Category: Articles

While the world economy languished in the doldrums of the COVID-19 pandemic, a small local cosmetics company has been increasing its sales by a staggering 40 percent this year, notching up one international breakthrough after another. 

To be sure, Elim Spa Products International’s remarkable success this year is no COVID-induced fluke. On the contrary, it has happened despite the pandemic, as the culmination of 16 years of extremely hard work and tenacity to develop an exclusive range of pedicure, manicure and body treatment creams.

The driving force behind the Cape Town based Elim is Shantelle Booysen, a 48-year-old life-long entrepreneur and finalist in the 2019 Entrepreneur of the Year® run by Business Partners Limited.

Her company, which she started from home in 2004, has just had its best year ever after a breakthrough in signing up with a top distributor in the UK, and increasing recognition as a leader in its category by exclusive spas around the world. In another reversal of global economic trends that bodes well for South African manufacturing, Elim no longer sources many of its components such as packaging from the Far East, but buys them locally, based purely on economic reasons. Shantelle, who describes herself as a born entrepreneur, grew up in Cape Town, and started her first successful business at school buying towels directly from a factory in Wellington and selling them to workers in Epping Industria, where her mother worked. She believes she may have inherited some of her entrepreneurship from her father, who grew up an orphan, left school at 16, and eventually became a successful steel manufacturer in the US.

As long as she can remember, she has always been on the lookout for business opportunities. “It’s not something I can turn off. When we go on holiday to Mauritius, for example, my husband and the boys enjoy their time on the beach, while I’m constantly looking through the shops and the markets for things that I can import. I’m just wired that way,” she says.

This is exactly how Shantelle stumbled on spa products as a business opportunity. She was travelling in Thailand to meet up with a supplier of leather shoes which she was importing to South Africa. The footwear itself was a side hustle to her regular job as a curriculum developer for a correspondence college. At the end of the trip she relaxed and took a pedicure at a Thai holiday resort. The cream caught her attention and she brought samples back to South Africa. She realised that unlike facial creams, pedicure foot cream was a neglected, underdeveloped product. The Thai product was remarkable, but tended to dry out the skin. A friend who had a background in the chemistry of cosmetics helped to solve the problem by adjusting the PH of the cream. 

This was the start of Shantelle’s immersion in the world of chemistry and the development of her range of sophisticated spa treatment creams for the next sixteen years. Today, she still spends whole days in the lab, leading the perfection of her products and the development of new ones. 

Shantelle started marketing her cream first through classified ads, and a demonstration at a fair which didn’t work. Then she decided to sell her cream, branded Mediheel, directly and exclusively to spas. For seven years she drove from spa to spa in a tiny sedan, demonstrating her products. In many ways she enjoyed these early years the most, and even today she pops in at spas to give a demonstration and to sign them up, much to the irritation of her marketing team, she says.

A breakthrough came when she struck up a relationship with the operations manager of Camelot, a leading chain of spas in South Africa. Camelot bought into Shantelle’s products and showed remarkable patience with early manufacturing faults that led to some complaints of skin rashes. Shantelle believes her total openness about how far the product still had to be developed and her honesty about who she was helped to turn Camelot into a development partner rather than a difficult supplier.

Part of Shantelle’s struggle was to find a manufacturer reliable enough to produce her products at the requisite standards. She contracted two factories before she moved her production to Adcock Ingram’s Johannesburg plant where Elim products are manufactured under the direct supervision of chemists. This was only one step towards gaining access to highly regulated markets such as Europe and the US where any claims made on the packaging need to be scientifically substantiated. Shantelle describes the quality-registration processes to gain access to these markets as difficult, slow, and very expensive. Although she received help from government agencies, much of the cost had to be borne upfront by her small company. What drove Shantelle to overcome these huge obstacles throughout the years, even though she constantly spots other business opportunities around her? Shantelle credits an early business mentor for whom she worked at the correspondence college who taught her the importance of doggedly sticking to a plan and seeing it through to the end. She recognizes the danger of constantly jumping from one idea to another in the businesses of many other entrepreneurs.

