Tag: Gugu Mjadu

Entrepreneurs to set resolutions that will drive and grow business in 2016

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Setting the right New Year’s resolutions will not only give a business the competitive edge necessary in today’s global environment, but will also ensure that entrepreneurs know where their business is heading, and can plan ahead accordingly.

Gugu Mjadu, spokesperson of the 2016 Entrepreneur of the Year® competition sponsored by Sanlam and BUSINESS/PARTNERS, says that the first step towards realising a goal is to set one, and the beginning of the year presents the perfect opportunity for entrepreneurs to review their business’ goals and to create new targets for the year ahead.

“Running a business is very much based on trial and error, and with each passing day, month and year, entrepreneurs learn something new about themselves, or identify a more efficient way of conducting business. Entrepreneurs should regularly reflect on these learnings and use the knowledge to set new goals for the business with the aim to ensure greater success and profitability for their business in the new year.”

She adds that these new goals should be applied to the business in the form of a structured plan that is reasonable, realistic and most importantly, achievable. “As with all resolutions, these often fail as they weren’t thought through properly or fully committed to. Entrepreneurs can fall prey to the New Year’s resolution curse too.

She says that entrepreneurs are often referred to as eternal optimists, and therefore need to determine whether their goals are feasible. Putting a plan in place can assist with this, as well as ensure that the business has a roadmap for the year which will help determine whether the business is in fact heading in the right, intended direction.”

Mjadu provides an example of a resolution that can assist in driving long-term success in today’s tough trading conditions. “Improve the business’ financial standing is a good resolution in light of current economic woes. Evaluating pricing strategies will help review the business’ financial standing, and based on this exercise entrepreneurs may need to refine pricing or introduce new plans to attract more customers to increase profits. This resolution can also include making a concerted effort to consolidate existing debt and avoid accumulating further debt unnecessarily. Improved cash flow management is another area that can fall within this resolution.”

Lewis Thomas, owner of Partners Hair Design and Job Creator of the Year® category winner in the 2015 Entrepreneur of the Year® competition sponsored by Sanlam and BUSINESS/PARTNERS, agrees that a new year is the ideal time to pause and reflect on the past year and to learn from these experiences.

“Given that we are experiencing tough economic conditions, consumers are faced with rising food prices and high inflation which does not look to recover in the near future. Some of our retail products and electrical equipment are imported, and with the weakening Rand, we foresee excessive price increases in the near future, which will have a knock-on effect to customer spending power. For my business, now is a time to focus on finding and introducing innovative ways of growing turnover and profit within our 22 salons where existing leases are in place,” says Thomas.

For Bryan Anderson, the 2015 Small Business Entrepreneur of the Year® category winner and co-owner of Cape Town based business, Delta Steam Systems, 2016 is the year they seek to expand and dominate their business. “Our goal is to ensure strong business foundations and to find the correct people to place within the various positions within the business.”

He says that the business has a number of key focus areas, namely sales, administration, and management, but that the one area they have earmarked for special attention is staff welfare. “We are growing as a company and recognise how our staff have played a large role in helping us achieve this success. We want to ensure that as we continue to grow, we also foster strong relationships with our staff to ensure their wellbeing,” says Anderson.

Mjadu concludes: “Entrepreneurs should think carefully about their business’ 2016 resolutions as setting the right goal can be vital in driving long-term success.”

SA businesses encouraged to create incubators to develop tomorrow’s entrepreneurs

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“If all business owners in South Africa commit to mentoring one young entrepreneur, we have the potential to double entrepreneurship in two to three years.”

This suggestion was made by a local entrepreneur at the inaugural 2015 Sanlam / Business Partners Entrepreneur of the Year® Alumni Association, an entrepreneurial platform established in an effort to stimulate conversation and action amongst established local entrepreneurs.

During the session the entrepreneurial community – consisting of over 50 past competition title holders and seasoned South African business owners from across various sectors – recognised the urgent need for business incubation in South Africa, and raised valid points about how seasoned business owners can play a vital role facilitating and building entrepreneurship in the country.

