The Adopt-An-SME programme is ticking off all the right boxes when it comes to developing South Africa’s SME ecosystem, close to a year since its launch.

Championed by accounting firm, SME.Tax, fintech innovator SME Snapshot and consulting firm, Decusatio, the 12-month program supports a group of entrepreneurs to use technology and networks to growth their businesses.

“Our goal is to create an ecosystem of better managed small businesses. We are building reputable businesses that will be the benchmark of doing business in the SME landscape,” says Tyronne Nel, founder of SME Snapshot.

Marc Ashton, founder of Decusatio adds that one of the biggest challenges facing small businesses and Enterprise Development beneficiaries in South Africa is failure to break into the market and find those valuable first clients.

“We believe that by capacitating these SMEs with our team, we will help them elevate from just working in their businesses to working on their businesses,” says explains.

The programme provides strategic business content, tools and resources that enable SME owners to unlock the growth potential of their businesses. 

“Before any work begins all business owners get put through an intensive Statutory, Regulatory and Financial appraisal. We also spend some time highlighting any deficiencies before getting into the solutions,” Ken Brown, director at SME.Tax highlights. 

Tebelo Ramaboea founder of Capital Projects and Investment declares that the programme helped him turn around his struggling business. 

“We have been so fortunate to get courses that are designed to upskill entrepreneurs in all spheres of business, starting from understanding the fundamentals of business 101, cash flows and sales,” Ramaboea explains. 

Entrepreneurs also gain one-on-one mentoring sessions, monthly skills workshops as well as secretarial support to help get their business systems going. A resource that Andile Vilakazi, founder of Drone Eye Technology, says was invaluable for his business. 

“Participating in the programme has expanded my horizon when it comes to running my business and understanding my role in it. The lessons are insightful from business ideation stage to getting a system going, where your business can continue to run even if you are not there,” Vilikazi says. 

Drone Eye Technology is currently at the final stages in two different SME competitions - eKasiLabs lead by The Innovation HUB and Gauteng Accelerator Programme as well as the ‘Driving Force for Change’ support initiative by the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries - the award ceremonies for both will take place on the 26th of November 2021.

“I strongly believe that the Adopt-An-SME programme played a vital part in pivoting Drone Eye Technology to where we are now. The knowledge and technology we have access to helps us focus on growing our business and not just running it,” Vilakazi exclaims. 

Corporates looking to support a SME can sign up on the website SME. Tax or send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  or to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

As an entrepreneur, there is an inherent curiosity about the financial performance of industry peers. Is your sector expanding or contracting? Are your peers seeing growth? Short of interrogating financial data of listed businesses, there are limited tools available to entrepreneurs to access this data in an affordable manner.

This is the key opportunity that the team from SME Snapshot are tackling.  

“One of the major issues facing the South African economy is the lack of real-time data, especially when it comes to the SME sector,” says Tyronne Nel, Director at SME Snapshot. Nel point out that this lack of real-time data impacts the entire SME ecosystem including lenders, incubators, accelerators and business owners. 

“Think about the construction sector for a moment – we know there has been a significant increase in the number of projects out to tender and we know that SANRAL is planning to issue over R40bn in road-building tenders over the next 3 years. Yet I challenge you to find a lender who is prepared to go and fund SMEs or contractors in this construction sector at the moment – the lenders are incredibly risk averse because the entire construction sector is perceived to be high risk from a lenders perspective.”  

 The SME Snapshot solution

In response to this lack of data in the sector, the SME Snapshot tool was developed to begin capturing real-time data around each of the sectors.

“Initially, we started off using the Snapshot tool to support our accounting clients,” says SME.Tax Master Franchisor Ken Brown adding: “Snapshot provided our clients with an interactive dashboard showing them all the critical numbers that would be important to lenders – all we have to do is upload the accounting data and then track the key metrics.”

For clients who are not using an automated accounting system, they can upload their trial balances manually.

Some of the key features of Snapshot include:

• Aggregated sector data allowing businesses to compare their financial performance against peers through the SME Index ™
• Management of deadlines like VAT, Income Tax, Annual Returns and Compensation Commissioner
• Key metrics like profitability and margins can be tracked

As the dataset began to grow,  Nel and Brown realized they had a powerful asset on their hands. The tool is now being used by a variety of different players in the SME ecosystem including lenders and incubators and they are presently piloting a project with the Innovation Hub in Pretoria.

“The SME Index ™ allows organisations to then compare their financial metrics against industry and sector peers and spot downturns or improvements in real-time,” says Nel.    With the South African SME ecosystem devoid of real-time data, SME Snapshot provides a powerful solution for all role players and is now eyeing international expansion.