Tag: youth

2014 Sanlam / Business Partners Entrepreneur of the Year® competition open for entries

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Fostering the culture of entrepreneurship in SA since 1988

The 2014 Sanlam / Business Partners Entrepreneur of the Year® competition was today launched on 4 February, and organisers are calling for entrepreneurs who are striving to contribute positively towards South Africa’s economy and increase job creation – the heroes of the country’s economy – to submit their entries.

Now in its 26th year, South Africa’s pre-eminent entrepreneurial platform, which embraces local entrepreneurship by offering an opportunity for entrepreneurs to showcase their achievements and elevate their profile, as well as their profits.

According to Nimo Naidoo, project manager at Sanlam / Business Partners Entrepreneur of the Year®, the competition aims to recognise, profile and reward entrepreneurs, as well as foster a culture of entrepreneurship in the country. “The competition celebrates and acknowledges entrepreneurial accomplishments and talent, and in turn inspires fellow entrepreneurs to take their business to new heights, as well encourages others to consider their entrepreneurship as a viable career path.

“It is truly inspirational to listen to entrepreneurs share their journeys, and it is important for these stories to be shared – not only to provide acknowledgment to the entrepreneur for their constant hard work and dedication, but also to inspire others to follow in their footsteps.”

The overall 2013 Sanlam / Business Partners Entrepreneur of the Year®, Tommy Makhatho, owner of BiBi Cash & Carry, says that the most interesting stories in business involve entrepreneurs and that these need to be shared, especially with the youth. “In my opinion, the number of entrepreneurs in the country is slowly declining, and one of the reasons is because the youth are not exposed to inspirational success stories.

“Countries such as the United States tell their stories, and while South Africa has stories to be told, they are not told enough. These stories need to be exposed to the youth, and competitions such as the Sanlam / Business Partners Entrepreneur of the Year® does exactly that.”

The competition provides entrepreneurs with the chance to win prizes worth R1 340 000, which includes cash prizes to the value of R350 000, as well receive valuable mentorship support, networking opportunities and associated marketing and national media exposure.

Makhatho (55) says being recognised for his business’ achievements has motivated and given him the confidence to review his business’ goals. “Winning this award has made me aware of where the business has come from and what we have survived thus far. It has also provided me with the strength to pursue another 25 years. This recognition makes me realise that this is only the beginning of our journey and that people should never stop dreaming, no matter their age.”

Makhatho says that he has also noticed an increase in interest towards his business since receiving the award. “I have been approached by many companies wanting to take my business to the next level. Thanks to the awareness generated from the awards, opportunities are now presenting themselves.”

The competition is open to entrepreneurs from all industries and businesses of any size. A series of national workshops will also be hosted leading up to the competition, which enables business owners to gain valuable entrepreneurial knowledge and lessons from a variety of speakers.

“Entrepreneurs truly are the heroes of our economy. The individuals that are providing positive knock-on effects for those around them, whether it is through business growth and development or job creation, should be recognised and rewarded. It is therefore vital that we equip these individuals with the tools and information that they need in order to grow their businesses further,” says Naidoo.

Perception shift needed among SA youth to create next generation of entrepreneurs

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It was recently revealed by a UN agency report that global youth unemployment has risen to near its crisis peak and predicted that it will keep on rising over the next five years. According to Nimo Naidoo of the Sanlam/Business Partners Entrepreneur of the Year® competition, South Africa is in a similar situation and says that the most effective method to counteract this crisis it to create a desirability around entrepreneurship amongst the youth.

Naidoo says that although youth unemployment is a global issue, South Africa’s situation is dire. “According to the recently released Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2012 South Africa report, entrepreneurship does not seem to be a desirable career choice amongst the youth. Approximately 20% of South Africa’s youth population are potential entrepreneurs, and only 15% possess entrepreneurial intensions.”

She says that the rising levels of youth unemployment can be effectively curbed through the promotion of entrepreneurship as a viable career choice for South Africa’s youth. However, it requires a committed change in South Africa’s public perception and culture.

As the youth unemployment rate in South Africa is a very high 48%, Naidoo says that many youth are being driven to entrepreneurship through necessity, which is not necessarily appealing. “Many of today’s youth view informal, survivalist businesses as undesirable, and therefore do not choose to possess entrepreneurial intensions and often find entrepreneurship undesirable.”

