Friday, March 29, 2024
Meet the Founder

How Julie Alexander Fourie Founded One of Africa’s Largest Mobile Servicing Companies

Julie Alexander Fourie is the founder of iFix (now called Wefix), a brand which repairs and services all Apple products and Samsung Smartphones.

Fourie started the company in 2006 at the age of 20 from his dorm room at the University of Stellenbosch, helping colleagues and friends repair broken and faulty iPods and computers.

Fourie enjoys traveling a lot. It was as a result of his travels that he was able to met quite a lot of people who changed his approach towards entrepreneurship, he was able to learn that most times, entrepreneurship pays more than earning salaries.

While he was in UK, he worked as a security guard and what he learnt from there basically helped transform his life. He was able to save up some money he earned from working as a security guard and he hooked up with various artists and even went on tours with them.

In 2006, Fourie’s ipod fell and broke down and on taking it to a specialist for repair, he was told it could not be fixed. He was quite disappointed as his ipod was like a companion to him as a student.

He then resorted to attempting to fix it through a DIY he found online and following the steps, he was able to fix his ipod. Subsequently, he fixed his friend’s ipod and then the news went around and on recognizing a gap in the market and he decided to monetize the service. He placed an advert on Cape Times and he was very surprised to get about 15-20 people who needed that service.

Within 2 years, Fourie opened branches in Johannesburg and Pretoria. Currently. iFix has branches in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban and Fourie’s company has an employee base of 40 people who provide services for about 4,000 clients on a monthly basis.

In 2011, Fourie started RiCharge, a mobile charging station, providing a very much wanted service for people especially in rural Africa, focusing on solar-based outdoor solution. He is also the founder of UFIX, a DIY Apple repair kit which gives opportunity to watch, learn and fix your Apple phones yourself like he did.

In 2015, he was listed among the 30 most promising young entrepreneurs under 30 in Africa and featured on the Mail and Guardian’s Top 40 under 40 young South African Entrepreneurs.

Fourie has over the years continued to live by the principle “Innovation and diversification of your products and services are crucial. Innovate constantly, the minute you stop, the business dies.”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *