The key to recovering from our current unemployment crisis and stagnant economy will be Small, Medium & Micro Enterprises, now more than ever it is vital we put concerted focus and resources into SMME development and support.

The Kuba vision is two-fold; to facilitate access and trade between the informal market and formal businesses on the marketplace and supporting SMMEs by providing them with the necessary tools and resources to formalise their businesses to compete in the broader formalised economy. There are many ways to measure needs and growth, working in the informal market space we’ve learned that entrepreneurs and SMMEs have varied needs and their own ideas on what growth is that the market is often not offering. Our Kuba users have been clear that access to market and marketing their businesses effectively are their biggest challenges and so we developed the Grow My Biz packages.

The Grow My Biz packages are designed for SMMEs in various stages, the free Starter package only requires business owners to sign up on the Kuba marketplace, use the free invoicing software and contact us on anything they need via Kuba’s dedicated WhatsApp support. The Popular package is a good investment including company registration, a personally designed website, web hosting, business email addresses and a digital flyer for R550 per month. Not enough small businesses focus on online marketing as South Africa is still developing access to affordable internet and the skills required to effectively use it. For less than R1000 a month with the Premium package Kuba provides SMMEs with Search Engine Optimisation & Marketing with Google Ads, giving them business support and a Digital Marketing service while also promoting their business and services on Kuba’s social media platforms.

This is what Kuba’s Grow My Biz is about, giving SMMEs of all shapes and sizes options that suit their budgets and needs by extending the tools to reach their full potential and facilitating access to an organised marketplace full of customers in need of reliable local services. When we invest in local SMMEs we improve the quality of products & services, we expand entrepreneurial vision of what is possible and ultimately empower our communities to take control of their economic future.

For more information on Kuba
Mihlali Mbobo
Public Relations & Communications
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
https://kuba.services
+27 (0)83 960 1127
9 Portswood Road,
Waterfront,
Cape Town
8001

For too long small businesses have been sitting on the sidelines of Google search results, watching the more prominent brands dominate on every generic and niche search term. And even though SME’s are trying to compete, they simply to do not have the resources or skill to push out enough targeted content or have the budget to compete for search advertising placement bids.

Challenges Most Small Businesses Face Breaking Into The Digital Sphere

Small businesses starting out don't always have the capital to push into developing a website in the first place. If your products or services are not web-based, it often seems a waste of money to invest in this platform from the beginning, but unfortunately, that decision means you’re losing out on customers who are online looking for your services.

If you have made the transition to online and own website, you now have to think about marketing it to gain traffic. Using other sources like social media, SEO, Google Ads, Email, Display Ads, Remarketing, the list goes on.

Having a website costs money, you need to spend on marketing, website hosting fees, development and upkeep.  You can try to do it yourself, but you either don’t have the time, or it’s just not your forte.

What small businesses in South Africa need right now is a platform that is easy to use and manage. A service that lets them highlights their brands most import information and offerings at a minimum cost (even better if it's free). Unfortunately, there wasn’t an option for many small businesses until now.

Introducing The  nichemarket Community

nichemarket is the brainchild of two seasoned digital marketers from sunny Cape Town, South Africa.  For years we have been helping businesses build their brands online and noticed a common trend.

The corporates had the budgets to dominate every marketing channel from social media and email to Google Ads and Organic search results. And even though online marketing costs much less than traditional advertising, smaller brands did not always have the budget, the time or the expertise.

After turning away so many promising small businesses, we decided we want to create a destination where they too can thrive and get their piece of the internet pie.   And that’s how nichemarket was born, a social marketplace community that is fully set-up to get your brand visibility online and lower the barrier to entry, instead of having to compete with larger corporations.  

nichemarket acts as an entrepreneurial hub for small businesses to promote their services and consumers to find their services online.

You sign up for FREE and create a business profile for your business, and we do the hard work of marketing your business to the South African Public.

What Do You Get With A Free nichemarket Business Listing?

So now you probably asking, what do I get with this free business listing and is it worth my time!

The Simple Answer:

It takes 5 minutes to sign up and your business get tons of online marketing benefits for free!

The Longer Answer:

By signing up to nichemarket, you can enjoy the following for FREE:

• A Fully Optimised Landing Page for your brand which can even act as a website if you do not have one yet.
• With 19 categories to choose from, you get an equal opportunity to dominate your niche.
• Free exposure to an average of 70 000 visitors to our site per month.
• A chance for your brand to reach and interact with a broader audience in both your local area and the greater South Africa.
• Increase your credibility by getting customers to rate and review your services online.Access to expert advice as our blog now provides over 500 in-depth articles on business and digital marketing from a wide range of local and international experts.
• Access to expert advice as our blog now provides over 500 in-depth articles on business and digital marketing from a wide range of local and international experts.