She says that by uplifting local entrepreneurial role models, communities will be able build a society that appreciates entrepreneurial activity. “Entrepreneurs which employ a handful of people are effectively assisting to combat the unemployment crisis and should therefore be celebrated.

“A method of instilling a system which celebrates entrepreneurial success could inspire the youth to consider entrepreneurship as a career.”

Naidoo says that according to the GEM report, where perceived opportunities are concerned, South Africa’s rate for perceived opportunities for its youth (39%) is the lowest of the sub-Saharan African countries, as well as substantially below the average of 64%.

She says that the manner in which a country supports and recognises its entrepreneurs determines the culture of entrepreneurship and ultimately moulds the future of the country’s economy. “A positive entrepreneurial culture is not something that can be simply put in place. It begins at the roots of society and needs to be carefully nurtured.

“The level of desirability of entrepreneurship to an individual has an influence on whether or not that person will ultimately pursue an opportunity. Cultural and social norms play significant roles in the lives of individuals and may influence the extent to which an individual perceives entrepreneurship as a desirable option.

According to the Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship’s Young Upstarts 2010 Report, most young people reported not having enough role models to look to or learn from and found it easier to settle for the comfort and predictability of a job, instead of perusing a risky entrepreneurial venture.

Naidoo says that the perception of entrepreneurship amongst the youth in South Africa needs to be raised. “Marketing and strategic platforms, such as entrepreneurial competitions, is a method of doing so, as a great deal of positive exposure is generated around successful entrepreneurs.

“By creating South African entrepreneurial role models out of the Sanlam / Business Partners Entrepreneur of the Year® winners, we are effectively building role models for the youth to imitate,” concludes Naidoo.

Entrepreneurship could cure SA’s growing youth unemployment crisis

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Youth unemployment in South Africa has reached boiling point and has spurred on heated political debates and mass protests ending in violence. Governments around the world have tried to react to the mass youth protests and the swelling problem by implementing labour market policies, such as subsidised wages, tax incentives and encouraging school-work transition through apprenticeships and training programs. However, the unemployment figures have continued to soar and have not shown signs of slowing down.

According to Nimo Naidoo of the Sanlam/Business Partners Entrepreneur of the Year® competition, the rising levels of youth unemployment can be effectively curbed through the promotion of entrepreneurship as a viable career choice for South Africa’s youth. However, it requires a committed change in South Africa’s public perception and culture.

She says that the UN estimated last year that 74.8 million young people, between the ages 15 and 24, remained unemployed worldwide, while 6.4 million youths dropped out of the labour force globally. According to an International Labour Organisation (ILO) report, the youth of today are three times more likely be unemployed in comparison to adults, while 1 in 5 young working people live on R8/day.

Naidoo says that recent statistics, released by the latest Labour Force Survey, paints a dire picture for South Africa’s youth. “Youth unemployment has increased by 9.9% since last quarter and is now standing at a staggering 42%. Government has tried to absorb the high unemployment numbers through various state programs and have been actively promoting entrepreneurship in the hopes of reaching their goal of 5 million jobs created by 2020. However, according to Adcorp, a large discrepancy exists in the formal employment market. 800 000 vacancies are available in the private sector, yet 600 000 university graduates remain unemployed.”

“The 2011 South African GEM report, released last week, has also revealed a significant decline in entrepreneurial levels among South Africa’s youth. Entrepreneurship levels of people aged between 18 and 34 have declined significantly by 16% between 2010 and 2011. Evidence, from the recent released GEM report, shows that young entrepreneurs in South Africa chose self-employment out of necessity rather than being motivated by attractive opportunities.”

Naidoo says that these statistics are very worrying and show signs of an unhealthy entrepreneurial culture in South Africa. “The manner in which a country supports and recognises their entrepreneurs determines the culture of entrepreneurship and ultimately moulds the future of the economy. A positive entrepreneurial culture is not something that can be simply put in place. It begins at the roots of society and needs to be carefully nurtured.

Naidoo believes that the roots to South Africa’s entrepreneurial problem can be linked to South Africa’s educational structures. “Both South Africa’s formal and informal educational structures do not prepare the youth to become skilled entrepreneurs. Not only has the structure ill-equipped the youth to become entrepreneurs, but it has created a culture where young South African’s dream of becoming employee’s rather than employers.”

He says that not all individuals posses the qualities to become an entrepreneur and therefore these qualities and talents need to be developed accordingly. “Youth should be exposed to entrepreneurship via the South African education system, as well as leaders and managers of businesses where they work.”

As the business world continues to rapidly evolve an increasing amount of young entrepreneurs, such as Facebook’s Marc Zuckerberg, are emerging as successful entrepreneurs and outright market leaders in their respective industries. Sanlam and Business Partners, the competition’s co-sponsors, would like to recognise the ability and deserved success of South Africa’s young entrepreneurs by encouraging them to enter the 2012 Sanlam/Business Partners Entrepreneur of the Year® competition, which boasts an array of advantages for both finalists and winners.

Q&A with Mmabatho Mokiti

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Youth Month is celebrated annually throughout the month of June. Not only does this month coincide with the historically significant Youth Day, but represents the government’s commitment to confronting youth unemployment in South Africa. In order to counteract the increasing levels of youth unemployment, it is crucial to communicate and promote entrepreneurship as an attractive employment opportunity to South Africa’s youth.

Mmabatho Mokiti is an inspirational South African entrepreneur who is the proud founder of Mathemaniacs, a private tutoring company, and was also the runner up in the 2011 SME Toolkit South Africa Young Entrepreneurs Business Plan competition.

Nazeem Martin, Managing Director of the competition’s co-sponsor Business Partners Limited, described the finalists as role models to the rest of South Africa’s youth. “Their innovation, tenacity and dedication to chasing their dreams can serve as a true inspiration to all aspiring entrepreneurs.”

You were the runner up in the 2011 Young Entrepreneurs Business Plan Competition, why did you enter the competition?

I entered the competition because my business needed a “kick start”. My business was already running, but I didn’t have a business plan. I felt this would be a challenge and that it could also be very rewarding.

The prizes were very attractive and could assist me in taking my business to the next level. Prizes such as mentoring added a lot of value to my business.

Could you please provide a brief description of the business you created the business plan for?

Mathemaniacs is a two year old private mathematics, science and accounting tutoring company aimed at bringing ‘the FUN’ into studying maths, science and accounting. Most learners have developed a negative attitude towards these subjects. We therefore aim to eliminate the negative connotations around these topics by giving the learners private one-on-one lessons in their place of safety, where they feel most comfortable.

We bring ‘the FUN’ out of these subjects by using innovative teaching methods and applying Maths and Science to real life experiences, thus making the work easier for the learners to understand and remember. We attempt to make learning enjoyable, which then builds the learners’ confidence as a result of improved school results. Our target market consists of school, university and adult students.

We also organise workshops and camps for larger groups, where we again, strive to make learning Maths and Science an enjoyable experience.

We have also started to develop a statistics department, where we help postgraduates with their data analysis for their theses, by helping them to build a regression model and measure the impact of a project.

Have you always aspired to become an entrepreneur?

From a young age I have always wanted to be an entrepreneur. I grew up around my grandfather, who was an entrepreneur, and watched him do what he loved, while making money. This experience motivated me to pursue the same thing.

At that time I didn’t know what type of business I wanted to start, but when I finished studying I decided to make use of my passion for mathematics, science, education and youth development to form a business. I had just finished university and was sure that I didn’t want to work in a nine-to-five job. I decided to use my last R500, which I had earned from a student job as a tutor, and bought my first textbooks. I printed a couple of flyers and asked my cousin to help me distribute them at a school parking lot.

A week later a parent called me desperately in need of lessons for her child. Soon after my lessons started the child’s marks began to improve. Soon after, my business started to expand as my clientele began to grow via the positive word of mouth generated from my first student.

How important do you believe a strong business plan and pitch is in the success of a business?

A strong business plan is crucial to the success of a business. Firstly, a business plan is a good indicator of your proposal’s feasibility. Secondly, a business plan helps an entrepreneur structure their business, by implementing processes and objectives.

Most times aspiring entrepreneurs think that they only need a business plan in order to apply for funding, but a business plan establishes basic business guidelines. A concrete plan allows you to assess your environment and establish if a need and a niche in the market exists, hence determining whether your business will be a success or not.

What are the biggest challenges you have experienced as an entrepreneur?

