Every one of us can help small businesses grow

Networking is where we can give young entrepreneurs a big start

SA’s small business scene is in the ICU.

According to consultancy firm McKinsey, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across SA represent more than 98% of businesses, employ between 50% and 60% of the country’s workforce across all sectors, and are responsible for a quarter of job growth in the private sector. These were the statistics before Covid-19 ravaged our economy.

A recent survey by sme.africa and Sasfin of about 1,000 SMEs found that about 60% may close before the crisis is over. Those that do not close are not guaranteed to succeed.

A 2019 report titled “The Unseen Sector”, published by the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation in collaboration with our National Treasury, identified the challenges faced by SMEs: access to finance, skills, and markets.

Financing a start-up is risky — and finding a riskaverse or angel investor is the best way to get funding that will not always lead to indebtedness. But willing investors are difficult to find and, given the state of the economy, will not be easier to find. Taking some form of loan will be the solution for most.

Repaying that debt will depend on getting buyers for the service or product being sold. Access to market is a continuing struggle, but the strides made in technology are increasingly the solution. Connecting the business with potential buyers has taken a leap forward with the emergence of online marketplaces and micro sales platforms that allow manufacturers to find new markets.

As a small-business owner, you simply have to advance your tech skills; it is a vital investment in your business, not only for competitive advantage, but for marketing your business and responding to customer needs.

But not all solutions are to be found in technology. Sometimes seemingly old-fashioned skills are just what your business needs. Take the art of networking. Putting effort into expanding your network can facilitate funding when needed, enable business opportunities and partnerships, help you find subcontractors or employees, and expand your marketing efforts. No matter how great the business or business idea, its success depends on one important factor: other people. Networking is an invaluable tool.

It is one I strongly believe in and why we have pushed the Eskom Development Foundation to create platforms for SMEs to use, such as the recent Trialogue conference, where we sponsored the network lounge, the upcoming Business

Investment Competition (a flagship programme of the foundation), the Eskom Contractor Academy, and the Simama Ranta School Entrepreneurship Programme, in partnership with the department of basic education.

With even big businesses suffering when they have experience, capital, marketing skills and knowledgeable staff, just imagine how much more difficult it must be when you are a small business and just beginning to build what you hope will be your future.

By now, it is trite to point out that the country’s fundamental problems are the high rate of unemployment and the staggering depth of poverty. The question may well arise: why does a development foundation, whose origins are to be found in a massive state organisation which generates and delivers electricity, get involved in matters that are not obviously in its area of interest?

The answer is simple: it behoves all of us to reach out to those who do not have the opportunities the majority has. This is true of all in the public sector, but equally so in the private one, and for individuals at all levels of society. Not only that, but it is also necessary to fulfil the mandate from a corporate social investment perspective, and as such, participating in similar platforms helps to demonstrate that Eskom is a good corporate citizen and builds relations with stakeholders towards providing and supporting a social licence to operate.

Not one of us can sleep peacefully if there are some of us who have no work, no food, no opportunities.

We must all play our part. Doing nothing is not an option. Waiting out the pandemic is not an option either; it is here to stay and has permanently disrupted the way in which we do business.

Giving up is not an option.

Find financing, tap into your network to find another market, pivot your business idea to a product or service now needed, and do a free, online course to upskill yourself.

You are not on your own; sometimes the solution is to be found in who you know.