Lulalend Archives - AfricaBusiness.com

26Oct

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

South Africa News

How SA’s hospitality sector SMEs can plan for the festive season

Small businesses in the hospitality sector have their eyes firmly set on recovery, as the year slowly starts drawing to a close. There is still lots of hard work ahead, but recent developments such as the relaxation of lockdown regulations and the changes to international travel restrictions give a glimmer of hope for SME operators that work in the tourism and hospitality sector. In 2018, the travel and tourism sector made up nearly 3% of South Africa’s GDP and contributed to 4.5% of all employment in the country. This picture changed overnight when the pandemic shut down the economy in March 2020 as a global lockdown resulted in no visitors to our shores between April and September. Visitor numbers plummeted by a staggering 72.6%, dragging employment figures along with it. Jobs in the se...

18Aug

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

South Africa News

Collaboration and Partnership will get SMEs through these difficult times

Small businesses in South Africa should tap into existing business community, partner and supplier networks to help keep their heads above water in these tough times. It is only by finding creative ways to stand together and help one another that this vital sector of the South African economy, employing 9 out of 10 people, will survive. One such partnership kicks off in Cape Town tomorrow (Tuesday 3 August 2021). The “Small Business Spotlight” initiative is the brainchild of SME funder Lulalend and one of the city's online magazines CapeTownMagazine.com. The nationwide initiative is designed to encourage all of us to support our favourite local businesses by showcasing them to a broader audience. The devastating impact of the pandemic on SMMEs is well documented, says Lulalend CEO Trevor...

18Aug

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Business, Fintech, South Africa News

Four steps to fixing cash flow and help SMEs survive

We are all familiar with the saying in business that "cash is king" and, if that’s the case, then cash flow is the lifeblood of any business. For small or mid-size businesses, cash flow is a critical component of success. Profits are meaningless without it. The harsh reality is that SMEs who don't exercise good cash flow management may not be able to survive the current economic climate. In South Africa, the recession and pandemic have had a devastating impact on the approximately 2.5 million SMMEs accounting for 10.8 million jobs. In a recent report published by Transunion, 6.4% of formal SMEs going into bankruptcy (up 50% from last year), with 260,000 jobs lost and another 240,000 at risk. According to Trevor Gosling, CEO of SME funder, Lulalend, there are four practical ways in which...

19Jul

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Business, South Africa News

Good customer retention tactics translate to brand loyalty and profitability for SMEs

There is a good reason why the saying goes “first impressions last” and this is particularly important for small businesses. Once they’ve connected with a new customer, businesses should focus on offering high-quality delivery over the long-term. It begins with a client's first interaction with businesses or brands and continues throughout the lifetime of the relationship. According to Tom Stuart, Chief Marketing Officer of SME lender, Lulalend, there are five practical ways in which businesses can improve customer retention. Managing expectations, ensuring top-of-mind awareness, good communication, implementing support measures, and putting in place a rewards program. Stuart explains that top-of-mind awareness is a key metric in the development of sound retention strategies and will ultim...

12May

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

South Africa News, Tech

The value of digital transformation for SMEs

Digital Transformation refers to the overall change of organisational activities aimed at leveraging opportunities created by digital technologies and data. This requires companies to profoundly transform their business models, infrastructure, processes and culture, in order to steer them toward finding new sources of customer value. The use of digital technologies has transformed commerce and how businesses interact with their customers. To adapt to this changing world, organisations must embrace digitisation. “For small businesses just getting started, there’s no value in setting up your business processes and transforming them later. You can futureproof your organisation from the get-go. Thinking, planning and building digitally sets you up to be agile, flexible and ready to grow,” say...

14Apr

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

South Africa News

How positive debt can help SA’s SMEs grow

Regardless of the size of your company or how great your product maybe, at some point, every business will need more finance than they have immediately available. When this happens, accessing additional funding will help to give your company the fuel it needs to grow. It may seem counterintuitive, but Trevor Gosling, Co-founder, and CEO of Lulalend – financing partner to South Africa’s small- to medium enterprises (SMEs) - explains that fast access to capital plays an important part in any business growth strategy. Gosling says that there is often a misconception that all debt is bad or that it is only used by struggling companies. “In fact, the opposite is often the reason why some of the world’s largest companies, including the likes of Apple and Coca-Cola, routinely seek capital infusi...

7Apr

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Business, South Africa News

How cost cutting can help SMEs grow

Reducing the cost of supplies, inventory or business operations is common practice amongst many small business owners. Not preserving enough cash could land a business in deep waters and in need of a lifeline. For business owners, curbing your expenditure is a practical way to improve your cash flow without incurring risk to your business. According to Trevor Gosling, Co-founder and CEO of Lulalend – financing partner to South Africa’s small- to medium-enterprises (SMEs), spending countless hours worrying about your business finances is time wasted and could be best spent strategizing realistic solutions. Gosling explains that by creating a well-documented plan to engage in a cost-reduction strategy is essential. “Map out any areas in your business that could do with an overhaul or cost re...

SMMEs primed for growth as economy slowly takes steps to recover

23Jan

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

African News, South Africa News

SMMEs primed for growth as economy slowly takes steps to recover

While South Africa’s economy took a series of blows over the last year, business owners remain confident that things will slowly start to stabilise in 2021. This was reaffirmed with South Africa's SACCI business confidence index rising to 93.4 in November of 2020 from 92 in October, above pre-pandemic levels. According to Trevor Gosling, Co-founder and CEO of Lulalend, a large part of the country’s growth this year will be dependent on SMMEs. “Despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the remarkable ability of these businesses to adapt to change has helped them evolve and ultimately survive. Companies were resilient, optimistic and innovative, trusting that, although the situation will not improve considerably in 2021, it will be able to at least start stabilizing.” Gosling says that t...