The biggest challenge has been convincing students to leave their current tutoring company to join Mathemaniacs. I also struggled to convince parents that enlisting with Mathemaniacs would improve their children’s marks while, teaching them to enjoy the subject matter.

If you could provide advice to other young aspiring entrepreneurs, what would it be?

If you dream of becoming an entrepreneur, go for it! Everyone may not believe in your idea in the beginning, but you need to remain fully committed. You should believe so strongly in your business that you end up convincing others to do the same. Being an entrepreneur is much like being a sales person, because at the end of the day, you need to convince others to believe in your idea. Nothing makes a business more successful than passion.

World entrepreneurship day a rallying call to aspiring SA entrepreneurs

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Aspiring South African entrepreneurs need to take note of the successes being celebrated by their global counterparts on World Entrepreneurship Day (WED), 15 April 2012, as well as use the day as motivation to get better at spotting and taking advantage of ‘entrepreneurial gaps’ in specific industries, in order to create sustainable businesses.

This was the message from Nimo Naidoo, project manager of the Sanlam / Business Partners Entrepreneur of the Year ® competition, in the run-up to WED, who says that South Africa’s economic prosperity relies heavily on the actions and successes of the country’s existing and future entrepreneurs.

“The Global Entrepreneurship and Development Index (GEDI) recently revealed that South Africa’s global entrepreneurial ranking has fallen from 39 in 2011 to 45 in 2012, losing pace with smaller GDP countries such as Colombia and Peru. Entrepreneurship serves as a catalyst for economic growth and national competitiveness, and for an emerging economy such as ours this ranking is simply too low,” says Naidoo.

She says that in order to foster a culture of entrepreneurship locally, prospective entrepreneurs need to overcome barriers such as fear of failure and funding. “Tackling the first barrier is not always so simple, as South Africa’s society has a culture that neglects entrepreneurial activities, especially individuals who have failed in the past.”

Naidoo suggests that more needs to be done to identify and profile entrepreneurial role models, in order to give aspiring entrepreneurs an idea of the rewards and benefits of enterprise creation and reduce the stigma of failure.

“Initiatives such as entrepreneurial competitions, formation of bodies, government-sponsored awards and recognition from the private sector would all contribute to raising the profile of South Africa’s most innovative and successful entrepreneurs. In addition, these actions would also assist with creating a society that values and respects entrepreneurial spirit.

“Initiatives already in place to promote and grow entrepreneurship, such as Global Entrepreneurship Week in November and The Jobs Fund, under the custodianship of the Development Bank of Southern Africa, which co-finances projects by public, private and non-governmental organisations, have already had a positive effect with regards to job creation and entrepreneurial spirit in South Africa.”

She adds that role models are also key to educating South Africa’s youth about entrepreneurship. “There is a great opportunity for our youth to choose entrepreneurship as a career and become job creators rather than job seekers. Our education system should also promote entrepreneurship as a career. Entrepreneurship will then also address unemployment issues at a youth level by providing an outlet for the talents of many highly educated young people, such as college and university graduates, especially in globally-growing industries such as information technology.”

On the barrier of funding, she says that more support and attention in fiscal and government policy is necessary to stimulate entrepreneurial activity, which can ultimately lead to the country’s economic recovery. “We also need to investigate the implementation of new finance models and methods in order to broaden the access of finance to more entrepreneurs.”

Naidoo adds that the inclusion of structural policies that determines and clarifies the overall economic framework in which the local business sector operates, such as policies affecting labour markets, tax, competition, financial markets and bankruptcy laws, will also be conducive to entrepreneurial growth.

“As a group, entrepreneurs represent the best hope of creating sustained economic growth in South Africa. As we celebrate WED, we can see the tangible economic benefits that pro-entrepreneurial policies in emerging economies such as Brazil and India have achieved.

“It is now our country’s turn to create an entrepreneurship climate to create employment and build sustainable, high growth companies,” concludes Naidoo.

World Entrepreneurship Day a rallying call to aspiring SA entrepreneurs

Posted on by Webmaster

Aspiring South African entrepreneurs need to take note of the successes being celebrated by their global counterparts on World Entrepreneurship Day (WED), 15 April 2012, as well as use the day as motivation to get better at spotting and taking advantage of ‘entrepreneurial gaps’ in specific industries, in order to create sustainable businesses.

