Beneficiaries of Sukuma survival grants find power in small things
Hope can be writ small as much as it can be writ large. This, at least, is the lesson we at the Sukuma Fund have learnt in recent months as we have attempted to assist the many thousands of entrepreneurs who have turned to us to fund them.
Our mission is to use the R1bn available to us to save 30,000 jobs through this crisis and reach 150,000 formal sole proprietors through our blended funding model.
Sukuma’s approach is to provide small businesses with soft loans repayable over several years, but only after an initial payment holiday of one year for which no security is required.
Sole proprietors and small businesses can also access a nonrepayable grant of R25,000.
In such challenging times it is tempting to think every solution has to be big and audacious. Our beneficiaries are teaching us a humbling lesson that this need not always be the case, and that R25,000 can be used to punch above its weight.
Take the example of Calmer Health & Skincare and its proprietor, Lyndall Jackson, one of 1,692 sole proprietors who have so far received a nonrefundable grant from Sukuma. The total value of these grants is about R42.3m.
With the quarantine lockdown and with a business involved in personal care, Jackson was faced with financial ruin and the potential end of her business — until her accountant applied on her behalf for a Sukuma grant.
Instead of simply using the grant to pay her living expenses, Jackson boldly used the money to pivot her 12year-old business into the online space. She sourced aromatherapy massage oils, soaps, stress balls and other products and set up an online store on her salon’s website. Soon she was marketing on social media.
“Instead of binging on Netflix series, I spent my time making product videos and recording tutorials,” Jackson says. “Soon my son joined in. It’s been really cool.
“The experience has put a whole different spin on lockdown for us.”
Jackson turned calamity into opportunity. She found the power in a small thing. This is the reason Sukuma prioritised issuing survival grants.
We knew rapid execution of these payments could be the difference between a small business existing or shutting its doors permanently. But we never imagined the lessons these beneficiaries would teach us.
Consider the case of Dr
Unben Pillay, who runs a private medical clinic servicing the communities of Rabie Ridge, Tembisa and Halfway House.
His multidisciplinary clinic is a one-stop shop that also specialises in the treatment of major chronic diseases such as HIV/Aids, TB, diabetes and hypertension. But he was faced with a financial disaster as his turnover plummeted 70% during April, endangering his practice and the jobs of 15 staff members.
The R25,000 grant enabled his practice of 20 years — and its staff of 15 — to survive the crunch of April’s lockdown and continue while access to medical care is more important than before. “The money allowed us to pay rent, sustain the practice and retain all our staff,” he says.
Again, we were taught the powerful consequences of a modest intervention.
These stories will not be unique among the thousands who have already benefited from the Sukuma rescue grant and the many more who will still benefit.