It also helped that she focused on hidden early signs of potential success. From the start, she has seen her innovations brazenly copied by large competitors, down to the very words written on the packaging. She could have fallen into despair, but she chose to see it as a confirmation that she was on the right path.  Today, nothing is hidden about Elim’s success. It is established in the exclusive spas of the UK, and another excellent year lies ahead with distribution contracts signed in Canada and Israel before it conquers the rest of the world.

The COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly changed our world and the way we do business. And it’s also impacted consumer purchasing habits and, in some instances, reshaped the demand landscape – times are tough; consumers’ wallets are stretched, and their priorities have most definitely shifted as a result.

As we start the new year, for a small to medium-sized enterprise (SME), this is probably a good time to reflect on your existing pricing strategies and get an idea of how well-positioned you are for the new normal consumer landscape.

Deciding the right price for your products and services, however, can be a tricky balancing act. Overpricing can put you at risk of losing customers – especially in these tough economic times – while setting your price point too low may be seen as signaling inferior quality and could even make some clients hesitant to work with you.

To help in mastering this balancing act, here are some handy tips to ensure that you re-structure your pricing accurately:

1.      Scope out the competition

A good starting part in any pricing exercise, is to have a look at what other businesses in similar fields charge for their products and services. Prices can neither be too high, nor too low in comparison, as this can indicate either an over-priced offering or not as much experience in the industry.

2.      Offer flexible payment options

Just as your business may be small, it may cater to other small businesses who cannot afford the rates that larger organisations’ budgets can. Different pricing structures, such as hourly or package rates, and extended payment terms, such as 30 or 60 days or cash-on-delivery, may appeal to different types of clients.

3.      Collaboration is key

In today’s chaotic business environment, many customers are seeking a one-stop-shop instead of having to deal with a number of different firms and suppliers. As such, if your business can collaborate and build strong partnerships with other industry players, the ability to offer one comprehensive package may increase your chances of securing the sale or contract.

4.      Be practical

One of the most important considerations to take into account is the practical expenses of your business, such as office rental, electricity, fuel, and vehicle wear and tear. After all, these running costs will impact your business’ bottom line and should therefore play a key role in your pricing structures. While many business owners struggle with the task of pricing accurately for a changing market, this shouldn’t be a deterrent that keeps potentially booming businesses from flourishing, and from contributing to the growth of the South African economy. So, don’t delay in getting your hands dirty and making these tough decisions.

It was inevitable that Cikizwa Nqolobe would one day run her own business. As a 10-year-old girl, she used to help her aunt push her vegetable stock in a trolley for two or three kilometres to her market stall in Gugulethu. Sometimes she manned the stall on her own for the whole day until her uncle came to fetch her in the late afternoon.

And she remembers pouring over the Sunday Times classifieds with her mom, a teacher and single parent, to look for bargain lots that they would sell from their tiny Gugulethu home, which she shared with siblings and cousins.

Today, that home would not even fill the lounge of Cikizwa’s home in Plattekloof from where she runs her Indima Recruitment agency. It is only a few kilometres away from Gugulethu in distance, but a whole world away in economic success.

That Cikizwa participated in her mother’s and aunt’s economic survival strategies was by no means unique. But what set her apart from so many other children growing up poor is that she actually enjoyed the hustle. She loved accompanying her aunt to the Epping market in the early hours of the morning to stock up even though she didn’t have to. And even today Cikizwa finds that she cannot resist the temptation to buy things in bulk to sell to her network of friends and acquaintances, even though it has nothing to do with her business or her livelihood.

It is this love of enterprise that drove Cikizwa to leave her comfortable corporate career – twice – to start her own recruitment agency and, among other successes, to become one of only 15 finalists at the 2019 Entrepreneur of the Year® a competition run by Business Partners Limited and the only Western Cape finalist in the Emerging Business Entrepreneur of the Year.

Today Indima Recruitment manages more than 100 professionals on behalf of various corporates. Indima not only recruits the highly qualified project managers to take on short-term projects but also manages their payroll and HR compliance on behalf of corporate clients.