This was the message from Nimo Naidoo, project manager of the Sanlam / Business Partners Entrepreneur of the Year ® competition, in the run-up to WED, who says that South Africa’s economic prosperity relies heavily on the actions and successes of the country’s existing and future entrepreneurs.

“The Global Entrepreneurship and Development Index (GEDI) recently revealed that South Africa’s global entrepreneurial ranking has fallen from 39 in 2011 to 45 in 2012, losing pace with smaller GDP countries such as Colombia and Peru. Entrepreneurship serves as a catalyst for economic growth and national competitiveness, and for an emerging economy such as ours this ranking is simply too low,” says Naidoo.

She says that in order to foster a culture of entrepreneurship locally, prospective entrepreneurs need to overcome barriers such as fear of failure and funding. “Tackling the first barrier is not always so simple, as South Africa’s society has a culture that neglects entrepreneurial activities, especially individuals who have failed in the past.”

Naidoo suggests that more needs to be done to identify and profile entrepreneurial role models, in order to give aspiring entrepreneurs an idea of the rewards and benefits of enterprise creation and reduce the stigma of failure.

“Initiatives such as entrepreneurial competitions, formation of bodies, government-sponsored awards and recognition from the private sector would all contribute to raising the profile of South Africa’s most innovative and successful entrepreneurs. In addition, these actions would also assist with creating a society that values and respects entrepreneurial spirit.

“Initiatives already in place to promote and grow entrepreneurship, such as Global Entrepreneurship Week in November and The Jobs Fund, under the custodianship of the Development Bank of Southern Africa, which co-finances projects by public, private and non-governmental organisations, have already had a positive effect with regards to job creation and entrepreneurial spirit in South Africa.”

She adds that role models are also key to educating South Africa’s youth about entrepreneurship. “There is a great opportunity for our youth to choose entrepreneurship as a career and become job creators rather than job seekers. Our education system should also promote entrepreneurship as a career. Entrepreneurship will then also address unemployment issues at a youth level by providing an outlet for the talents of many highly educated young people, such as college and university graduates, especially in globally-growing industries such as information technology.”

On the barrier of funding, she says that more support and attention in fiscal and government policy is necessary to stimulate entrepreneurial activity, which can ultimately lead to the country’s economic recovery. “We also need to investigate the implementation of new finance models and methods in order to broaden the access of finance to more entrepreneurs.”

Naidoo adds that the inclusion of structural policies that determines and clarifies the overall economic framework in which the local business sector operates, such as policies affecting labour markets, tax, competition, financial markets and bankruptcy laws, will also be conducive to entrepreneurial growth.

“As a group, entrepreneurs represent the best hope of creating sustained economic growth in South Africa. As we celebrate WED, we can see the tangible economic benefits that pro-entrepreneurial policies in emerging economies such as Brazil and India have achieved.

“It is now our country’s turn to create an entrepreneurship climate to create employment and build sustainable, high growth companies,” concludes Naidoo.

Efficient entrepreneurial education

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“Entrepreneurs need to take their rightful place as role models in South Africa so that when young people leave school or university, they consider it as a viable career option.” – Nazeem Martin, Business Partners Managing Director.

The canon of entrepreneurial research clearly shows a direct correlation between the level of education of an individual and his or her ability to found a sustainable business.

There is also a definite link between the level of education of a business owner and the number of jobs the operation can potentially create.

But, experts say that there is a real and dangerous lack of entrepreneurial education in South Africa.

The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) for example, has cited education a major inhibitor for nearly a decade.

Entrepreneurial education is a complex subject and the problem is two-fold: educated individuals often do not see the entrepreneurial arena as a viable income-generating option; and individuals engaged in entrepreneurial activities do not always have the requisite skills to run their businesses.

The introduction of the Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment Codes of Good Practise has lead to a greater focus on the latter inhibitor as businesses receive points towards Enterprise Development when providing non-financial support and training to SMEs.

However, this does not mean that the pool of educated, high-growth entrepreneurs entering the economy has increased.

Young guns

Academics seem to agree that successful entrepreneurs share a range of common attributes.

Presenting a research paper at the Wits Business School Centre for Entrepreneurship’s annual entrepreneurship conference, Dr Shelley Farrington pointed out that to promote entrepreneurial activity, a population needs to possess a particular set of attributes that promotes entrepreneurial behaviour.

