The terminology around BEE compliance is now part of the language of business and we talk about broad-based black economic empowerment or ‘triple BEE’ as comfortably as we do about the ‘triple bottom line’.

Nevertheless, we still have a very long way to go in opening up the economy to all those who were previously marginalised. Deon Oberholzer, CEO of Veri-Com, says that he still encounters businesses that are reluctant to engage with B-BBEE, largely as a result of fear and misinformation. “There is fear that the commitments may be too onerous and the perception that the cost may impact on sustainability,” he says.

Usually all it takes is a fresh perspective to shift this mindset. Here Oberholzer shares with us five out-of-the-box suggestions that may be all we need to get us thinking more creatively and positively about how we can participate. The emphasis here is not on how to get BEE scorecard points (although these are all point-scoring suggestions), but how to engage in meaningful and genuinely broad-based BEE, while improving your competitiveness in the long term.

Pay it forward but also make it pay for yourself

The design of the B-BBEE Codes is intended to enable companies to make strategic investments in their own sustainability and growth, while at the same time transferring benefits to the wider community. Thus you could select your beneficiaries from within your own staff community or the community within which your business operates. For instance, by all means offer bursaries to children of your own employees, but ensure that those bursaries are for training in the skills that you will be able to use in your own company. Then offer the recipients holiday jobs in your company, and take them on as interns after they have qualified. In this way you build up your skills pool and build retention and loyalty within your existing employee base.

Create an opportunity

Identify a beneficiary who needs a break and create an opportunity for that person, or group, to gain skills and earn an income within your supply chain. For instance, you’d like to procure from a women-owned company, but you can’t find a suitable one. So invest in enterprise development and help some women to start their own company and supply you with the products or services you need. Get involved with mentorship and skills transfer to help your beneficiaries. The result will be a tailor-made supplier who can meet your exact needs and who will also have the capacity to enter the wider market and be sustainable. There is a growing pool of black entrepreneurs that want to get into real business opportunities, and finding them is quite possible.

Solve a particular problem

It is highly likely that you have a problem that could be addressed via a B-BBEE solution. Perhaps you can’t find people with the right skills to meet your employment equity targets? You can start to grow that resource pool from the bottom up. You source people, you train, you employ and you continue the development. If it means starting with supporting a maths and science programme at a local secondary school, then that is where you should start. If you can’t find black people with the capacity to be middle managers, you should recruit and groom your lower-level employees for that career path. You will score points for your efforts now and score more points down the line when you have up-skilled the right people. The many government programmes on learnerships can help carry the cost.

Make an ongoing contribution

Set up a programme of B-BBEE engagement that has long-term potential.  Accept that the individuals who are trained, interned or empowered within your organisation may then be snapped up in jobs elsewhere; don’t let that discourage you. If you have a pipeline of candidates going through your programme, for which you will score points every year, you will have an ongoing pool of human capital to draw from and at the same time you will be helping to grow the skills base within your sector. Also, once your programme gets a reputation for being a great training base, you will soon start attracting higher calibre candidates. Everybody wins in the long run.

Look beyond the obvious

B-BBEE is not only about black ownership and being obliged to spend some of your hard-earned profit. It is good business practice to reinvest a portion of your nett profit after tax into your company. B-BBEE just asks that some of that reinvestment should benefit both your company and the wider community. It also makes room for all racial groups. In the case of enterprise development, for instance, the company you choose to support needs to be only 51% black-owned. Or in the case of socio economic development, only 75% of the benefits need to go to black people. So if you want to give a bursary to a gifted maths student who happens to be white, you can do so; just make sure that you also give bursaries to three black students and you can still score your points.

“Organisations of any size can get involved in B-BBEE”, concludes Oberholzer. There is scope for the smallest exempt micro enterprise to make a contribution. Certified verification agencies and B-BBEE consultants can assist in planning a strategy that will get you excited and inspired to proceed.

Ideate is one of South Africa's biggest business blogs, with a team of authors all of whom have had entrepreneurial experience. Ideate is read by entrepreneurs thinking BIG. Follow us on Twitter here. View more articles by Staff Reporter.

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The UCT GSB remains the only business school in Africa ranked in the FT MBA Top 100 for its full-time programme, and this is the eighth consecutive year that it has been listed.

