By joining PocketAdvisor's Exciting Events for 2022 you will elevate your business into a growth structure!
We are excited to share our events calendar for 2022 at PocketAdvisor enabling entrepreneurs through our online training programs and practical resources to help cultivate a community of empowered Entrepreneurs with the skills to make a positive impact in their community, whilst growing and scaling their businesses.
Our programs are unique as they do not just offer expert content at affordable rates enabling entrepreneurs to make better decisions, but importantly entrepreneurs receive all the resources including contract templates to implement what they have learnt immediately.
For more: https://pocketadvisor.co.za/2021/10/27/events-2022/
Contracts4Biz - Legal Compliance is the secret weapon to SME survival and Success
South Africa has over a 60% failure rate, in fact, it has increased to just below the 80% mark since March 2020. Some of the most pressing reasons are lack of access to markets and lack of access to funding. These however are in my view symptoms of another underlying cause; inadequate or no legal compliance. The reality is that legal services are often one of those aspects left unattended by entrepreneurs; there are many reasons for this. Some reasons include the cost of reliable legal services, the time execution takes and the issues around general accessibility to credible legal services. As a result, we know that many businesses have resorted to using free templates from unreliable sources. Where reliable templates are obtained – they are often incorrectly utilised or completed, which renders these completely useless.What we have seen to date is that COVID-19 and the lockdowns have amplified this trajectory.
So, now more than ever having legal ducks in a row will be the fine line between survival and demise, especially for small businesses. Dealing with employment and tax issues, and applying to relief funds will require the correct documentation. The costs of being compliant can be prohibitive at the best of times. Right now, every cent counts, and we're working hard to help companies get on top of their affairs cost-effectively.
It is because of what the data has taught us, that SchoemanLaw identified the need to use Technology in a traditional law firm in a unique way, long before COVID-19 hit us all. Contracts4biz.co.za was the result of this realisation. It offers reliable legal contracts, no prior legal training required, easy to put together, instantly available to download and are made available at an affordable price. Contracts4Biz is supported through help texts, 24/7 chatbot free podcasts, videos, blog posts and training events.
Contracts4biz launched in 2018 and since then, has empowered thousands of entrepreneurs. The innovator behind this is law firm SchoemanLaw Inc in Cape Town, which has won a number of awards and accolades since its launch:
- Winner Gender Mainstreaming Awards 2018: Unlisted Companies – Women Empowerment in the Workplace
- Finalist 702 Cape Talk Nedbank Business Accelerator 2018
- Winner WOZA Women in Law Awards 2019: 6+ Women Lawyers
- Finalist Standard Bank Top Woman Awards Top 2019: Gender Empowered Company: Diversity & Inclusion Award
- Finalist African Legal Awards 2019: Best use of Technology
- HiiL Innovating Justice Challenge Class of 2020
The platform is also ever-evolving and ultimately, customer-driven. Documents are added as and when customers request them. All the materials are also frequently updated to ensure that they align with the latest best practice. There is no need to leave small business’ legal needs unattended ever again!
Giving every SME a chance to strive through innovative finance will create much needed jobs
There is consensus that South Africa needs to create millions of job opportunities, and these are needed now more than ever as the country’s unemployment continues to rise unabated because of the corona pandemic. Stats SA’s latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QFLS) for the first quarter of 2021, shows the number of unemployed people in the country at an all-time high of 32.6%. There is a second, and generally accepted, consensus that most of these jobs will come from micro, small and medium enterprises. The first iteration of the National Development Plan (NDP) proposed that for South Africa to overcome poverty and reduce the proportion of people who are dependent on state’s welfare, the SME sector would have to grow significantly. In 2015, the government had set ambitious unemployment reduction targets aiming for 14% by 2020 and 6% by 2030, and this was to be achieved by creating about 11 million new jobs through the SME sector.
These were bold ambitions by the NDP crafters and government received it with open arms because it would go a long way in reducing the current dependency on social welfare and hopefully add to the fiscus through taxes. However, reality today is that the official unemployment figure is 32% and the economy is in worse position due to corruption in key institutions and the corona pandemic in the last 13 months.
Our SME sector is also hindered by another hurdle in the form of limited funding options. South Africa has well developed and sophisticated financial institutions capable of funding most well packaged projects. The 2019 IFC-World Bank Report* on Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) shows that most SMEs fail to grow due to red tape, uncoordinated support for small businesses and risk averse type of funding by banking institutions. Unfortunately, if this attitude does not change drastically, and with immediate effect, we will not see the millions of jobs the SME sector has potential to create in the short term.
