Tag Archives: small business
Too Scared To Fail: Barriers To Small Business Growth
We know that more than half of all new businesses in South Africa fail within the first 12 months and that, by the end of 10 years, 96% of them will have closed their doors – but how many of these re-enter the market? And how many more don’t even try to start up because [...]
4 Handy Tips For Work From Home Businesses
South Africa is the perfect place to start a small work from home business. It’s one of the fastest growing markets in the world with an economic climate that bodes well for the future of startups. Starting your business isn’t necessarily easy, though, even in South Africa.
There’s a lot you have to do on [...]
New Business Plan Competition Aims To Drive Sustainable Entrepreneurial Development in the Western Cape
Small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) account for approximately 40% of South Africa’s gross domestic product, and employ more than half of the private sector work force. However, 80% of small businesses fail within their first five years, and according to the most recent Global Entrepreneurship Monitor study, South Africa lags far behind many developing [...]
Should You Be Looking At Unit Trusts For Your Small Business?
Over the past three weeks I have focused on the importance of offering attractive retirement benefits to staff members if you want your business to attract and retain top staff. Recently I chatted to Wynand Gouws from Old Mutual Investment Group SA about putting attractive and affordable staff retirement benefits at your finger tips.
Traditionally, the [...]
Google Bus Travels Through Egypt Looking For The African Facebook
The New York Times reported yesterday that a bus branded with the Google logo will be traveling across 10 governorates in Egypt starting this week, including stops at universities in Cairo and Alexandria, scouting for the next generation of technology entrepreneurs with homegrown ideas on the scale of Facebook or LinkedIn.
South African tech-entrepreneurs will be [...]
How to start up a small business
So you want to run your own small business? The first thing you’ll need is a good idea. Once you have that, the real work begins. Here are some things that anyone with an eye to starting a small business should consider.
Finding the best idea
Landing on a good idea is not as simple as having [...]
8 tips for an Entrepreneur
In the spirit of the Opening Doors entrepreneur documentary screening across the country tomorrow morning, we’d like to share one of our brilliant Ideate writers’ video explaining the Entrepreneur Tree. Bruce’s inspiring video conveys a strong message to all aspiring or established entrepreneurs in the South African small business industry.
Yolandi Janse van Rensburg writes about [...]
Economic Growth = Growing Entrepreneurship
If South Africa’s economy is to continue to see healthy growth, we need more people actively involved as employers, and not just employees. Creating employment is one, if not THE most important challenge for South Africa, and if we are going to tackle it effectively, a change in perspective is required on several fronts.
1.Unemployment
The first [...]
Is BEE different for small businesses?
It’s a conversation that many a group of business owners has got into of late: “Should I or shouldn’t I get BEE compliant?” While there are advantages to being BEE rated (being able to supply national or local government departments, for example, or becoming a preferential supplier to other BEE-compliant companies) it can also be [...]
From boardroom to braai: Using economics every day
Knowing the basics of economics gives you a considerable boost to your CV and helps you make smart life and business decisions. Economics, which studies how and why people, governments and businesses behave like they do, is not merely a finance-based discipline.
In fact, most of economics deals with understanding relationships between entities in their [...]