Before 2020, Cikizwa and her team of three, which includes her husband, also did a lot of headhunting of professionals for placement in conventional corporate jobs, but then Covid19 froze the job market. The result was that this year contract management forms about 90% of Indima’s business, with 10% made up of ordinary recruitment services.

Cikizwa landed in the HR and recruitment field by chance when she was paying her own way through the Peninsula Technikon. She was studying accounting because she happened to be good at it at school. Because she needed to supplement her student loan with travel and book money, she started looking for a job. She knocked on the door of a recruitment agency and made such an impression on them that they promptly appointed her as a recruiter. She found it was such a relief to move away from the columns and numbers of accounting that Cikizwa dropped her accounting and enrolled in HR studies.

Working with people is a natural fit for Cikizwa. Interestingly, she says she has never been good at sales despite all her trading experience as a child. But it was her talent for building and keeping relationships that proved to be crucial to the success of her business

From the start of her career, Cikizwa knew that she wanted to build her own business, and she spotted an under-serviced market in East London, she had family roots. As soon as she developed a good contact in Telkom who promised to make use of her recruitment services, she resigned from her job and moved to the Eastern Cape. “Luckily I didn’t burn any bridges,” says Cikizwa, because a few months later she was back at her old job. Her venture in East London simply did not work, and although the Telkom connection came through with some work, it was not enough to make it fly.

Cikizwa settled into a very successful corporate career which took her to the HR departments of BOE and Woolworths, where she ended up doing recruitment and training for the company’s franchisees.

The urge to start her own business never left her, and twelve years ago she finally made the leap. Once again, her network of relationships was crucial. A Cape Town-based corporate manager whom she knew mentioned in passing to her that he was looking for a financial manager, and she volunteered to do it for him in her spare time. It worked, and Cikizwa knew that it was time for her own venture.

As a single mom of two small children then, it was a scary move. She started off working from home – “in my pyjamas” – with her phone and laptop, tapping into her corporate network. Together with her work as a mother, it was a 24-hour job, but she enjoyed it, says Cikizwa. Soon she landed work from Sanlam, then Old Mutual, Investec, BOE and before long she had 15 contractors under management. 

The fact that her manager at Woolworths was very supportive of her idea and encouraged her to start her business played a big role in her decision, but Cikizwa says she refrained from turning to her former colleagues for contracts out of professional courtesy. A year later, however, Woolworths approached her and is now one of her long-standing clients.

It’s been a tough year with the Covid19 pandemic, says Cikizwa, but not the toughest since she started twelve years ago. She is confident that the recruitment market will revive with the rest of the economy, and she still has her eyes firmly set on starting a second branch in East London.

It was inevitable that Cikizwa Nqolobe would one day run her own business. As a 10-year-old girl, she used to help her aunt push her vegetable stock in a trolley for two or three kilometers to her market stall in Gugulethu. Sometimes she manned the stall on her own for the whole day until her uncle came to fetch her in the late afternoon.

And she remembers pouring over the Sunday Times classifieds with her mom, a teacher and single parent, to look for bargain lots that they would sell from their tiny Gugulethu home, which she shared with siblings and cousins.

Today, that home would not even fill the lounge of Cikizwa’s home in Plattekloof from where she runs her Indima Recruitment agency. It is only a few kilometres away from Gugulethu in distance, but a whole world away in economic success.

That Cikizwa participated in her mother’s and aunt’s economic survival strategies was by no means unique. But what set her apart from so many other children growing up poor is that she actually enjoyed the hustle. She loved accompanying her aunt to the Epping market in the early hours of the morning to stock up even though she didn’t have to. And even today Cikizwa finds that she cannot resist the temptation to buy things in bulk to sell to her network of friends and acquaintances, even though it has nothing to do with her business or her livelihood.

It is this love of enterprise that drove Cikizwa to leave her comfortable corporate career – twice – to start her own recruitment agency and, among other successes, to become one of only 15 finalists at the 2019 Entrepreneur of the Year® a competition run by Business Partners Limited and the only Western Cape finalist in the Emerging Business Entrepreneur of the Year.