Fortunately, the corona pandemic has also exposed the need for a change in attitude on how we take SME funding decisions. The fact that only a small fraction of the government’s R200-billion meant to support businesses during the pandemic has been disbursed is a serious indictment on how traditional funding decisions need to evolve with the times. The government fund has suffered immensely because these funds are administrated by financial institutions which have been accused of applying their normal funding criteria even during a crisis, leading to thousands of SMEs folding under the pressure of prolonged economic inactivity.
If South Africa is to move a gear or two up in fighting unemployment, there needs to be a serious rethink on SME funding. Khulisa Investment Partners has found that wearing an entrepreneur’s hat when assessing an investment works better to see the potential of a start-up or a business at its formative stage. The company has managed to fund and offer support to some inspiring SMEs in the past year, these are business that falls within the “missing middle” category as they are either too small or big in the traditional sense of assessing funding criteria. The current trajectory of using traditional credit assessment when looking at an investment or funding for SMEs will idle the country for the next decade, whilst more jobs will be shed and, opportunities missed.
According to the IFC the total MSME finance gap between supply and demand in South Africa is about $30 billion. Total funding provided to this sector is currently $16 billion or about R230 billion. At the moment, commercial banks provide the majority of the financing extended to formal MSMEs, representing 68.9 percent or about R160-billion. There is also a huge chunk of funding which comes through Government and microfinance institutions, mostly focusing on the informal sector.
The IFC also notes that the potential for the MSME sector to drive economic growth and employment could be better utilised if MSMEs were able to access productive financing. MSMEs face serious challenges gaining access to finance, especially from banks. One estimate suggests that 75% of MSME credit applications are rejected, while only 2 percent of new MSMEs are able to access bank loans. Constrained access to finance is especially acute at the lower end of the MSME market where a “missing middle” – those firms too big for micro-finance but too small for traditional institutional financing – leads to MSMEs being under-served. This is due to a combination of factors affecting the supply of finance by bank and non-bank financial institutions, such as regulation, as well as MSME specific characteristics, such as a lack of basic business or financial skills.
South Africa is struggling with high unemployment levels, especially among young people aged 15 to 34 years. The Stats SA’s Quarterly Labour Force Survey shows the unemployment rate within this age group was 43.3% in the first quarter of 2020. To deal with this ticking timebomb, we need on new lenses on how the country funds SMEs, and a significant part of the solution could be a increasing the role of private equity players, in the same vein as the Section 12J.
SMEs make up 98% of all companies in South Africa and continue to prove that they are the lifeblood of the economy. While SMEs can play a critical role in creating jobs – they also perform other important functions such as supporting innovation and helping drive diversification and economic transformation.
For South Africa to take advantage of the potential of the SME sector, there is a need to remove the burdensome credit and collateral requirements of commercial banks and traditional financing institutions. We need to find alternative ways of securing funding and while encouraging an entrepreneurial spirit. This will enable us to capture more of the “missing middle” businesses, and in turn help resurrect this floundering economy as we emerge from the ruins of covid.
If South Africa is to have a fighting chance against unemployment, we should look at the alternative funding space of venture capital and private equity institutions. We should use every available opportunity to fund inherently good businesses that have been overlooked purely because of their size or other traditional criteria. At Khulisa Investment Partners, we have found and partnered with some amazing SMEs, and that is possible because the spectacles used to identify and invest in these businesses are those of entrepreneurs and not the traditional risk averse institutions. It is in these SMEs that we will turn the tide against unemployment and build an inclusive economy that gives young South Africans the opportunity to be creators of jobs instead of being job seekers.
-- END --
Dr Phumla Mnganga is the Chairperson of Khulisa Investment Partners. Khulisa is an innovative Black-owned management company providing investors with a diversified portfolio of investments. It was established in 2020 and currently have 3 funds which are centred on achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
BigFive Selects Cape Town, Tech Hub of Africa, as Host for Inaugural Summit
South Africa’s Mother City will host a first-of-its-kind Summit from 13 – 15 May 2019 where pioneers in the provision of digital media and marketing technology solutions to the region’s SMEs will meet for three days of knowledge-sharing, networking and dynamic debate.