In addition to being the number one value-for-money MBA, there are other notable achievements in 2012 – the UCT GSB was ranked 10th in the International Experience category and 17th in the Career Progress rank. The School also achieved 32% for International Faculty, and 28% for International Students.

An assessment of the 2012 rankings table also shows that the School went from 73 to 68 in the three-year average rank.

“The UCT GSB is delighted to have taken another jump upwards in the FT Top 100 ranking. Last year we ranked at 60 and have moved up six places for 2012. We take these rankings very seriously, because it is testament to the high quality of our programme, and the remarkable impact we have on students,” says Professor Walter Baets, Director of the UCT GSB.

Baets believes it is important for the UCT MBA to remain competitively priced for the high quality it delivers and so is gratified that the school has retained the top spot as the best value for money MBA in the world. “This is helping the school to attract more international students and grow as a hub of expertise on the African continent,” he says.

Baets says the 2012 ranking will inspire confidence in current and prospective students that the UCT GSB offers an MBA on a par with the best in the world, and that a qualification from the business school will allow them to compete on a global level.

The FT ranking also shows that GSB MBA graduates are making their mark across the globe – by achieving well in International Experience, International Students and Career Progress. “These three categories prove that our graduates are accomplishing great things wherever they go and are extremely valued in the international market,” says Baets.

“We aim both to raise the profile of emerging market business schools as centres of excellence and thought leadership, and to provide local and international students with the skills they need to take on the challenges of this decade’s emerging markets.”

At the top of the 2012 FT Top 100 is Stanford Graduate School of Business, with Harvard Business School moving up one to be in second place this year. The GSB’s ranking at 54 places it ahead of notable international schools including, Purdue University Krannert School of Management in the US, the University of British Columbia Sauder School of Business in Canada and Birmingham Business School in the UK.

Ideate is one of South Africa's biggest business blogs, with a team of authors all of whom have had entrepreneurial experience. Ideate is read by entrepreneurs thinking BIG. Follow us on Twitter here. View more articles by Staff Reporter.

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The BRICS Africa Export Import Forum is the only event that is dedicated to showcasing the range of services and support available for BRICS Intra Africa trade. Products and services that will be showcased cover the entire import/export supply chain – including trade and investment promotion agencies, export/import consultants, Export Councils, banking and trade finance, credit guarantee and insurance services, customs brokers and revenue services, certification and audits, training, media as well as companies involved in freight logistics including shipping lines, airlines, road and rail operators and courier companies.

According to the Standard Bank Group, trade between BRIC nations and Africa increased almost eight times, from $21.9 billion in 2000 to $164.6 billion in 2008. By 2030, this figure is expected to exceed $4 trillion.

In 2010, China overtook the United States as Africa’s largest trading partner, while Brazil and India currently rank as Africa’s sixth and 10th largest trading partners, respectively. Among the BRIC countries, China dominates BRIC-Africa trade, accounting for about two-thirds in value.

The positive outlook for BRICS intra Africa trade has been well documented. “Brazil’s trade with Africa could triple to $60 billion by 2017,” says Roberto Giannetti da Fonseca, head of foreign trade at the Sao Paulo Industrial Federation (FIESP). He also notes that trade tripled to $20 billion between 2004 and 2010.

Trade with other BRIC countries is equally as promising. India’s trade with Africa has increased by a massive 1,000% over the last decade, with value currently around $32 billion a year. According to IMF data, Russia-Africa trade reached $3.5 billion in 2009, the smallest volume of the BRIC partners.

“Africa is one of the fastest growing economic regions in the world, with a combined GDP growing at an average rate of 4.5% per annum,” says John Thomson, Managing Director of Exhibition Management Services, organisers of SAITEX and co-organisers of the BRICS Africa Export Import Forum.

“The BRIC nations continue to reap the benefits of bilateral trade. Africa has enjoyed infrastructure development, economic expansion and developmental aid, while the BRIC nations gain access to strategic mineral resources, markets and support from African states at multilateral summits.”

Thomson adds that BRIC’s trade growth with Africa has outpaced global trade and that the potential for future growth is significant. “Our show aims to develop and exploit that potential,” he comments.

Ideate is one of South Africa's biggest business blogs, with a team of authors all of whom have had entrepreneurial experience. Ideate is read by entrepreneurs thinking BIG. Follow us on Twitter here. View more articles by Staff Reporter.