Today Indima Recruitment manages more than 100 professionals on behalf of various corporates. Indima not only recruits the highly qualified project managers to take on short-term projects but also manages their payroll and HR compliance on behalf of corporate clients.

Before 2020, Cikizwa and her team of three, which includes her husband, also did a lot of headhunting of professionals for placement in conventional corporate jobs, but then Covid19 froze the job market. The result was that this year contract management forms about 90% of Indima’s business, with 10% made up of ordinary recruitment services.

Cikizwa landed in the HR and recruitment field by chance when she was paying her own way through the Peninsula Technikon. She was studying accounting because she happened to be good at it at school. Because she needed to supplement her student loan with travel and book money, she started looking for a job. She knocked on the door of a recruitment agency and made such an impression on them that they promptly appointed her as a recruiter. She found it was such a relief to move away from the columns and numbers of accounting that Cikizwa dropped her accounting and enrolled in HR studies.

Working with people is a natural fit for Cikizwa. Interestingly, she says she has never been good at sales despite all her trading experience as a child. But it was her talent for building and keeping relationships that proved to be crucial to the success of her business

From the start of her career, Cikizwa knew that she wanted to build her own business, and she spotted an under-serviced market in East London, she had family roots. As soon as she developed a good contact in Telkom who promised to make use of her recruitment services, she resigned from her job and moved to the Eastern Cape. “Luckily I didn’t burn any bridges,” says Cikizwa, because a few months later she was back at her old job. Her venture in East London simply did not work, and although the Telkom connection came through with some work, it was not enough to make it fly.

Cikizwa settled into a very successful corporate career which took her to the HR departments of BOE and Woolworths, where she ended up doing recruitment and training for the company’s franchisees.

The urge to start her own business never left her, and twelve years ago she finally made the leap. Once again, her network of relationships was crucial. A Cape Town-based corporate manager whom she knew mentioned in passing to her that he was looking for a financial manager, and she volunteered to do it for him in her spare time. It worked, and Cikizwa knew that it was time for her own venture.

As a single mom of two small children then, it was a scary move. She started off working from home – “in my pyjamas” – with her phone and laptop, tapping into her corporate network. Together with her work as a mother, it was a 24-hour job, but she enjoyed it, says Cikizwa. Soon she landed work from Sanlam, then Old Mutual, Investec, BOE and before long she had 15 contractors under management. 

The fact that her manager at Woolworths was very supportive of her idea and encouraged her to start her business played a big role in her decision, but Cikizwa says she refrained from turning to her former colleagues for contracts out of professional courtesy. A year later, however, Woolworths approached her and is now one of her long-standing clients.

It’s been a tough year with the Covid19 pandemic, says Cikizwa, but not the toughest since she started twelve years ago. She is confident that the recruitment market will revive with the rest of the economy, and she still has her eyes firmly set on starting a second branch in East London.

Source: Business Partners Limited

While recent statistics regarding South Africa’s economy may be discouraging, many local business owners remain optimistic. This optimism is reflected by the 74% of South African business owners who noted confidence in their business growth in the next 12 months, despite the challenges they face; as per the latest 2019 Business Partners Limited SME Index.

In order to boost their chances of success, Jeremy Lang, regional general manager at Business Partners Limited (BUSINESS/PARTNERS) – one of Africa’s leading business loan and equity providers and 2019 Gold winner: SME bank of the year (Africa) – believes that now is the perfect time for these businesses to re-examine their competitive edge and prepare for the year ahead.

“There is always space for innovation in business. Even as consumers tighten their purse-strings, a steadfast business-minded individual will always see a gap in the market. In many ways, a tough economy can actually offer up some valuable lessons, and businesses might even find themselves evolving into something better as they are forced to adapt to survive.”

In preparation for 2020, Lang advises that business owners should reflect back on the past 12 months and take note of lessons learned. “Analyse the numbers and make a record of any trends to pinpoint what worked and what didn’t. It’s also a good time to troubleshoot, resolving any recurring challenges within the business and looking at ways to better streamline internal systems and processes.”

When setting new goals, Lang believes it’s best to be specific and get all the stakeholders on board ahead of time. “For example, consider new ways to boost business sales – whether it’s brushing up on your digital presence, focusing on refining your database, or reassessing rates and pricing. Ask yourself whether your business model is still compelling enough to compete in a tough economy.”

