a lot. So my free time I want to spend with my children and my wife. We like playing around and seeing places. And I also love watching movies. My favorite actor is Liam Neeson. Whenever he's in a movie, I want to watch it.

Part 4: Entrepreneurship and Malawi

How do you look at entrepreneurship in Malawi? What do you think about the business climate?

Harrison: As a local Malawian, I can say that entrepreneurship is like a new game for us. Because I think from our backgrounds, one of the things that our parents really encourage is that when you go to school, you should look for a job. Most of us grew up in that kind of environment. But I think as things started improving, most people started looking at entrepreneurship from a different perspective. At first, it was largely dominated by foreigners. But now you'll see that many Malawians are becoming entrepreneurs, which to me is very encouraging. It’s encouraging in the sense that now we are waking up to a new world and realizing that all of us can not just be employed by somebody, but become employers ourselves. And because we are locals, we understand our people better than foreign companies do. I think we are collectively building something in this country and it's encouraging that even the government is supporting local entrepreneurs with new policies. 

We've come from a background where as I said, most of the big entrepreneurs were foreigners and they didn't even want to train local Malawians. But when you come to a company like ours, all of us are local. We understand each other because we understand the language, we understand the culture, we understand the personalities. So as we are growing together, I see a future for the country where, in ten to twenty years from now, most of the industries will begin to be dominated by local people. So entrepreneurship is growing. But the challenges that we are facing are hard. Banks are not willing to take risks on us because they are still leaning on the old traditional ways of banking. So to me, I feel like if banks will begin to minimize their risks and work with us, we will move forward and local entrepreneurs will be able to grow their businesses. There are a lot of opportunities in our economy that we can grow our businesses on. 

The other thing is discipline. Most people are not disciplined to ensure that when they create profits, they take care of the welfare of their staff and grow the businesses by making sure that they are growing into areas that will support and sustain the business. That's another area that if we can improve, I believe that the future is for us to embrace. There are challenges everywhere, but what matters most is how you face them. I always believe that challenges are opportunities to take us to the next step. 

What difference would you like to see the most?

Harrison: I still want the government to look at the local entrepreneur as their partner that they can trust. We've seen in our nation that because most of the industries are dominated by foreigners, their interests are not local. So when they make a profit, they want to invest outside of Malawi. But a local person like myself, when I'm making profits, I want to invest in my own country. I will take care of the welfare of my people. The policies of the government should lean towards us not just having empathy, but doing the right thing. Because in our nation, one of the things that is killing opportunities for most people is corruption. And these people that are working on government programmes, they get a lot of bribes, which is hard to work with as a local business. So if the government can be tough on corruption and work on policies that support local and indigenous entrepreneurs, I believe that's one way for us to improve. The other one is that banks need support local entrepreneurship more. Because our interest rates are too high, it's not easy, and we don't have development banks in our country. So most of the loans that you get from a bank are short term loans, which is not easy for a big investment. If we were to have development banks that allow us to take loans for ten to twenty years, I believe we could grow sustainably.

What do you like most about Malawi?

Harrison: The people. Everywhere you go, the people are friendly and welcome you. That warm-hearted friendliness is what will allow us to grow as a nation. We have our issues with poverty, and people are struggling with many basic things. But when you're in Malawi you see faces that are able to smile despite the challenges. That, to me, tells a lot about the people of Malawi. We are a strong people, and despite what the world says about us, we believe in ourselves. Many of our neighbouring countries are facing issues that we have not needed to face. There have been wars and we have been able to stay out of it and sustain good relations with our neighbors. That tells you a lot about our friendliness. This is something that we need to value and cherish all the time, because it's very rare in this part of the world to have a community like the one in Malawi.