Now in its 27th year, the Sanlam / Business Partners Entrepreneur of the Year® competition holds a database of top entrepreneurs and through the alumni, we seek to harness entrepreneurs’ expertise to remove the barriers they see as hindering entrepreneurship within the country.

Entrepreneurs in attendance agreed that small and medium enterprise (SMEs) owners underestimate the value and the difference they can make by guiding and supporting potential entrepreneurs who need support in starting or growing their business.

Now more than ever the market needs more employers

The recently released GEM Africa’s Young Entrepreneurs report states that by 2040 Africa’s young workforce will be the largest in the world, surpassing both China and India. In South Africa, this potential workforce is largely unemployed with the figure already reading 53% when compared to the adult population figure of 21%.

In South Africa, the formal sector is increasingly feeling the pressure and is unable to serve the current employment demands. This pressure is only set to grow if additional measures to drive youth entrepreneurship are not implemented in the country.

To curb this, youth need to be encouraged to pursue entrepreneurship as a viable career option. More importantly, young entrepreneurs embarking on the journey need to be supported in order to succeed so that they too can develop into successful entrepreneurs who will go on to create additional job opportunities.

South Africa’s youth are being taught to be job seekers, rather than job creators.

Past GEM research shows that only 11% of South Africa’s youth indicate that they intend to start a business in the next 3 years.

As a country, we need to encourage entrepreneurship from a young age. Education institutes can only inspire youth to a certain degree. Families need to groom their kids to become entrepreneurs and young, budding entrepreneurs need to have access to business owners they admire and spend time with them in a working environment where they can experience an entrepreneur’s passion for business first hand.

Leading by example

A Western Cape based alumni member operating in the construction space recently implemented an internal mentorship programme and incubator space within his business as he believes that ‘giving someone an opportunity can lead to great things’. The programme provides a platform for start-ups to make use of his office’s infrastructure, whether it is a desk, access to the printer or use of the boardroom. The entrepreneur also mentors young entrepreneurs by providing advice when needed, as well as introducing them to the business world by allowing them access to business engagements or seminars.

While there are barriers to entry for young entrepreneurs, if the small business community can inspire more youth to consider entrepreneurship, one battle will be won.

In South Africa, there aren’t enough grassroots organisations that equip young entrepreneurs with technical knowledge. A retired entrepreneur in attendance said that having recently mentored her son who owns a business, made her realise how desperately the youth seek guidance. She explained that while they have the passion and ideas, they struggle to implement these ideas and that more should be done to make it easier for them to grow their business.

The youth therefore need to have the opportunity to shadow a seasoned entrepreneur and be shown what it takes to run a business and what can be achieved with commitment and dedication.

Give back and get back

Not only are these mentorship and incubator initiatives relatively easy to implement, but entrepreneurs can also reap rewards from these engagements. Entrepreneurship can be a lonely job and an incubator environment can create an immediate sounding board for your business. It creates an opportunity for you to also learn and possibly think of new ways to do business.

Gugu Mjadu, spokesperson for the Sanlam / Business Partners Entrepreneur of the Year® competition and co-facilitator of the alumni events which were hosted across the country in 2015.

2015 Budget encouraging for SMEs

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Unemployment remains the country’s greatest economic and social challenge
Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene, 2015 Budget Speech

The 2015 State of the Nation address, presented by President Jacob Zuma on 12 February 2015, referenced unlocking the potential of small enterprises, and identified small business as one of Government’s nine strategic priorities to be pursued this year. It was therefore positive to note that the 2015 Budget Speech echoed this sentiment, as the development of small business can drastically reduce the high unemployment rate South Africa currently faces.

Gugu Mjadu, spokesperson for the 2015 Sanlam / Business Partners Entrepreneur of the Year®, says that Government’s commitment to prioritising measures aimed at generating employment is also a positive step for boosting the level of entrepreneurship in South Africa.

She says that the proposed measures in this year’s budget speech, such as tax incentives for employment and investment, support for enterprise development, skills and development and employment programmes, will provide much needed support to local entrepreneurs.