The beginning of a year is also an opportunity to check in with your staff as they return from leave to gauge their level of enthusiasm and well-being. It is also a good time to assess any resource gaps to determine where new appointments should be made in the near future. Lang recommends using the excitement of the new year to touch base with present and potential clients, suppliers or partners and to implement a challenging project for your team to make use of their higher-than-usual levels of discipline and commitment.

“While it might seem tedious, don’t neglect the business admin,” he adds. “Make sure to give your business a clean slate for 2020 by getting all paperwork in order,  whether it’s the financials, tax affairs or legal documentation. Allocate some time to get everything organized and easy to locate, even if this means having to update your internal filing systems.”

In order to remain competitive, Lang reminds business owners to keep track of any oncoming trends that may impact their industry. “Some things to watch out for in 2020 include a more personalized customer experience; the rise of the remote worker and the gig economy; voice searches through the likes of Siri and Alexa; an increasing need for better cybersecurity; and the further adoption of mobile money in Africa,” he concludes.

Tags for the webmaster: Business planning, innovation, business strategy, business trends, business owner, business loan, business finance, Jeremy Lang, BUSINESS/PARTNERS, Business Partners Limited, Siri, Alexa, customer experience.

Source: Business Partners Limited

As with any business enterprise, competition is part of the field of play however as a business owner, an aggressive new competitor looking to undercut you can have a major impact on your business. If you know you offer a high-quality service or product, you shouldn’t have too much to worry about – however, it’s always good to have a strategy in place for responding to direct competitors who might be creeping up on your market share and threatening your visibility.

Here are eight simple tips to help you compete with new industry players and stay ahead of the game:

1. Learn from your competitor – Consider your competition (both existing and new) as a challenge to help improve your business. Take note of what they might be doing well that is getting them noticed, and take your cues from them when reassessing some of your marketing tactics, service offering or customer service strategy.

• Focus on your USP – Your business’ unique selling point (USP) is what makes you stand out from the crowd – whether you are the most affordable in your category, the most reliable, or the fastest when it comes to service delivery. Focus on differentiating yourself and becoming the best within your niche as this is what will ultimately help your customers to choose you over your competitors.

• Stay ahead of the curve – It’s important to maintain an innovative mindset to avoid becoming complacent about your business positioning. Look at what you can improve and stay on top of industry trends so that you don’t get left behind. Ask yourself if your business offering is still satisfying an existing need or want in the market, or is it at risk of becoming redundant.

• Monitor your industry – It helps to know who your competitors are at any given time. Check-in regularly on the market so you can catch wind of any new competitors as early as possible – set up Google Alerts, for example, or make it a performance target for your junior staff to send you updates every week.

• Do good work, always – When it comes to warding off the competition, it’s crucial that your work speaks for itself. Ensure you are consistently delivering high-quality goods or services, paired with excellent customer service; in this way, you will keep getting return customers and have less to fear when other businesses try to come for your target audience with a similar offering.

• Look at ways to improve – Turn a negative into a positive by looking at ways to add to your business offering. Consider what might need changing when it comes to internal processes, or if you should be going after new audiences, for instance. If your business tactics are getting outdated, this may require some out-of-the-box thinking to get you back on top and stay relevant in an ever-changing environment.

• Tell your story better – Rally your efforts when it comes to marketing what your business does well. Consider fast-tracking marketing plans you might have had in the pipeline, and doubling your efforts when it comes to telling your story; whether it’s through better signage, sharing client testimonials on social media, or communicating your recent successes via a newsletter or social media posts.

• Partnership opportunities – Rather than feeling affronted, take the time to consider which competitors might be a good match to partner with. Look for differing strengths that make the two businesses compatible – you may have a fantastic product, but they have better access to certain clients. This may mean you are a perfect match for cross-promotional activities – just remember, it has to be a win-win for both parties involved.