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1. Read more

If there’s only one change that you make in your life in 2012, make sure it’s this one – read more. Make a conscious effort to fill your downtime moments with books, magazines, blog articles and newspapers – whatever you enjoy – instead of watching TV or aimlessly browsing Facebook. Reading stimulates your brain and fills it with new knowledge, insights, ideas and views. Try branching out into new media and genres that you’re unfamiliar with. As an alternative, download some audiobooks or interesting podcasts to listen to while in the car or at the gym.

2. Learn one new hobby

Everybody has that one hobby that they’ve always aspired to, but never actively pursued. Whether it’s drawing, writing, knitting, studying a language or playing an instrument, learning something new awakens the brain, reduces stress and ensures that you have more fun in your free time – not to mention the confidence boost you get when you serve your first soufflé or play a full song on a guitar.

3. Take one professional skills course

Every working professional can list a few business skills that they could do with, but don’t have. Abilities like balancing the books, writing a proposal, delivering a public presentation or operating certain software packages are valuable to almost anyone. This year, critically evaluate which skills you’re lacking, or what gaps in your knowledge are holding your career back, and do something about it. Take an after-hours professional skills course to boost your abilities – and your salary.

4. Attend a conference

Almost every industry, hobby or interest has a conference of some kind every year – and it’s amazing what you can learn by attending one of these. Conferences usually have presentations, speeches and panels by leading people in the field, and these are excellent places to pick up new knowledge, get inspired and make connections for future. Whether you go to a cooking presentation at the Food and Wine show, a digital media talk at the Design Indaba or a seminar on environmental impact at the African Mining Indaba, make it your goal to attend at least one conference this year where you can learn something new.

5. Join a community

Finally, learning in isolation can be lonely, difficult and unfulfilling for some, so consider joining a like-minded community of people so that you can share your insights, struggles and lessons learned. This community can meet up in the real world (like a business support group or art class) or online (there are hundreds of websites and forums devoted to every hobby and profession you can imagine). Whichever you choose, you will quickly find that interacting actively  both by sharing and absorbing information – will increase your learning by leaps and bounds.

Anna Malczyk is a member of the academic department of GetSmarter, a specialist online training firm. GetSmarter works together with University of Cape Town to present short courses in small business management, project management, internet marketing, financial management and more. View more articles by Anna Malczyk.

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The Associate in Management Programme is aimed at emerging leaders without previous tertiary education who want to further their careers. The programme is an essential stepping stone to further tertiary education and other management development programmes.

AIM allows people with only working experience access to a world-class business school education, where they learn hard business skills while cultivating their full individual potential. They graduate with a certificate from the Faculty of Commerce at UCT, which is then recognised as a credible qualification, allowing admission to other tertiary programmes.

Head of Channel Marketing at Capitec, Sbusiso Kumalo, says the AIM programme was the essential ingredient for reaching his aspirations to further his studies.

“I started working straight after school, so my experience outweighed my education and I needed to bridge that gap. AIM was a perfect start to my MBA aspirations, as it was originally designed for people in my situation – working full time with no formal qualification and no time to study full-time,” he says.

To find out more visit the UCT Graduate School of Business here.

Ideate is one of South Africa's biggest business blogs, with a team of authors all of whom have had entrepreneurial experience. Ideate is read by entrepreneurs thinking BIG. Follow us on Twitter here. View more articles by Staff Reporter.

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A business plan has two core functions. The first is well known: it serves as a proposal to banks, leasers and investors when starting a business. The second purpose is to act as an operational document – a preset guideline – for when the business starts its operations. In both cases, a business plan is an essential and very useful document, and it is vital that you write one for your new business venture.

What is a business plan?

Essentially, a business plan is a document that explains and promotes a new or prospective business. Its goal is to explain what the business will achieve, why this product or service is needed and how the owner and stakeholders will operate the business. It acts very much like a jobseeker’s CV: it highlights the benefits, advantages and necessity of the venture, while outlining its future potential. A business plan should be concise, should only include relevant information and should highlight the benefits of the new business.