R3.5 billion was allocated towards the new Ministry of Small Business Development for mentoring and training support of small business. “While very rewarding, entrepreneurship is also a tough journey, and entrepreneurs need to be supported in order to grow their businesses to levels at which they can positively contribute to job creation and economic growth, and we believe with the correct mentorship and training, local business can thrive.”

Gugu adds that the mention of the Jobs Fund’s allocation of R4 billion in partnership with the private sector for projects that create employment is encouraging, and hopes that a portion of this will be spent on entrepreneurial ventures with potential for growth. “Access to finance is an issue for many entrepreneurs, and we hope a portion of the allocated funds will continue to be used to support up and coming entrepreneurs and business concepts that have the potential to sustain job creation.”

Further support for entrepreneurs was also provided in the form of SARS establishing a small business desk in its revenue offices to assist small businesses to comply with tax requirements. “We hope that this additional support will lessen the amount of time small businesses spend complying with the various processes and enable entrepreneurs to exercise more effort in developing their business instead.

“Overall, the budget was entrepreneur and small business-friendly, and we hope that Government’s commitment to small business will drive entrepreneurial development with the country,” concludes Gugu.

Top tips for marketing your business in 2013

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During an economic recession small and medium enterprises (SMEs) often adopt a survivalist mentality by focussing on cost cutting strategies that ensure short-term success but, ignore long-term prosperity. According to Gugu Mjadu, Executive Manager of Business Partners Limited, marketing tends to be one of the first spending areas to be cut when times are tough. “Marketing is not only one of the most vital functions of a business, but, counter-intuitively, the slower the economy, the more your investment in your marketing efforts needs to be.”

Mjadu however indicates that such an investment does not have to be in cash. “SME owners can cut their marketing budget provided they increase their marketing effort in other ways, such as increasing their team’s focus on marketing, or spending more time on it themselves.”

She offers the following insightful marketing tips to SME owners looking to succeed in 2013:

  • Cut the waste, but be careful not to over-prune: This principle undoubtedly applies to marketing efforts, in which 80% of a business’s success can be derived from 20% of its marketing efforts. There is therefore plenty of opportunity to cut activities that yield poor results. SME owners should subject marketing efforts to the same rigid cost-cutting and efficiency that every part of the business has to undergo in these tough times, but when doing so, they need to remember that the results of marketing efforts are often pending. It can take years of constant attention and experimentation before a business owner can be sure which marketing plans actually work.
  • Mine your existing customers:It is a well-established fact that winning over a new client generally costs six or seven times more than winning repeat business from an existing customer. Although some components of a marketing plan should always be aimed at gaining new customers, a strategy to sell more to existing customers will almost always yield more results.Simple systems such as sending a note to a customer thanking him or her for a purchase, together with a special offer for an additional buy (plus a deadline to create a sense of urgency) can work wonders. Incentives could also be created for existing customers to send business in your way. Offering them a discount or a bonus for every new client they introduce is only one way of doing it. Some businesses take a much more subtle, indirect approach – they make the customer experience so amazing that they will tell their friends and family about it.
  • Don’t compete on price: Most owner-managed businesses are too small to compete based on offering the lowest price. That is the preserve of multi-national corporations that can leverage economies of scale to produce products at a price lower than SMEs and are able to source the raw materials. Rather concentrate on quality, the warmth of personal service and flexibility to meet individual clients’ specific needs than on low price.
  • Repeat your message: It is very difficult to measure, but some studies show that it takes about seven contacts to convince a customer to buy. This obviously differs from industry to industry, but whatever the average, the principle is that it will nearly always take more than one pitch to convince customers, often via multiple communication channels or ‘touch-points”. For example, don’t do one pamphlet drop, and then drop the idea because the results were poor. Rather plan a series of them and evaluate it after the entire campaign. The same applies to any other marketing efforts. Remember however that there is a fine line between reminding a potential customer often enough that you are there, and making a nuisance of yourself.
  • Get a web presence: If you are not online yet, you are making a huge mistake. Even if you are happy with your customer numbers at present, sooner or later your lack of internet presence will catch up with you as the world becomes increasingly wired.