What does success mean to Charles Norwood?
Charles is a highly experienced expedition organiser and has participated in major overland expeditions since the 1980’s. He is Managing Director of Safari Drive, a self-drive safari specialist offering holidays in Southern Africa, Oman and Argentina. Charles looks after Safari Drive logistics and uses his wealth of expedition experience to advise on the more adventurous trips. His interests include paragliding (obsessively) and rock climbing.
Why did you start Safari Drive?
“We started Safari Drive as a genuine alternative to the traditional safari as we believe that driving yourself and discovering Africa our way is a better and more authentic experience and besides it’s how we like to travel ourselves. We saw massive potential and as the originators of the self drive safari are very proud to be the leaders in the field.”
What does success mean to you?
“Starting any new venture and making it work is very tough and after 23 years I feel justified in my original instincts to start the company. Success to me means the freedom to develop the company further and explore other parts of the world that our clients might enjoy. It also enables me to pursue my other passion which is cross country paragliding.”
What does that mean for Safari Drive?
“Having the confidence in our product means happy clients which is very important for Safari Drive and our success is an indicator that we are on the right track with a wonderful client base who enjoy travelling with us.”
What are your top 3 apps for running your business?
Filemaker Pro – “This is central to our client management because of its custom-built solution which includes; a trip pricing system, invoicing, mail outs, management accounts. We are currently updating to Filemaker 14 for the latest functionality.”
QuickBooks – “We use Quickbooks online because it is readily accessible from anywhere in the world and its multi-company multi-currency features enable us to keep track of our satellite operations in Africa.”
Fleetio – “Fleetio.com provides a vehicle fleet management system which we use to keep track of our vehicles and the service records and fleet costing.”
“…And of course, Float helps us to manage our cash flow and budgeting!”