The study Dr Farrington participated in looked at the entrepreneurial attributes of undergraduate business students at different universities in South Africa.

Several different attributes were investigated including risk taking, self-confidence, the ability to overcome failure and commitment.

The study found low levels of risk taking, knowledge seeking, initiative and continuous learning amongst students – all key entrepreneurial drivers. It also found very little improvement in the development of these attributes when compared to a 2001 study.

The conclusion was that while a number of entrepreneurial attributes are present in the students (and that it helps them to succeed at university), the individuals do not really see themselves becoming SME operators.

The paper recommends that educational institutions need to create an environment that fosters entrepreneurial attributes. More importantly however, is the proposal that students with the potential to become entrepreneurs need to be identified and mentored during their entire educational process.

Entrepreneurial education, the researchers say, need to be incorporated into as many different learning experiences as possible, as often as possible.

Teach the teacher

The way in which entrepreneurial education takes place should not be underestimated, according to Prashanth Naidoo. He looked at how business simulation techniques could help entrepreneurial education.

The premise is that simulations help students to gain practical experience.

“There is a lack of entrepreneurs in South Africa. We need to look at ways to get young people excited about entrepreneurship,” he said, adding that the skills needed to start and run a business can be taught.

But, the environment in which this takes place, needs to reflect the business reality. It should also be creative and multi-disciplinary.

However, Naidoo’s research points out that the facilitator of the simulation plays an exceedingly important role as it is their job to make the experience relevant and effective.

So, significant attention must be given to training the trainers to ensure entrepreneurial development amongst students.

This is something that the Euveta project in Tanzania has done exceptionally well.

Hook, line and sinker

Run by the Triodos Facet consultancy, the project sought to train graduates from a number privately owned vocational training centres in practical business skills.

Southern Africa representative, Anouk Verheijen, explained that many students struggle to find formal employment after graduating. They revert to self-employment in the informal sector.

Through entrepreneurial training however, it was hoped that these individuals would start small, sustainable businesses with growth potential.

Initially, action learning, role playing and practical exercises are used to evoke the idea of owning and running a business. Over time, training becomes more formalised. More than 3 000 students were trained in the project’s pilot phase.

But, the project found that one of the key differentiators was the trainers themselves and the teachers had to undergo a significant mindset change.

Going forward, the initiative will be rolled out to 120 schools where a mere 360 teachers will attempt to train nearly 14 500 students.

The private Covenant University in Ota, Nigeria, follows a similar mantra and introduced a mandatory entrepreneurship course for all its students.

The course is customised to 15 different fields and vertical industries because this provides the students with the practical knowledge to pursue entrepreneurial activities.

Local soil

While a number of private institutions are increasingly looking at the importance of entrepreneurial education, there is still much work to be done on local soil.

The GEM report recommends that the starting point is basic education where skills such as numeracy and literacy need to be improved.

From there, effective, countrywide entrepreneurial training and business skills must be rolled out at secondary school level.

In general, educational support should address the needs of individual entrepreneurs and the challenges faced at a particular point in time in order to lower start-up failure rates.

2010 EOY winner the embodiment of real entrepreneurship

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Martin Beyers is no Richard Branson; he does not instantly draw you into his world with a wealth of charisma.

Neither is he a Steve Jobs; intent on taking over the world one iPod at a time.

He also does not remind you of Lakshmi Mittal; the creator of a global empire.

Yet, Beyers beat hundreds of South African business owners to win the 2010 Sanlam / Business Partners Entrepreneur of the Year ® competition.

The reason for his success in the competition – and in business – is that Beyers is the embodiment of real entrepreneurship.

Vision, creativity, innovation, careful planning, passion and hard work are the best adjectives to use.

The competition saw entrepreneurs from across the country vie for the title of Entrepreneur of the Year ®. They were subjected to strict judging criteria to ensure that the business was not only sustainable, but also exceptional.

Out of the 331 entries, 12 finalists emerged. Out of these, three category winners were crowned alongside the overall Entrepreneur of the Year ®:

  • Emerging Entrepreneur: Lovely Letsoalo – Wespark Itumeleng Pharmacy
  • Small Business Entrepreneur: Martin Brown – Radical Holdings
  • Medium Business Entrepreneur: Theo Bakkum – Awesome Snacks

Entrepreneur of the Year ®

This year’s competition saw a dramatic change to the prestigious Entrepreneur of the Year ® awards as the competition was opened up to all entrepreneurs in South Africa.