As Africa’s biggest and fastest-growing technology hub, it is no surprise that BigFive Digital chose the city of Cape Town as host for its inaugural Summit. This event is a first for the continent for companies building digital marketing, commerce, and back-office solutions for small businesses across Africa and the Middle East (AME).
According to the 2018 Endeavor Insight Report, released in conjunction with the Cape Innovation and Technology Initiative (CiTi), Wesgro and the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation, Cape Town employs over 40,000 people within the sector - twice as many as Johannesburg. Other major tech hubs in Africa such as Lagos and Nairobi employ 9,000 and 7,000 people respectively, according to CiTi. Cape Town’s unique blend of unrivalled scenic beauty, urban style and global culture has made it a melting pot of creativity and innovation for digital and tech professionals.
“The choice of Cape Town as location for the inaugural BigFive Summit, where digital solutions for African companies are showcased, is testament to the fact that Cape Town is not only emerging as Africa’s tech hub, but also a hub for thought leadership in tech-enabled approaches to doing business,” says Tim Harris, CEO of Wesgro. “This event also shows increasing global recognition for Cape Town as an internationally competitive tech and innovation hub. The Cape region's strength lies in a combination of factors including access to sound infrastructure and a skilled and energetic workforce, proximity to four top universities and two globally recognized business schools, a favourable lifestyle, and a local and provincial government supportive of entrepreneurship and innovation.”
Hosted by BigFive Digital, one of the foremost thought-leadership enterprises connecting AME media and tech companies to SMEs, BigFive Summit will assemble a compelling mix of media, tech and digital stakeholders, influential thought-leaders, and disruptive start-ups in Cape Town to address the five key elements fuelling the rise and growth of the AME digital ecosystem – Search, Social, Mobile, Location, and Payments.
“As Africa’s leading technology hub, it is indeed our honour to host the BigFive Summit in Cape Town”, says Alderman James Vos, Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Opportunities and Asset Management. “As a forward-thinking city we look forward to continuing to enable the Tech sector and partnering with endeavours arising from this Summit”.
The Summit is set to feature headline talks and workshops that will challenge thinking, stimulate ideas and offer practical advice for those with the common goal of bringing to market digital solutions for SMEs throughout Africa and the Middle East.
Speakers include Katlego Maphai, Co-Founder and CEO of Yoco; Louw Barnardt, Co-Founder and MD of Outsourced CFO; Gustav Praekelt, Founder and CEO of South African Praekelt Group; Sarah Utermark, Country Director, Mobile Marketing Association South Africa; and Nick Grubb, Chief Executive: Radio at Kagiso Media.
The inspiring speaker list also features the world leaders in Search and Social marketing, Google and Facebook respectively, plus Thabo Seopa and Paul Plant, two of the Co-Founders of BigFive Digital, together with many other industry luminaries.
Details of the Event: BigFive Summit 2019
The Summit will take place from 13 - 15 May 2019 at Workshop 17 at the prestigious V&A Waterfront in Cape Town. With two cocktail receptions, plus a networking dinner all included in the package, delegates will have an opportunity to engage with like-minded companies eager to promote and sustain the local commerce landscape.To register as a delegate, join our list of speakers or learn about sponsorship opportunities, visit: www.bigfivedigital.org/summit.