Tags for webmaster: Business competition, Competitors, Strategy, business owner, business loan, business finance, marketing, partnerships, USP, customer service

Source: Business Partners Limited

With 2020 around the corner, it’s the perfect time to take stock and prepare your business for success in the New Year. This time of year offers a valuable opportunity to reflect on the past eleven months, identify potential improvements, and create a strong game plan to take you forward.

Follow these nine simple tips to ensure your business stays ahead of the curve in 2020:

1. Look to lessons learned – Review your year to pinpoint what worked well, and what didn’t. Analyze the numbers and any trends you may have noticed – for example, quieter or busier periods – and document everything to keep a record of your business’ history.

• Staff reviews – A strong team is the backbone of any business, so show appreciation to those employees who contributed positively this year, and motivate those who may need it. Also, assess any resource gaps and where new appointments should be made in the New Year.

• Get your paperwork in order – Before closing off your year, it’s important to make sure your financials, tax books, and any legal paperwork are up to date. Efficient internal filing and admin are key, as is reviewing your business budget for 2020.

• Troubleshoot – Now is the time to resolve any recurring challenges within your business, and look at ways to better streamline your internal systems and processes.

• Brainstorm ways to boost sales – A new year offers a clean slate for boosting business sales. You could brush up on your digital presence, such as website and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), focus on refining your database, and even reassess your rates and pricing.

• Finish strong – In order to give yourself the best chance of success in 2020, try to tie up any loose ends, close off unfinished business deals, and complete all those small tasks that have been lingering on your to-do list for months.

• Network – While it might take a back seat when things get busy, networking remains important for business owners. Use all those year-end office get-togethers as an opportunity to reconnect with past and potential clients, suppliers, and partners.

• Set new goals – What do you want your business to achieve in the next year? Try to get specific about your goals; maybe you want to learn a new skill or look to increase your charitable activities. Together with your team and mentors, work on a strategy and make sure all your stakeholders are on board. 

• Take note of business trends – To remain competitive, it’s vital to keep track of industry trends. You may need to consider migrating to cloud computing, or integrating more automation software into your business. 

Tags for webmaster: Business planning, Strategy, business trends, sales, business owner, business finance, Business Partners Limited, proof your business, boost sales, networking.

Starting out, many entrepreneurs try to cater to all markets because they’re afraid of limiting their potential for sales. Although entrepreneurs are usually encouraged to think big, when it comes to defining the nature of your business, thinking too big can be detrimental to your growth.  

Trying to reach too many markets simultaneously could result in reaching none at all. The 2018 Real State of Entrepreneurship Survey states that 47% of the entrepreneurs surveyed said that they are engaged with Business to Business (B2B), Business to Consumer (B2C), and Business to Government (B2G) sales all at the same time. While a small portion of these entrepreneurs may be warranted in their all-encompassing market engagement, many are likely doing their business a disservice.

This just goes to show how important it is for up-and-coming business owners to realise that a bigger market doesn’t necessarily mean bigger sales. In reality, business owners who initially cast their customer net too wide can actually end up diluting business success.

This is because a small business needs to differentiate themselves from their competition – especially when first starting out. By defining your niche, you’re also forced to really understand every detail about your business offering (product or service), which includes its benefits and unique features, who can benefit from the product offering and what sets you apart from your competitors.

Once you know this, you should have a far better idea of who it is you are trying to sell to, which will allow you to be far more selective in your approach.

Here is a breakdown of the four core components involved in defining a business niche – the four Ps:

1. People

Once you know what differentiates your product or service offering, break down the type of person you think would be most likely to make use of your business in terms of age, lifestyle and interests. This is essentially the act of defining your target market.

2. Place

Based on the defined target market, narrow down the area that you are going to sell or operate in by identifying specific locations you think will increase your chances of reaching these people. Will it be an online-only business, or will it require physical stores?

3. Price

Another important thing to define is your price-point. This guides your marketing approach and overall business branding. You need to highlight whether you are offering a budget friendly alternative to something that already exists, or a luxury good that appeals to status.

4. Promotion 

This refers to the way you are going to go about selling your product or service. It is also important to consider whether there will be some kind of subscription option or rewards programme, as this can be a useful sales tactic, depending on the type of business model.