The parts of a business plan

• Preliminary materials: Your title page, executive summary and project introduction.
• Product or service: Describe what your new business is planning to offer the market.
• Marketing and sales strategy: Describe why the product is necessary and important, and how you plan to market it to the public.
• Organisational structure and personnel: Describe the form your business will take (for example, partnership or close corporation) and outline which skills and people you will need.
• Legal requirements: Outline the laws and regulations your business needs to comply with.
• Financial plan: Lay out the business’s budget, costs and other financial matters, like investment needs.
• Risk strategy: Describe the biggest risks to your business and outline how you plan to mitigate or eliminate them.

Business plan as proposal

A business plan used as a proposal should promote the new venture or idea to potential investors, banks and lenders, as well as to prospective business partners. It should emphasise the need and uniqueness of the product being proposed, and should chart the realistic future growth of the business. Keep the tone positive and promotional, but do not over-exaggerate the potential or financial returns of the business – it is better to underestimate and have bigger returns than to disappoint investors.

Business plan as operational document

A business plan used as an operational document should outline in relative detail the goals, intentions and milestones that the business aims to reach. It should serve as a roadmap for the business’s daily operations, in order to keep the operations on track and in line with the original purpose. Businesses run the risk of losing their focus as day-to-day upkeep overtakes the bigger picture: the operational business plan is a reminder of what the company wants to achieve, and how it plans to get there. Aspects such as the marketing strategy, future growth plans, legal requirements and the risk strategy are especially useful for this purpose.

Anna Malczyk is a member of the academic department of GetSmarter, a specialist online training firm. GetSmarter works together with University of Cape Town to present short courses in small business management, project management, internet marketing, financial management and more. View more articles by Anna Malczyk.

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The event will take place on 29 February and 1 and 2 March 2012, at the prestigious Indaba Hotel in Fourways, Johannesburg.

Attending the event will benefit professionals dealing with marketing, branding, customer relations, customer loyalty, CRM, CVM, loyalty and customer communications, digital communications, brand development, customer development, multi channel marketing, loyalty marketing, rewards and loyalty programmes, client management, business development, account management, on-line marketing, mobile marketing, and digital media.

“The South African loyalty sector is growing at a rapid pace. Influencing factors include our economic down-turn to more specialized, focused, client orientated service. The conference will lend itself to the birth if innovative ideas, technology, implementation, and the opportunity to network with industry leaders in an exhibition environment.” said Danie Herbst, Project Manager, Trade Conferences International.

With a proven track record, TCI’s 2011 conferences, namely Mobile Banking Southern Africa, Payments Southern Africa, IT Architecture, Call Centres, just to name a few, attracted more than 600 delegates collectively. With more than 200 events organized since 2002, and with the guidance of a highly experienced and dedicated team, Loyalty and Rewards Conference and Exhibition 2012 promises to be another benchmark event for Trade Conferences International.

To register for this conference or to find out more about the Loyalty and Rewards Conference and Exhibition, contact Danie Herbst on 011 803 0009 or alternatively email info@tci-sa.co.za.

Ideate is one of South Africa's biggest business blogs, with a team of authors all of whom have had entrepreneurial experience. Ideate is read by entrepreneurs thinking BIG. Follow us on Twitter here. View more articles by Staff Reporter.

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In a new forecast, the independent technology analyst reveals that banks in emerging economies in the Asia-Pacific region will grow the fastest, at a rate of 8.3 per cent in 2012, hitting $10.2bn by the end of the year. Meanwhile, Western Europe will have the lowest growth of all the regions (1.9 per cent), despite being the second biggest market in terms of overall spend, reaching $44bn by the end of 2012.

“The technology investments will be mainly driven by the need to grow revenues but the changing regulatory compliance will also contribute significantly,” says Jaroslaw Knapik, Ovum financial services analyst and author of the forecast.

This will lead to accelerated investment in channel technology, predominantly online banking, which will become the fastest growing area globally in 2012, rising 5.3 per cent, to hit $8.3bn by year end. Elsewhere, mobile will see an increase of 5% globally in 2012, reaching $3.3bn, while management information systems and multi-channel integration/customer information systems will also see high growth rates.

“Technologies that allow ‘smarter’ selling and servicing, such as customer analytics and customer data management, are expected to remain hot areas in the near future,” comments Knapik. “As sales activities are expected to be on the rise again, banks will also boost investments into operations as the ability to sell products faster and service customers’ better will continue to be a competitive differentiator in the retail market.”