ENDSExecutive Survey – Receive a Discount Code to attend BigFive Summit
BigFive Summit is currently running an Executive Survey to gauge how leaders inside companies who serve or sell to SMEs view the digital opportunity. The full findings of the survey will be presented at BigFive Summit. Anyone working in this space is encouraged to participate in the survey. The more responses we receive, the better. All contributors to the survey will receive a discount code on tickets to the event. Take the survey here: http://bit.ly/ExecutiveSurvey
For more information about BigFive Summit or this press release, please contact:
Mika Stanvliet | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | 081 534 6237
About BigFive Digital: BigFive Digital was created to support digital media and technology solutions providers serving local SMEs throughout Africa & The Middle East. BigFive Digital has been co-founded by four highly respected global media and digital commerce executives: Thabo Seopa, Paul Plant, Charles Laughlin, and Oscar Sousa Marques. Collectively, they have spent more than a century experiencing digital transformation, witnessing first-hand the impacts of disruptive innovations in local marketing and commerce in various countries all over the world. For more information about BigFive Digital, visit: https://bigfivedigital.org/
About BigFive Summit:Hosted by BigFive Digital, BigFive Summit is a knowledge-sharing and networking event for companies that provide digital marketing and technology solutions to local businesses across Africa & The Middle East. The Summit is built around the five pillars that support local commerce, namely: Search, Social, Mobile, Location and Payments. It is these five sectors that are fuelling the rapid rise and growth of digital and technology adoption across the region. Any company with a vested interest in this exciting ecosystem is invited to join us in Cape Town, from 13 - 15 May 2019.For more information about the Summit, please visit: https://bigfivedigital.org/summit/ https://www.smesouthafrica.co.za/cape-town-is-home-to-africas-most-productive-tech-sector/
BigFive Announces Dynamic Speaker Line-Up for Africa-First Digital Summit
Details regarding the speaker line-up and agenda for BigFive Summit have been announced. Cape Town will play host to the Summit from 13 – 15 May 2019 where pioneers in the provision of digital media and marketing technology solutions to the region’s SMEs will converge for three exciting days of knowledge-sharing, networking and debate. The overarching purpose is to explore how media, mobile and technology vendors, and their agencies, can work together to drive and promote technology adoption for literally millions of local businesses across Africa and the Middle East.
With an estimated 40 million small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Africa and the Middle East (AME), it should come as no surprise that our continent is supporting a vibrant and fast-growing ecosystem of media, telecoms, financial and software companies eager to bring these businesses into the digital age.
Enter BigFive Summit, a first-of-its-kind for Africa, designed by and for companies engaged in the supply, sale and servicing of digital marketing and productivity solutions to SMEs across the Africa/Middle East region.
Hosted by BigFive Digital, one of the foremost thought-leadership enterprises connecting AME media and tech companies to SMEs, the event will assemble an exciting mix of media, tech and digital stakeholders, influential thought-leaders, and disruptive start-ups to address the five key elements fueling the rise and growth of the AME digital ecosystem – Search, Social, Mobile, Location, and Payments.
The event features a number of exciting and influential speakers, each of which is an experts or pioneer in their respective fields:
Katlego Maphai is the Co-Founder and CEO of revolutionary South African innovation Yoco. Maphai has overcome many hurdles to build a payments solution that today powers tens of thousands of small businesses in SA by providing an easily accessible and easy-to-use platform to help start, run and grow your business.
Louw Barnardt is the Co-Founder and MD of Outsourced CFO. In 2017, he was nominated as one of FastCompany’s Most Innovative Companies of the Year, and in 2018 received the Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Outsourced CFO is disrupting traditional financing and accounting practices for SMEs providing cloud-based services, combining integrity and professional excellence.
Gustav Praekelt is the Founder and CEO of South African Praekelt Group. He is a passionate believer that mobile technology will transform Africa. While spearheading groundbreaking work in the digital arena, Gustav established the Praekelt Foundation, to develop scalable mobile solutions for social good, whose programmes have reached over 100 million people across 30 countries.
Brendan King is Co-Founder and CEO of Vendasta Technologies, a Saskatoon Canada-based multi-award-winning platform for the sales and fulfilment of digital solutions. Vendasta partners with almost every major digital brand, including Google and Facebook, and is the platform of choice for many of the leading marketing agencies in North America.
Nick Grubb is Chief Executive: Radio at Kagiso Media, one of South Africa’s largest media owners. Nick oversees radio operations at Kagiso, including two of the country’s largest independent stations, Jacaranda FM and East Coast Radio. A Bachelor in Journalism and Media Studies from Rhodes University, Nick’s entire career has been in media, and he is expertly placed to talk about the changing dynamics of media consumption across AME.O
ther confirmed speakers include:
Chantelle Bowyer, CEO, Metis Online (South Africa)
Cheryl Ingram, Digital Marketing Director, The Digital Media Collective (South Africa)
Adi Engel, CBDO, vCita (Israel)
Trevor Harries-Jones, CEO, Yola (South Africa & USA)
George Leith, CRO, Vendasta (Canada)
Sandy Lohr, CEO, Matchcraft (USA)
Lyndon Munetsi, CRO, Trudon (South Africa)
Trevor Nadeau, CEO, Local Knowledge (Dubai)
Sohail Nawaz MBE, Former CEO ACS Media (Bahrain)
Magnus Rademeyer, Managing Director, AfriGIS (South Africa)
Ezana Raswork, Founder and MD, Africa 118 (Kenya)
Lunga Siyo, CEO, Trudon (South Africa)
Daryl Van Arkel, CEO, BPS & Vicinity Media (South Africa)
The speaker list also features:
Thabo Seopa and Paul Plant, two of the Co-Founders of BigFive Digital, hosts of BigFive Summit.