Give Your Brand A Kickstart With nichemarket

With more benefits and zero downfalls, we can’t think of a reason for any South African business not to register. To get started head to www.nichemarket.co.za and hit sign up!

Helpful links:

• How to Join The nichemarket community
• How to Create a nichemarket Business Listing

Help your customers understand why workplace noise affects productivity and profitability. And how they can fix it.

Today, work happens everywhere — in busy open-plan offices and contact centers, at home, even coffee shops. This flexibility is great for business and people, but with it comes a new challenge: noise. Distraction caused by noise reduces productivity and well-being and, in contact centers, detracts from a positive customer experience.

Studies show that it takes 23 minutes to recover from distraction, and over 58% of employees are distracted multiple times each day. That represents a significant impact on your customers’ businesses you can easily help avert through proven noise reduction strategies and products.

Plantronics engineers solutions that help people manage the noise around them so they can be more effective — no matter where they work. Together, we can help your customers reduce distractions caused by noise so their businesses can thrive.

Plantronics in South Africa offers several solutions for managing noise. This week we focus on the Voyager 6200 UC, a Bluetooth® neckband headset with earbuds that offers professional-grade audio and versatility. 

On any given day, you might need to collaborate with colleagues remotely, field calls from customers or listen to music to help you focus on your latest project. Now there’s a headset that’s flexible enough to meet the demands of your role inside the office and out. Voyager 6200 UC offers everything you’d expect from Plantronics — active-noise canceling, clear voice transmission and premium audio — in a versatile Bluetooth® neckband headset with earbuds. Intuitive controls make it easy to use, and the neckband vibrates to signal an incoming call. Voyager 6200 UC is so comfortable and low-profile that you can use it all day long, in the office and on the go. 

IT Managers

The professionals in your organization have different roles, responsibilities and work styles, so why offer them all the same headset? Now you don’t have to. New from Plantronics, Voyager 6200 UC is the first Bluetooth® neckband headset with earbuds built to enterprise standards. With its premium audio and versatility, users will want to wear it — and stay connected — everywhere they go.

Flexible Workers

With premium features and professional-grade audio, Voyager 6200 UC is a Bluetooth® neckband headset with earbuds that has the versatility to go beyond the office. Transitioning to your next conversation is easy: Connect with colleagues working remotely, listen to music to focus distraction-free or drop an earbud to tune in to the conversation around you. You can count on Voyager 6200 UC for outstanding audio every time, everywhere.

Hear and be heard clearly with these features:

• On-demand active- and passive-noise canceling let you focus on your call or work.
• Four omnidirectional microphones with enhanced digital signal processing (DSP) deliver superior background noise canceling.
• Premium hi-fi stereo lets you immerse yourself in your favorite music.
• Wide band audio provides high-quality PC telephony.

About Plantronics

Plantronics is an audio pioneer and a global leader in the communications industry. We create intelligent and adaptive solutions that support our customers’ most important needs: experiencing and facilitating simple and clear communications while enjoying distraction-free environments. Our solutions are used worldwide by consumers and businesses alike and are an optimal choice for open office environments. From unified communications and customer service ecosystems, to data analytics and Bluetooth® headsets, Plantronics delivers high-quality communications solutions that our customers count on today, while relentlessly innovating on behalf of their future. For more information visit www.plantronics.com/za 

©2018 Plantronics, Inc. Plantronics, SoundGuard, aptX and Voyager are trademarks of Plantronics, Inc. registered in the US and other countries, and Plantronics Hub is a trademark of Plantronics, Inc. The Bluetooth trademark is owned by Bluetooth SIG, Inc. and any use of the mark by Plantronics, Inc. is under license. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. 01.18

1 Oxford Economics, “When the walls come down – the evolution of the workplace.”
2 Plantronics Noise in the Workplace Global Study, 2017.
3 The Cost of Interrupted Work: More Speed and Stress Study from the Department of Informatics, University of California, Irvine, 2008.

Small Business Awards launched on 24 April 2018

Hyde Park, Sandton – June 4, 2018 – A couple of weeks back, Smartcom had some rather thrilling news to share. They launched the Small Business Awards – an exciting opportunity where Smartcom will be giving small business owners and entrepreneurs a chance to showcase their business, and stand a chance to win a coveted title and exceptional prizes.

Promoting budding entrepreneurs has always been something that Smartcom has supported, but they want to delve deeper into this complex, but exciting venture. And so the Small Business Awards were born.

Smartcom collaborated with a vast range of established and successful companies, like BlackBerry, Nippy Print, The Social Media Company, From Me, and more. After careful deliberation with the various companies, they announced the competition, and prizes of up to R50 000!

To make this a fair fight, three categories were introduced – The Smartcom Small Business of the Year, The Smartcom Informal Business of the Year, and The Smartcom Youth Entrepreneur of the Year – each focussing on a specific group of entrepreneurs and businesses.

