business tips Archives - AfricaBusiness.com

2Nov

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Business, South Africa News

Putting people first: The power of being a purpose-led organisation

By Savina Harrilall, Chief People Officer at Mukuru At a time when so many companies simply view success through a financial lens, it has become imperative to take on a more people-centred, purpose-led approach to business. By emphasising the importance of people to operations, leaders look beyond profits. They must focus on creating value for their employees, their customers, and also the communities in which they operate. At Mukuru, we have taken this to heart and renewed our focus on our people. Skills development is a significant pillar of this people strategy. It is not about hoarding 'top talent'; instead, the company views all employees as gifted individuals. Organisations can liken this to seeing their employees as different kinds of lightbulbs. Some are traditional bulbs, while ...

19Sep

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

South Africa News, Startups

Business 101: How to protect your startup from bankruptcy

You’ve taken the plunge and your small business venture has taken off. You're confident you'll defy statistics like 70-80% of South African small businesses failing within the first five years. However, you encounter your first hurdle when applying for a business loan – the bank requires you to sign surety to secure the financing. Meera Naidoo, Head of Legal Support at SanlamConnect, says it is an industry-wide standard for banks to request a surety before approving a finance application. "A surety is a contractual obligation in which the business owner or shareholder acknowledges that they’re personally liable for the business’ debt if the business is unable to settle this debt This guarantee mitigates risk on behalf of the lender. Without it, if a business were to fail, the bank wouldn'...

7Apr

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Business

9 things SME’s can do to look after their staff during the cost of living crisis

As the cost of living crisis continues, employers must recognise the importance of supporting their employees during these challenging times. From both a business and human perspective. Financial stress can significantly impact employee wellbeing, job satisfaction, and productivity. As a result, many organisations are taking steps to provide support and alleviate some of the financial concerns faced by their staff. Beyond being morally right to support employees during times of economic hardship, there are also business benefits. Employee performance experts at Weekly10 summated their 9 tips so that businesses can support their employees during tough economic times: Focus on employee engagement Prioritise employee wellbeing Be transparent with employees Look to build resilie...

16Mar

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Business

Grow with Intention: How to Make The Best Investments for Your Business

Every business needs to grow. It does not, however, need to consistently achieve extreme profit margins and beat the previous quarter’s results repeatedly. So long as your business is profitable, then you’re doing wonderfully. However, this does not mean you can keep things the same for years to come. Markets change, new tools arise, and competitors will rise and fall. You need to work on how you can consistently improve so that you can recapture existing customers and attract the next generation of customers all in one fell swoop. Growing your business with smart, intentional, and research-led investments is a must. If you aren’t sure how to begin, don’t worry, and instead follow this guide: Look For Opportunities in the Market One of the best ways to grow and establish y...

There is no single formula to start a business, all you need is passion and purpose

10Mar

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Startups

There is no single formula to start a business, all you need is passion and purpose

By Catherine Wijnberg This article takes a realistic and practical perspective of business start-up using lessons from my extensive start-up experience and those of hundreds of South African entrepreneurs I have worked with across every industry over the past 15 years. It is also why I can admit that unlike baking a cake, there is no single recipe or formula for business success. There are dozens of reasons for starting a business. Essentially, these fall into two categories: either you can't find a job and need to make an income to survive, or you have a burning creative desire to grab an opportunity to build something or solve a problem for others. Often the true reason is a combination of the two. The inner passion and purpose of seeing it succeed is more important than the external...

Game-changing strategies for small businesses

19Jan

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Startups

Game-changing strategies for small businesses

By Catherine Wijnberg When times are troubled and uncertain, businesses need to evolve and remain competitive. Developing a change strategy process can be overwhelming but it does not need to be complicated. Here are four easy steps to a change strategy process that will give your business purpose and direction: Set your intention Create quiet, calm time to assess the situation. Use this to gain mastery of your personal space and eliminate the confusing rush of thoughts and inner busyness that clouds your wisdom. This quiet time will open your mind to think and see clearly. Methods such as meditation, walking in nature or breathing exercises are excellent tools. In my experience, most entrepreneurs believe they are pretty good at setting aside time to review the situation. However, t...

21Mar

By Gareth PriceNo Comments

Business, South Africa News

10 lessons in 10 years: what I’ve learned as a successful business owner which may surprise you

By Gareth Price, Founder of Cloudworx and Investmint; 5 time Ironman finisher 10 years ago, I started a business. Or so I thought. What I did was I went to the shop and spent R4 000 on a printer and printed a few letterheads and business cards. And I declared myself self-employed. I was armed with a fancy qualification, an economy in a recession, and a whole lot of enthusiasm to become a “one-man-band” accountant. 10 years on, I still have the fancy qualification, an economy in a recession and a whole lot of enthusiasm. The difference is that I’ve grown my business well beyond the “one-man-band” I envisioned. And I think I’ve learnt a lot of valuable lessons over the years. Some of these I learned the easy way - by watching others get it wrong and doing it better myself. And some ...

19Dec

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Fintech, South Africa News, Tech

Payment fraud – top five scams to look out for

The truth is, all businesses are at risk of being scammed at some point, and just one incident can cost a company millions of Rand. Ryan Mer, CEO, eftsure Africa, a Know Your Payee™ (KYP) platform provider, says that fraudsters are constantly finding new ways to exploit vulnerabilities and attack corporate payment systems and it’s critical that we all work together and share information to remain one step ahead of scammers. Accounts payable fraud is one of the most damaging and is common in companies large and small, targeting the department responsible for paying suppliers and other vendors. A report from JP Morgan found that 81% (source) of organisations were hit with payment fraud in 2019, and only a relatively small portion of losses are recovered because the scam worked so well. He...

8Nov

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Business, Fintech

Mitigating the risks of payments fraud

Global losses from payment fraud have tripled from US$9.84 billion in 2011 to US$32.39 billion in 2020, according to Deutsche Bank’s 2021 report on the future of payments. And financial professionals are saying COVID-19 hasn’t helped matters, with 65% believing that the global pandemic is to blame for some of the accelerated rate in fraud activity, revealed by a 2021 survey by the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP). While these cybercriminals can target many areas of an organisation, the dangers are ultimately measured in financial terms. This means that Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) can no longer ignore cyber security simply because it is a complex issue outside their area of expertise. As custodians of the company’s monetary assets and financial data, CFOs are responsible ...

28Oct

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Business

3-Step marketing toolkit for regulated industries

Marketing professionals have always been creative problem solvers, and these skills need to be ramped up when operating in regulated industries such as pharmaceuticals, healthcare, finance, insurance and hospitality. Stringent laws and regulations, not to mention lengthy approval processes, can seem like too many obstacles in the way of highly effective creative communication campaigns. “Marketing in regulated industries shouldn’t feel stifled by rules and processes,” said Desirée Gullan, Executive Creative Director of G&G Digital. “It’s an opportunity to flex your creative problem-solving skills in a smart and disciplined manner.” Here are three steps to help you reach your audience in regulated industries. 1. Plan ahead Due to long approval processes and other due diligence matt...