The award was initiated in 1989 by private small and medium enterprise (SME) financier, Business Partners to give recognition to the vision, innovation, perseverance, drive and commitment of the individuals who run successful small and medium enterprises.

In partnership with Sanlam, the competition was able to spread its net wider this year and introduced the three new award categories.

Business younger than three years old could compete for the Emerging Entrepreneur award and businesses with turnovers of up to R20 million could compete for the Small Business Entrepreneur award. The last category, the Medium Business Entrepreneur award, was reserved for businesses with turnovers greater than R20 million.

Each winner received R10 000 but the Entrepreneur of the Year ® 2010 walks away with R100 000 in cash and the opportunity to attend an international conference or trade show, as well as extensive exposure in the public domain.

Martin Beyers

CERadvance manufactures specialised ceramic solutions which are used in industrial processes. The Jet Park based business is a niche player in a market filled with large conglomerates.

It has been able to differentiate itself through pure innovation and this caught the judges’ eyes.

Judging convener, PwC Partner Stefan Beyers, explains that CERadvance’s ability to look far into the future and to develop products on a continual basis is exemplary.

This is because Martin Beyers has been able to turn his ideas into profits and build a sustainable operation.

“We looked at many different types of businesses. It is always difficult to choose a winner because each case is so unique,” Stefan Beyers says.

Jan Steenkamp, Executive Head, Cobalt Solutions, Sanlam echoes this, saying that the quality of entries in this year’s competition was extremely high.

But, Steenkamp also says that Beyers stood out because he is able to use his creativity to come up with solutions that add value to a client.

Beyers explains that he entered the competition as he has learnt to constantly revaluate himself and the business.

Through the Sanlam / Business Partners Entrepreneur of the Year ® judging process, people outside of his daily reality – the judges – could enter the operation, identify shortcomings and successes and help him to improve.

“Winning acknowledges that there is a legitimacy to the business, that it adds value and that it is worthwhile. Entrepreneurs want to know that they are on the right path.

“You constantly have to revaluate yourself to ensure that you are on the right path because the small business reality constantly changes.”

Celebrating entrepreneurs

Business Partners Managing Director, Nazeem Martin, says that the competition is first and foremost an attempt to celebrate entrepreneurship.

“If this country is going to go anywhere we need to ensure that entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial development is celebrated.

“Entrepreneurs need to take their rightful place as role models in South Africa so that when young people leave school or university, they consider it as a viable career option.

“The diversity of entries is an indication of the burning desire on the part of entrepreneurs to receive some form of recognition for the effort put into building these businesses and for creating jobs,” Martin says.

“Opportunity driven entrepreneurs, the ones that take advantage of a gap in the market, are the ones who usually create sustainable businesses. We have to celebrate entrepreneurs and honour them if we want to unleash the potential South Africa has in its youth.”

Steenkamp echoes this, saying celebrating entrepreneurs and the entrepreneurial spirit will act as an inspiration to others who have not yet made the leap into the small business environment.

The voice of SMEs

“We also want to ensure that the competition remains a national platform that brings real value to small business owners in their own businesses and the larger operating environment,” he adds.

“Through the competition and its workshops and seminars, we have created a platform for entrepreneurs to interact with their counterparts and be heard nationally. The SME space is often very lonely and the lessons learnt by these business owners over the years need to be shared.”

The Sanlam / Business Partners Entrepreneur of the Year ® awards will further build on this platform next year, starting with an SME conference in March. Here, SME decision makers will be able to voice their opinion of the operating environment presented in South Africa and the challenges faced.

The seminars, workshops and conference will focus on areas such as financial planning, financial fitness assessment, business opportunities and advice and access to finance. Information on legal developments and changes to the regulatory environment will also be shared with delegates.

Furthermore, the Sanlam / Business Partners Entrepreneur of the Year ® project will interact directly with public sector officials to ensure that the SME voice is heard in the highest offices.

“Our vision is that it becomes the prime conference on entrepreneurship in the country,” Martin explains.

“We believe that entrepreneurs are the true heroes of the South African, and indeed world’s, economic society.”