Global spending in areas, such as risk management, anti-fraud, compliance, and performance management, will experience growth of 4.6 per cent, hitting $6.1bn by the end of 2012 and $7.6bn over the next five years. However, emerging economies in Asia-Pacific will experience the highest growth, at 8.8 per cent to hit $521m by year end, although North America will grow the fastest by volume, an increase of $95m, reaching $2.2bn.

Ideate is one of South Africa's biggest business blogs, with a team of authors all of whom have had entrepreneurial experience. Ideate is read by entrepreneurs thinking BIG. Follow us on Twitter here. View more articles by Staff Reporter.

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In the latest QS Global 200 Business Schools Report, which rates schools from around the world based on MBA employers’ and recruiters’ views, UCT GSB was ranked in first place, the University of Stellenbosch third, and the University of Witwatersrand fifth.

The top five also included the American University in Cairo (second place), and the Suliman S. Olayan School of Business in Beirut (fourth).

The MBA at the GSB is the only programme in Africa ranked in the Financial Times Top 100 Global MBAs, and has received acclaim for the international scope of its curriculum, which nonetheless retains a distinctive orientation to the business context of Africa.

Director of the GSB, Professor Walter Baets, recognises the importance of multiple top ratings and says it proves that the school has positioned itself in a way that remains relevant locally and internationally.

“The UCT GSB is delighted about this ranking. Once again it testifies to the high quality of our programmes, the remarkable impact we have on students and the exceptional quality of our MBA in particular,” says Baets.

“The ratings also show that the country is putting out world class business leaders who can compete with the best in the world. What makes the business schools in South Africa unique is being located in an emerging economy that is characterised by complexity and diversity.”

According to Baets, UCT GSB’s mission has been to differentiate itself as a business school with strong and distinctive capabilities in emerging market business education and applied research.

“Our aim for some time now has been to always ensure that all our programmes are relevant in the context of new global business, in the context of new leadership development and in the context of emerging economy business,” says Baets. “This is further encouragement for us that Africa is able to develop its own models of business schools that will be more relevant to the local context without sacrificing internationalism. We don’t need Harvard in Africa we need something better.”

According to Burchell, South Africa stands to gain from the international interest that will be generated by having three local universities’ business schools in the top five of the entire continent by attracting investors and international students.

For more information visit www.uct.gsb.ac.za

Ideate is one of South Africa's biggest business blogs, with a team of authors all of whom have had entrepreneurial experience. Ideate is read by entrepreneurs thinking BIG. Follow us on Twitter here. View more articles by Staff Reporter.

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The primary aspect that us entrepreneurs need to worry about is that the PAIA requires that all private bodies (including sole traders, partnerships, close corporations, companies and trusts) must compile and submit a PAIA manual by 31 December 2011.

The object of this manual is to detail the steps that a person must follow in order to make a request for information as per PAIA.  It must include the following information:

• Details of the business’s postal, email and street address, and the fax and phone numbers of the business
• The description of available records generated by the business, stating those which are automatically available and those that are available on request
• Outline the request procedure in terms of PAIA
• State who the head of the business is (CEO is usually the  Information Officer in terms of PAIA)
• Stipulate the fees applicable, as legislated by the Act, which are chargeable to requesters
• Remedies available to requesters if their request for information has been refused
• Details of facilitating requests for access to a record

This manual has to be prepared for each sole proprietor, partnership, company, close corporation and trust that is trading or holds assets of any kind.

After compiling your manual, a signed copy (with request form attached) can be emailed to the PAIA Unit of the South African Human Rights Commission: dmalesa@sahrc.org.za

Alternatively, it can be posted to:

PAIA Unit

SAHRC

Private Bag X2700

Houghton

2041

For further information please refer to the South African Human Rights Commission: www.sahrc.org.za

There are penalties for non-compliance (see section 90 of the PAIA) – the Commission has not imposed these fines for non-compliance to date, but reserves the right to do so.

To have the manual compiled for you (at a cost of R1,311 inclusive of VAT), contact Dixie & Visser Accountants on (021) 531-6214, or reach them at general@profacc.co.za

Gareth Cotten is one of the growing breed of SA entrepreneurs with that ‘world-domination’ look in his eyes. Gareth runs the coaching and consulting practice 'Good Advice'. Gareth is also the 'course convener' for the University of Cape Town (Law@Work) Start and Manage a Small Business course and the University of Cape Town Basics of Financial Management course. View more articles by Gareth Cotten.

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