To enter, you will be required to complete the relevant application form, and upload photos that will showcase your business, team, products and/or services. Entries for all categories in the Smartcom Small Business Awards officially open on Monday, 23 April 2018, and entries will close on 30 June 2018.

Small businesses are the backbone of their communities and a driving force of the South Africa economy as a whole. Smartcom believed that initiatives like the Small Business Awards will encourage small business owners in this vitally important endeavour. By kick-starting this initiative, Smartcom is giving you a head start in the cutthroat business world we have come to know. Don’t waste time – be part of the movement and let us help you and your business be a force to reckon with.

If you are an entrepreneur keen to enter, please visit this link:

https://www.smartcom.co.za/smartcom-launches-smartcom-small-business-awards/ 

A Groundbreaking Concept to Facilitate Employment For Candidates And Companies Via Video 

Durban, KwaZulu Natal: Today, First Interview launched a brand-new portal aimed at putting job seekers in front of employers - without actually putting them in front of each other! Job hunters simply upload a two-minute video introducing themselves to prospective employers – who can then view the video at their leisure. This short-cuts the entire recruitment process by cutting out time-consuming CV-sifting and initial screening. 

If employers like what they see and hear on the video, they can contact the job hunter via the portal, requesting their CV and personal details. Candidates have no idea who has viewed their profiles, and have no access to employer contact details, making the entire process confidential and secure.  First Interview founder, Angelique Laaks, says, “Our portal is free for both job seekers and employers. It’s simple and easy to use, and it’s local. Most importantly, however, it allows employers to ‘meet’ the job seekers in two minutes - without having to scan through CVs, set interview times, schedule time with HR, and so on. It’s also easier for job seekers, as they don’t have to take time off work, or arrange transport to and from screening interviews.” 

The whole idea behind First Interview is that it helps prospective employers get a feel for who a candidate actually is – something that’s hard to gauge from a personality-free, one-dimensional CV. The portal is highly beneficial for all job seekers, but particularly for new graduates, and those looking for front-line positions in the customer service, hospitality and retail sectors. These are candidates who are hired for who they are - their personality and how they present themselves – and is more important than a list of qualifications on a CV. 

About First Interview

First Interview is a free portal that provides the missing link in the recruitment process by changing the selection procedure and allowing employers to meet candidates first via a short, pre-recorded introductory video. It makes the recruitment process faster, easier and cheaper for both parties, and gives employers and candidates a better chance of finding each other. First Interview is not a recruitment company, so it doesn’t charge fees or commissions. Nor does it guarantee placements. For more, visit www.firstinterview.co.za

SOUTH AFRICA – Jan, 2015 – After much anticipation LiveBids Auctions has been launched in South Africa. LiveBids offers a unique online buying and selling platform that incorporates different aspects of various social media.

This means that a choice of interests, following friend’s, search hundreds of products while buying items for a fraction of the cost and selling them to make real profits.

LiveBids aims to help buyers and sellers fully connect in trade with seamless transactions. It is an online marketplace that is simple, interactive and social. It allows users to experience a real-time marketplace, buy products lower than the market value and socially follow buyers and sellers.

Two formats are used, namely online auctions and pay-per-bid. The first of these is the traditional online auction model, where items are sold to the highest bidder. The second is a pay-per-bid model, where would-be buyers purchase credits to bid on items. These credits go to the seller, which is how it is possible to purchase big-ticket items for nominal amounts.

The founders of LiveBids, Rory Vollmer and Paul Hoft, explain that “the idea was to create an online marketplace that was simple, interactive and social, helping buyers and sellers connect and trade. The marketplace is completely people driven”.

Visit www.livebids.co.za to empower yourself by becoming an online buyer and seller today!

For further information regarding LiveBids Auctions, or to schedule an interview, please contact: 

Contact Rory Vollmer,

Co-Founder and Head of Marketing

Phone: +27 (0) 21 300 8446
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Website: www.livebids.co.za

Perago, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SIA, has signed an agreement with Swish Payments Ltd., a mobile commerce provider owned by leading South African payment service provider Setcom Payment Solutions, to support its new m-commerce initiative in Africa and Europe.

Through SIA’s technology infrastructure, Perago will enable the Swish solution that utilises a mobile app and card reader (both chip and magnetic stripe card) to effectively convert a merchant's smartphone or tablet into a POS terminal so businesses of all sizes can accept debit and credit card payments from virtually any location.

Perago will specifically provide Swish with the SIA gateway for payment switching to all international circuits in conjunction with a PCI-compliant Acquirer Independent solution for transaction authorisation and clearing. The SIA technology platform will be combined with the Swish solution to provide seamless integration with multiple acquirers in multiple countries, giving Swish the capability to serve varied geographic locations rapidly with its state of the art mPOS solution.

