The latest stats published in SA do not make for flattering reading no matter how you try to disguise the trends. If one were to apply the country\u2019s performance onto a traditional company dashboard there would be a whole lot of red and not much happiness and should be a sign for concern.<\/p>\n
But it is all not doom and gloom and there is always plenty of opportunity in this great country we call home. There is a huge growth in the SME market and I totally agree with Ivan Epstein below that SME\u2019s hold the key to us moving SA forward and being able to tackle the growing problem of unemployment which ultimately fuels our deteriorating crime stats.<\/p>\n
The good news is that the revised BEE codes that have recently come into effect finally incentivise corporates to support SME\u2019s and if done correctly all spend with an SME can qualify for 120% towards procure points. BEE is something that is here to stay and ultimately affects all companies, irrespective of size, and should be seen as an enabler and not a hindrance.<\/p>\n
As we enter EcoMobility month in Gauteng, I encourage you to look at what you can do to not only think about going green, but also what can you and your company do to help make this a better country for all of us.
\nGo out and support an SME today.<\/p>\n
\nCorporates can gain from nurturing SMEs<\/h1>\n
Corporate South Africa has a major role to play in driving the growth of small businesses \u2013 and every reason to help nurture a healthy SME sector.<\/p>\n
This is the view of Ivan Epstein, Sage CEO for AAMEA (Africa, Australia, Middle East and Asia) and chairman of the Sage Foundation who says it is important for business and government to work closely together to create a thriving SME sector.<\/p>\n
Epstein has added his voice to the call from Deputy Minister of Small Business Development, Elizabeth Thabethe, for the private and public sectors to work together to invest in and support small businesses and cooperatives to reduce the levels of poverty in South Africa.<\/p>\n
The National Development Plan envisages that 90% of the 11-million jobs targeted by 2030 will come from the small business sector. Thabethe recently said that it \u201cis critical that both the private and public sector avail opportunities for small to medium enterprises so as to arm them to tackle the high unemployment we are facing as a country and help create the jobs that our people need.\u201d<\/p>\n
This is a sentiment Epstein agrees with.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot more can be done,\u201d he says. \u201cSMEs are the vital drivers of the economy. The right kind of support from government and business could spark a significant change in the trajectory of the local economy as a whole.<\/p>\n
\u201cLarge businesses have a huge amount to gain through a more aggressive focus on the development of the SME segment,\u201d adds Epstein. \u201cA stronger SME sector gives big business access to more customers, suppliers, dealers and outsourcing long-term partners. From the public perspective, more healthy SMEs mean more employment, a wider tax base and general prosperity. In other words, a more stable social environment and a healthier economy. This is the ideal context for large businesses to operate in \u2013 it\u2019s the context every CEO dreams of.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Epstein, a helping hand from large business and\/or government can make the difference between eventual success and failure for SMEs, especially in their early years.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are the times when cash flow is tight, and when the business is vulnerable, regardless of its long-term potential,\u201d he says. \u201cBig businesses and government agencies can be incredible customers and partners for SMEs if the relationship pays attention to their real needs and challenges. Our experience at Sage is that active support allows the SME to grow. The opposite, sadly, is also true. SMEs that don\u2019t receive active support often just wither and cease to exist.<\/p>\n
\u201cOften the most meaningful financial support is very simple, like paying a small service provider timeously, rather than at 60 days,\u201d he says. \u201cEqually, basic business mentoring can make all the difference in the world to SMEs since most don\u2019t have the HR, legal, marketing and taxation skills and resources that larger companies do. We need to invest more aggressively as a country in SME mentoring, and in relevant education and research programmes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Epstein believes that Thabethe\u2019s call for private\/public sector collaboration in this area is realistic.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll stakeholders should seize the opportunity to work actively with government and push for a more prosperous SME sector,\u201d he says. \u201cSME success will help spread wealth which will lead to increased economic prosperity. It will address our deep challenges of economic inequality, including reducing the social support burden on the state.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are eager to hear more about government\u2019s plans to support SMEs,\u201d Epstein says. \u201cFrom our side, one of the biggest barriers to the success of SMEs in South Africa is education. It would be a wonderful, positive opportunity to work with government to help SMEs face challenges like regulatory compliance, access to finance, skills development and mentoring. Private\/public collaborations in this area could make a big change. It\u2019s time for us all to figure out how to make these collaborations happen.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Corporates can gain from nurturing SME’s The latest stats published in SA do not make for flattering reading no matter how you try to disguise the trends. If one were to apply the country\u2019s performance onto a traditional company dashboard … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2260,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[40,50,100],"tags":[83,84,85,86],"class_list":["post-2255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-blogs","category-capisol","category-sme","tag-productive","tag-small-business","tag-sme","tag-successful-sme"],"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":false,"span_bottom":false},"number_of_votes":0,"sum_votes":0},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.projects.prycision.com\/capisol\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.projects.prycision.com\/capisol\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.projects.prycision.com\/capisol\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.projects.prycision.com\/capisol\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.projects.prycision.com\/capisol\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2255"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.projects.prycision.com\/capisol\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2255\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5032,"href":"https:\/\/www.projects.prycision.com\/capisol\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2255\/revisions\/5032"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.projects.prycision.com\/capisol\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.projects.prycision.com\/capisol\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.projects.prycision.com\/capisol\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.projects.prycision.com\/capisol\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}