The statistics are shocking- in 2006, the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) assessed business start-up and new firm activity in eight developing countries viz Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Jamaica, Mexico, Thailand, Venezuela, and South Africa. The report indicates that out of the eight countries, South Africa has the second slowest start-up rate, the second lowest new company statistics, and apart from Mexico, South African start-up businesses are least likely to have a shelf life of more than 42 months. Although initiatives like ASGISA and the National Empowerment Fund offer a support system to Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs), a lot of start-up businesses still fail and the dream of halving poverty and unemployment by 2015 seems to be increasingly elusive.
Enter the Deloitte’s Succeed Campaign better known as Succeed. This programme, conceived by the Deloitte’s Women’s Leadership Initiative (WLI) in partnership with the Businesswomen’s Association (BWA) and Business Partners aims to assist women entrepreneurs to succeed in their small businesses, and through their growth, help to address unemployment in South Africa. Succeed is not a fund and it does not promise its participants overnight success but through mentoring it serves as a conduit that enables these women to better harness their available resources and in turn improve and develop their businesses.
One participant says, “Succeed is not for entrepreneurs who expect to be spoon-fed. You are told from the onset what to expect and you are responsible for setting up the meetings with your advisers as and when you need them; you will only reap what you sow.”
2007 is the pilot year of this programme and it has been progressing for six months since May. 24 women in businesses from a wide range of sectors including dentistry, furniture manufacturing, gas installations, management consulting, and construction started the programme with their own unique goals and areas of desired improvement. Succeed is cognisant of the fact that there are women entrepreneurs who want to succeed but due to lack of access to capital and pertinent information, inadequate education and training, family responsibilities, societal perceptions, and poverty have very little chance of ever making it past the start-up phase.
Lindeni Sekhokoane of Ebodweni Traders, a civil engineering firm and participant of Succeed comments, “I have noticed a difference in the way I run my business in the few months since I started Succeed. The advisers conducted an assessment of my business and identified my areas of improvement and tailor-made a programme which would help me achieve my goals. I started my business in 2005 and needed a turnaround- I am now taking courses in cash flow management and marketing in order to ensure that my business is self-sustaining. In order to achieve this, I have learned to make sure that I always have something lined up before I complete a project.”
Lindeni goes on to state that one of the most valuable lessons she has learned from Succeed is networking. Through the programme she managed to get a R200, 000.00 contract to provide prefabricated buildings for an international NGO. “Even though the project is quite small, it is important to that I manage it well and deliver what I promise because I know the importance of making good contacts. Credibility is a crucial part of my business because I know that every client is a potential link to another.”
After hearing about this programme from a newspaper, Ronel Greyling, owner of Elro Office Furniture & Projects decided that Succeed is something that could give her business a boost. “I have been in the interior design business for 13 years,” says Ronel “and expanded into furniture manufacturing a year-and-a-half ago and wish to grow that side of the business. I am an experienced entrepreneur but know that learning is a life-long process. I really appreciate the marketing, financial, the people skills that I am acquiring to put my business on the map.”
Ronel accedes that six months is a short period in which to measure the success of the programme but she has gained a considerable amount of contacts from her participation which has set her on the path to networking with the right people in her particular industry.
“There are many well established stained glass manufacturing businesses in South Africa and I wanted to create a niche market for our products,” says Ayanda Teytana co-owner of Ayapumy Stained Glass Work a stained glass manufacturer.
After finishing Matric, Ayanda joined her mother who has been in the stained glass industry for 23 years. Their dream is to formalize the business and need marketing, financial management and proposal writing skills in order to attract the funding that will allow them to achieve their goal.
“Nicolle Weir from Succeed has been there for me from day one,” continues Ayanda. “There are a number of empowerment initiatives and SMME start-up competitions that I have entered so I am aware of what is out there. Succeed has been invaluable as it has provided me with the correct methods that I should employ in order to tap into these funds to use my creativity to create a proudly South African product that can be exported to different countries or displayed locally. Succeed has helped me to understand branding, especially the importance of creating a strong brand and protecting the reputation thereof.”
All three participants of Succeed unanimously commended the unwavering commitment of their advisers in spite of their own responsibilities. Deloitte plans on doing an evaluation of this programme after this pilot year in order to ensure that next year’s programme continues to provide the women entrepreneurs with all the help that they need. Deloitte’s WLI, the BWA and Business Partners believe that the Succeed Campaign is a step in creating an environment which is conducive to the success of SMMEs. These enterprises are the heartbeat of every economy and their success spells the success of our developing economy in the whole.
For further information please contact:
Sue Brewitt
Corporate Communications Consultants (Pty) Ltd
Tel: (011) 783 8926
Fax: (011) 783 7608
Email: sueb@corpcom.co.za
ON BEHALF OF:
Dee Botha
Deloitte
(012) 482 0139
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