Swish Payments will be launching the new mobile POS solution in Africa and in 20 European countries (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, United Kingdom) starting later this year. According to its forecasts, Swish expects to reach about 400,000 merchant subscribers by the end of 2016.

“In addition to our proven experience in creating advanced systems for central banks, RTGS in particular, starting today Perago opens up its infrastructures to new services such as payment card transaction management. With this in mind, our agreement with Swish Payments represents an important milestone for SIA Group as this is the first card processing agreement in Africa, and it allows us to expand our portfolio with the integrated offer of the parent company SIA,” said Claudio Ceresani, CEO of Perago.

“The deal with SIA is a critical component of our offering as it allows us to count on an established processing infrastructure. It also allows us to focus our efforts on the business and enhance the Swish value proposition for our customers,” said Stephen Grech, CEO of Swish Payments Ltd.

About Perago

Based in South Africa, Perago is a leading provider of solutions and services for the financial system and is the SIA Group Hub in Africa. After its acquisition in 2005, Perago evolved into an innovative company delivering highly specialized, mission-critical solutions which include payment systems, securities management solutions, business intelligence solutions, card management services, enterprise application integration, and monitoring systems and tools. 

About SIA

SIA is European leader in the design, creation and management of technology infrastructures and services for Financial and Central Institutions, Corporates and Public Administration bodies, in the areas of payments, e-money, network services and capital markets. SIA provides its services in around 40 countries, and also operates through its subsidiaries in Hungary and South Africa. The company has offices in Milan and Brussels. In 2013, SIA managed 2.7 billion card payments and 2.2 billion credit transfers and collections, 28.6 billion trading and post-trading transactions and carried 293.3 terabytes of data on the network. The Group is made up of seven companies: the parent SIA, the Italian companies Emmecom (innovative network applications for banks and businesses), Pi4Pay (services for Payment Institutions), RA Computer (treasury solutions for banks, businesses and P.A.), and TSP (payment collection services for companies and P.A.), Perago in South Africa and SIA Central Europe in Hungary. The Group, which has approximately 1,500 employees, closed 2013 with revenues of €380.3 million. For more information, go to: www.sia.eu 

About Swish Payments

Swish Payments launched in Hong Kong in December 2012, and has since expanded into a number of global markets. Swish Payments offers an end-to-end mobile commerce solution platform to banks, payment service providers, telecommunication companies and others looking to deploy a fully certified, branded mobile payment platform in record time. Swish’s range of secure card readers includes EMV chip-and-PIN or chip-and-signature, both with integrated magnetic stripe reader, as well as magstripe-only devices. All card readers support Android- and iOS-powered smartphones and tablets, enabling merchants to accept card transactions from any location. The Swish mobile commerce solution platform also includes mobile applications, APIs, embedded payment modules, a full-featured payment gateway complete with fraud screening, and web portals, all of which are easily brandable and customizable for rapid market deployment. For more information, go to: www.swishme.com

Voys Telecom, a VoIP and Hosted PBX provider, launches the Voys app. An application that enables one to dial out with a business telephone number while using ones smartphone to make the call. The Voys app enables businessmen and women to maintain a professional image when making business calls outside the parameters of the office. The app is available for free download for iOS and Android phones.

The new app is suitable for businessmen and women on the go, or who work remotely. When you use the app to make a call on your smartphone, the person being called gets to see your company number and not your mobile (private) number. It even works when a broadband internet connection is not available as the app uses the cell phone provider’s voice network to make the call.

Because the app is integrated with the business number of the user, all calls handled via the app are visible in the app’s call log. Calls made on the desk phone are also visible on the app. In addition, the user’s personal contact list - found on the smartphone - can be imported and used. Reimbursements of cell phone calls are a thing of the past as all call costs are billed directly to the business.

Voys considers calling over a 4G connection in conjunction with a Cloud-based PBX to be the future of business telephony. Therefor the next update of the app will enable users to call via a 4G connection. The app’s source code is available under an open source license which can be accessed on Github (http://www.github.com/voipgrid). Thus making it possible for anyone to contribute towards the further development of the app.

Clients of the service provider can download the app for free in the App Store and Play Store for their iOS and Android smartphones. Those interested in either using the Voys app or Voys Telecom in general, can get in touch with the service provider by sending a request via their website www.voys.co.za.

{pp}Marcel Oudejans: Magician, Infotainer, & Vice President of the Professional Speakers Association of Southern Africa (PSASA) in Cape Town, is hosting his premier seminar, ”The Magic Experience: De-Mystifying Marketing for Entrepreneurs”. The two-day seminar will be held on 9 and 10 May at the exclusive Hôtel La Vendôme in London Rd, Sea Point.