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IQ Partners with aa autobay
Date : 02/05/2007 Launching and making a company operational in a few months is no easy task, but achievable with the right partners. The IQ Business Group (IQ) recently partnered with AA Autobay to design and implement the company’s online marketplace. This service assists customers to buy, sell, finance and insure pre-owned vehicles privately in a safe and cost-effective environment. The opening of four new branches in Johannesburg on April 10 follows the successful pilot of AA Autobay in Pretoria. “AA Autobay was born in April 2006,” explains Stephen de Blanche, AA Autobay Chief Operations Officer. “There were no technology systems, processes or infrastructures in place. All that existed was a vision, seed funding and a list of outsource partners tasked with building the business.” Working around the clock with the AA Autobay start-up team, IQ was able to translate the business vision into a fully functional operating business in under 180 days. To ensure success a customised process solution to support the defined business model was required. “Our aim was to create a process-centric organisation”, says Ken Jarvis, AA Autobay Chief Information Officer. “When we thought of process, we thought IQ!” In addition to the comprehensive process solution, IQ established and managed the Human Resource (HR) department. In a project of this scale, recruiting the correct staff in short timeframes is an immense challenge, but one IQ ably assisting with - recruiting 39 AA Autobay staff in 19 weeks. IQ also crafted the Accounting Solution, the Business Support Centre Solution and project managed the branch rollout. IQ Risk - a specialist service within IQ – assisted AA Autobay identify key commercial risks in order to manage their exposure. “IQ was brought in as a specialist process house, based on its previous experience in working with clients such as Nedbank and the SA Revenue Service (SARS)” says IQ SA CEO, Donald Stuart. “But ultimately IQ played a far larger role, providing a holistic Business Development Solution.” “We needed to have a complete understanding of the business vision,” adds Stuart. “This meant giving input from the start, from how the business ideas were shaped to finally being at the branches and seeing the staff in action. We were involved from conceptualisation to pilot roll-out and beyond into operations.” The AA Autobay website (www.aaautobay.co.za) is available nationally and walk-in branches exist in Pretoria West, Gezina, Centurion, Midrand, Boksburg, Edenvale, Randburg and Westgate.
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