Pinehas Nakaziko

WINDHOEK - Despite some few attempts to enter university he eventually had to pursue a more direct route to some cash flow due to financial difficulties in his early life. 

Today Jan-Berry Burger can be deemed successful in life. This year, he established a Succession Company to help people to navigate through financial crisis in the country and securing their future. “I help people, I spend a lot of time finding out what their views and knowledge on financial and economics are, especially current,” says Burger, who started his company from the humble beginning, without any cent and any qualification, he is now a proud managing director and founder.

Burger was born in Rundu, Kavango East Region, and grew up in the same area. His childhood was characterised by growing up with both close family and extended family members. “My childhood was also characterised by struggles in keeping up with my grades as they were not very good in the beginning at primary school. My parents made a decision to send me to one of the best schools in the country (St Boniface College) to continue with secondary education and that turned out to be the best decision,” says Burger, adding that this education background gave him the opportunity to express himself and pursue topics that interested him in Information Technology (IT). “Although there were other struggles like trying to find funding for the school choices made, the family made sure education was always a priority.”

“To be able to get a job as a financial planner or broker is one of the challenges in a supposedly client centered industry. Getting a job doesn’t necessarily mean you are qualified for it, or that you can actually do it.” His cricket background, both playing and coaching made him a well-rounded person always up for a challenge. “This is really hard to explain all the ways in which it has helped me. People skills, relationship building, strategy, problem solving, perseverance and all other aspects of cricket and the results of the game,” Burger said. 

This gave him a chance to start playing for the Namibia national cricket team. “I think the many experiences of losing both big, and small margins and then every now and then ending up on the side of victory was essential to being able to do the same in business – especially in this industry, if you want to do it right,” explains Burger. With various ups and downs in his life, Burger also did training with a couple of insurance and investment companies. “My qualification lies more with the fact that I share 100 percent of the information, and none of the advice given is in any way related or dependent on the need to make money,” says Burger. On the birth of his new company, Succession Company, Burger says it’s very young but growing. “The name of the business was coined last year and registered this year. I’ve probably been ‘with’ it for as long as I’ve been in the industry (2011),” explains he. 

“In essence, nothing new, but in a totally new way! Basically it will be a description of the way financial advice is given.”
His typical working day is not specifically office bound, therefore he does not spend too much time in office.  In the next ten years, Burger sees Succession Company becoming successful in the industry. “This will see us expanding on our current network to local hubs across the country, and finally also launching across the border. As a bit of an added benefit, I have created a hub for alternative investments and opportunities, which will also be rolled out officially later in the year.” Said the entrepreneur.