Small Business is Good News Right Now: Nico Jacobs, ABSA
by Fred Roed on 13/02/09 at 2:53 pm
1 comment
This morning Mike and I spoke at a breakfast seminar for ABSA Small Business. We were followed by Nico Jacobs, the General Manager for ABSA Small Business, who spoke about the small business landscape in South Africa. It was a great talk, with some really inspirational passages. Here are some of the highlights:
The Current Situation:
- SA political reality is healthy, with opposition coming to the fore
- We’re weathering the global economic storm well
- Declining interest rates
- Tax revenues up 220% in the past 10 years
- We have amongst the cheapest fuel in the world
- Our government is spending lots of money in public works
- Skills are starting to come home – the trend of people leaving is changing
- Increasing contribution from the SME sector
- In excess of 310,000 new SME’s registered in per year in SA
- In 1999 the SME sector accounted for 19% of employment in SA; in 2008 it’s in excess of 50%
Some questions to ask yourself?
- Is my business geared to exploit the opportunities in the current environment?
- How do I sustain my business through this cycle?
- What does this changing market mean to my business?
There are 4 threats to sustainability:
- Imitation (who are my competitors?)
- Substitution (can my service be substituted?)
- Hold up (can my suppliers hold me to ransom?)
- Slack (what are the inefficiencies in my business?) Remember: “Good turnover hides a multitude of sins”
Golden rules in this current climate:
- Guard your current customers with your life
- Compare your services and products with your competitors
- Build your reputation
- INVEST, don’t spend!
- Learn the joy of rejection
- Learn the new rules (e.g. new media, technology, etc.)
- Network now more than ever!
All in all the networking event was a great success, with some great prizes, great talks and great people. We saw some familiar faces there (below pic of Bruce Wade from HEP and Sally Kruger from Business Needs Analysis), and will definitely return for another session. Thanks ABSA for inviting us.
An expanded version of the World Wide Creative slideshow can be seen here.
Fred Roed is the marketing guy in the Ideate crew. Fred is the CEO of web marketing company World Wide Creative and the co-founder of online learning portal Heavy Chef. Fred loves writing about people out there doing marketing right. Follow Fred on Twitter here. View more articles by Fred Roed.
Tags: Business/Finance, South Africa
Dumi
Jan 4th, 2011
Good day,
I would like to find out how to join the Absa small business mentorship. Thanks
Kind Regards,
Dumi