small business Archives - AfricaBusiness.com

15Oct

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

THE RISE OF FINTECH INNOVATION IN SA: GOING BEYOND PAYMENTS TO TRANSFORM ACCESS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR STARTUPS

By Annelene Dippenaar Two decades ago, a startup or small business had limited options when it came to processing transactions, with cash being the only option for many. Startups by their very nature also lacked credit histories, making it difficult to apply for finance, and leaving them vulnerable to unaffordable loans when seeking financial support to fund their business needs. Today, the picture is very different, with access to digital finance platforms, management tools, and mobile banking transforming how these businesses can operate. According to the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), digitalisation has enabled 700 million people in developing countries to gain access to formal financial services between 2011 and 2014, with 62% of adults having a bank or mobile...

31Jul

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

South Africa News

SME confidence on the rise as GNU promises growth

As the nation approached the polls, iKhokha conducted a survey across its national base to learn more about SME confidence in our government. The survey revealed that 76% of SMEs felt government support to be ineffective in promoting small business growth and development. In May, retail spending fell by 0.7% month-on-month as uncertainty lead to more frugal consumer spending. This downturn was mirrored in the automotive sector, where new car sales saw a 14.2% drop. iKhokha also observed an 8% decrease in SME turnover in May and June as the nation held its collective breathe, watching potential coalition discussions play out in the media, further unsettling South African nerves. Last month, South Africa breathed a collective sigh of relief and entered a new era of our democracy with the f...

5May

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Business, Events, South Africa News

Post-Covid recovery depends on a positive SME mindset

#StandardBankSMESummit With more than 90% of South African SME’s having experienced revenue drops since April 2020 and with many businesses being left vulnerable, the need to support and boost South Africa’s SME sector which currently provides formal jobs for 28% of the population must be prioritised. This support is not just financial, but psychological as well. “Where people need to innovate and create their own jobs to sustain themselves and provide occupation and income for others, we need to provide the psychological tools to support those with ambition. We cannot allow innovators and entrepreneurs to give up on their dreams and visions at this critical time,” says Deenash Pillay, Head of Enterprise Banking Propositions at Standard Bank, ahead of the Standard Bank SME Summit which...

6Apr

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

South Africa News

Setting South Africa’s small and medium-sized enterprises Up for Success

South Africa’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) represent more than 98% of registered businesses, employ between 50% and 60% of the country’s workforce, and are responsible for a quarter of job growth in the private sector[i]. “It’s no wonder then that these companies are the country’s hope for economic recovery. But what is being done to ensure their success?” asks Andrew Hardie, Chief Executive Officer at Pay@ - a leading payment aggregator and provider of secure payment solutions. South African SMEs have the highest failure rate in the world[ii]. In fact, 70% to 80% of small businesses fail within five years[iii]. Studies conducted by the Universities of the Free State[iv], Limpopo[v] and Cape Town[vi] have found that a lack of business capabilities (including skills and tools)...

Why ecommerce matters for small businesses in SA

14Mar

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

South Africa News

Why ecommerce matters for small businesses in SA

There has been a permanent change in the way that people shop and, in turn, the way that businesses need to operate. In the absence of brick-and-mortar stores being open during the lockdown, as well as a general fear of crowded malls when things were able to re-open, South Africa’s ecommerce sector exploded. According to Trevor Gosling, Co-founder and CEO of Lulalend – financing partner to South Africa’s small- to medium-enterprises (SMEs), he has seen a phenomenal growth in ecommerce businesses who have connected with them for SME financing. Between the period of October 2020 and February 2021, Lulalend saw an 86% increase in loans made to ecommerce businesses and online retailers in comparison to the same period between 2019 and 2020. “The loans were strongly linked to growth-related req...

Cisco Small Business Partner Summit to Explore Growth Opportunities Across MEA

1Mar

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Events, Tech

Cisco Small Business Partner Summit to Explore Growth Opportunities Across MEA

Changing Market Conditions and Strategic Priorities for the Sector to be Showcased During Regional Event Cisco’s Small Business Partner Summit is taking place virtually this week, outlining the importance and growth potential of the small business sector across the Middle East and Africa. Small businesses account for 44% of all IT spending and continue to outpace traditional enterprise growth. On Tuesday 2nd March, summit attendees will be provided with insights into Cisco Designed – a tailor-made portfolio which delivers simple, secure and flexible products, available at competitive price points to help small businesses to thrive. Participants will also learn about Cisco’s Partner Programs, incentives and rewards to expand their own business offerings, while simultaneously empowering smal...

11Feb

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Business

How installing a conveyor belt system could help your small business

Conveyor belt systems originated all the way back in the 1800s, and these days are an essential part of almost every industry in some form or another. This invention has transformed the way that we transport goods within a small area, as well as sort them, package them, and process them. We often think of conveyor systems as only being relevant for large-scale businesses. However, these days more and more small businesses are beginning to see the advantages of having such equipment installed. Read on to find out more about what a conveyor belt system is and how having one could help your company. What is a conveyor belt system? Simply put, a conveyor belt system is a piece of machinery that transports materials or objects from one point to another. However, this doesn’t quite do justice to...

14Nov

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

African News

WD® APPOINTS MITSUMI AS NEW DISTRIBUTION PARTNER FOR AFRICA

Company expands presence in growing African market Dubai, UAE – WD, a Western Digital company, has appointed Nairobi-based Mitsumi Distribution as its new partner for Africa. With this tie up, WD further strengthens and extends its global footprint by specifically catering to rising demand from Africa’s growing storage market. Enterprise and home users alike will have better availability of the comprehensive range of storage, networking and entertainment solutions offered by WD. Mitsumi Distribution is WD’s first Africa-focused partner. Mitsumi Distribution, one of Africa’s leading IT distributors, will cover the Central, East and West African regions for WD’s component and branded products. WD’s component products include internal storage products such as desktop, mob...

6Nov

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

African News

Payroll System: Small Businesses Can Print Paychecks on Blank Stock Easily with New EzPaycheck Software

Small business payroll software ezPaycheck was updated with new and more flexible features to allow users print paychecks and stubs on blank stock easily. Try it free for 30 days at http://www.halfpricesoft.com Detroit, MI, November, 2012 --(PR.com)-- Small business payroll software ezPaycheck was released with new feature to print paycheck with stubs on blank check stock. Designed with small business in mind, ezPaycheck payroll system from halfpricesoft.com was developed to speed up and simplify payroll tax calculations, paycheck printing and tax reporting. ezPaycheck developing team hopes this new blank check stock printing feature will save users more time and money on payroll tasks. To open ezPaycheck payroll software to more small business users, Halfpricesoft.com also announc...

30Oct

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

African News, South Africa News

South African red tape may not be that bad

By Thandisizwe Mgudlwa A report this week reveals that entry as a Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) is not so restrictive after all. And according to Gerrie van Biljon, Executive Director of Cape Town-based Business Partners, the general sentiment in South Africa’s business landscape is that the environment is plagued by challenges that hinder commercial activity. Further,in recent months much has been said about the significant red tape that hampers business growth in the country, however, despite all the negative reports, South Africa’s business environment is performing significantly well in key areas. Van Biljon then refers to the World Bank’s Doing Business 2012 Report, which ranks countries across the globe according to how easy or difficult it is for a local en...