80% businesses in Eswatini fail in 5 years

MBABANE – The business sector requires consistency and support to grow, and businesses locally continue to fail because of the lack the necessary skills.

Most businesses fail to reach five year’s operating, because the owners lack the basic skills needed to grow and sustain the business.

This was mentioned by the Small Enterprises Development Company (SEDCO) Business Entrepreneurship Mentor Musa Dlamini on Wednesday.

Dlamini was speaking during the capacity building on entrepreneurship development for Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) in the country at the Sibane Sami Hotel.

Dlamini said basic business skills and knowledge are necessary tools for people looking to join and survive in the business sector.

He mentioned that local entrepreneurs tend to focus more on the startup phase of the business and neglect the productivity phase.

“Entrepreneurs invest more time in raising capital to start businesses which they find difficult to operate,” he said.

The mentor said this is caused by the fact that they lack the knowledge and understanding of how the business sector they chose operates.

He said business sectors operated differently and the knowledge of how they operate can be acquired by educating yourself.

Survive

He added that the country had experts in each business sector and the knowledge they possessed contributed to the 20 per cent businesses that are able to survive beyond five years.

“The businesses that have managed to survive have done so because the owners had a learning objective and they were involved in entrepreneurship training courses which helped improve their skills,” he said.

Dlamini also mentioned that poor management of funds and lack of support also contributed to the fall of the businesses.

The mentor also mentioned that the most affected business sectors were farming and agriculture, Technology and Innovation, and manufacturing.

He said those who invested in the wholesale and retail businesses were able to grow because of the entrepreneurship lessons they received from institutions like SEDCO.

The Ministry of Commerce Commercial Field Officer Clifford Dlamini said people needed to understand the form of business before executing productivity.

“Most businesses fail because people venture into sectors they do not know how to operate; they restrict their knowledge in the planning phase which affects the long run,” he said.

He further mentioned that after receiving capital, it is important to then have lessons and training in the sector chosen, to add on the knowledge already acquired.