BigFive Summit promises to be an informative event packed to the brim with topics highly relevant to any company selling or servicing technology solutions to the region’s SMEs, including:
Why Africa is Poised for a Small Business Revolution
How Industry Leaders View the AME Digital Opportunity (results of Exec Survey)
The Changing Face of Media & Solution Selling
The Local Customer Journey 2019
The Payments Revolution and the Transforming of Africa’s Small Business Ecosystem
Transforming Business Results with Location Insights
Time for Local Radio to Tune-In to the Digital Opportunity
Running a Digital Agency in an Automated Age
The Impact of Data/AI and Machine Learning on Local Commerce
Messaging Apps and Conversational Commerce
Unlocking the Location Data Opportunity
Can SEO Work for Very Small Businesses?
The Importance of Reputation Management
BigFive Start-up Showcase – A Peek at the Next Wave of Disruptors
The Unfiltered Truth – SMEs Talking Digital Transformation
The Service Imperative – Preventing Customer Churn
The Do’s and Don’ts of Search & Social Marketing
The Path to Ecommerce for Small Businesses
Details of the Event: BigFive Summit 2019
The Summit will take place from 13 - 15 May 2019 at Workshop 17 in the prestigious V&A Waterfront in Cape Town and will feature some of the finest digital practitioners sharing strategic insights, best practices, and practical guidance for success, through a series of engaging presentations, tactical sessions and networking forums.
With two cocktail receptions, plus a networking dinner all included in the package, delegates will have an opportunity to engage with like-minded companies, eager to promote and sustain the local commerce landscape.
To register as a delegate, join our list of speakers or learn about sponsorship opportunities, visit: www.bigfivedigital.org/summit
Executive Survey – Respondents will receive a Discount Code to attend BigFive Summit
BigFive Summit is currently running an Executive Survey to gauge how leaders inside companies who serve or sell to SMEs view the digital opportunity. The full findings of the survey will be presented at BigFive Summit. Anyone working in this space is encouraged to participate in the survey. The more responses we receive, the better.
All contributors to the survey will receive a discount code on tickets to the event.
Take the survey here: http://bit.ly/ExecutiveSurvey
ENDS
For more information about BigFive Summit or this press release, please contact:
Mika Stanvliet | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | 081 534 6237
About BigFive Digital:
BigFive Digital was created to support digital media and technology solutions providers serving local SMEs throughout Africa & The Middle East. The Africa/Middle East region is enjoying a period of sustained economic growth. Every major indicator is predicted to perform above global averages for the next decade, with the region boasting six of the world’s ten fastest growing national economies*. Local digital commerce is widely recognized as a lead indicator of a healthy and growing modern economy.*Sources: The Economist; The UN; The World Bank; McKinsey & Co.BigFive Digital has been co-founded by four highly respected global media and digital commerce executives: Thabo Seopa, Paul Plant, Charles Laughlin, and Oscar Sousa Marques. Collectively, they have spent more than a century experiencing digital transformation, witnessing first-hand the impacts of disruptive innovations in local marketing and commerce in various countries all over the world.
For more information about BigFive Digital, visit: https://bigfivedigital.org/
About BigFive Summit:
Hosted by BigFive Digital, BigFive Summit is a knowledge-sharing and networking event for companies that provide digital marketing and technology solutions to local businesses across Africa & The Middle East. The Summit is built around the five pillars that support local commerce, namely: Search, Social, Mobile, Location and Payments. It is these five sectors that are fueling the rapid rise and growth of digital and technology adoption across the region. Any company with a vested interest in this exciting ecosystem is invited to join us in Cape Town, from 13-15 May 2019.
For more information about the Summit, please visit: https://bigfivedigital.org/summit/
Quick website solution for SMEs
Lutho.com has developed specialized software that allows any small business owner to get a quality website and a professional looking email address set up at their own domain name in only two hours.The Lutho system provides for the content (such as news, product listings, photos and documents for download) to be easily self-managed by the clients without the frustration of waiting for a web developer to make the changes for you.
