Tag Archives | Small Business Connect

Learning from failures pays off over time

MAKHATHO TOMMY says his success as owner of the largest wholly black-owned retail operation in South Africa is mainly due to having learnt from his past failures and those early businesses where he came to understand that planning and staying close to your customers are most important in achieving good results. It took 25 years… [Continue Reading]

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DTI issues incentive scam warning

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has issued a warning to investors, potential and emerging businesses and business organisations, as well as the public at large, of a bogus incentive scheme allegedly involving the department that is circulating on the internet. A fraudulent letter bearing the DTI’s logo and branding is doing the rounds… [Continue Reading]

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New body to prevent unwanted BEE Practices

A NEW commission is to be established to curb fronting and other unwanted BEE practices. According to spokesperson for the Department of Trade and Industry, Sidewell Medupe, a BEE commission will be set up to curb fronting and allow people to report on BEE noncompliances. “At the moment we don’t have any monitoring of BEE.… [Continue Reading]

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New co-operatives agency: more training and support on the way

CO-OPERATIVES and those looking to establish co-operatives can look forward to increased support from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). The DTI plans to boost support to co-operatives, said Minister of Trade and Industry Rob Davies at the recent celebration of the contribution made by cooperatives, held in Durban on International Day of Cooperatives.… [Continue Reading]

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Up to ten years in prison and stiff fines for fronting as BEE rules tightened up

THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), in cooperation with the Department of Labour, is currently progressing an amendment to the existing broad-based black economic empowerment(BBBEE) legislation, which could see the criminalization of private-sector BBBEE fronting and the possible imprisonment of executive managers found to be complicit. The amendment, which was currently before Parliament, proposed… [Continue Reading]

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Dangers small construction companies should look out for

Whenever huge opportunities present themselves, they bring with them several dangers. In this article, ALLON RAIZ draws attention to some of the common mistakes made by small construction firms when big projects are in the offing. SOUTH Africa is readying itself for an infrastructure development boom. Towards the end of last year President Zuma announced at an infrastructure investment conference… [Continue Reading]

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Embrace change for more growth

BY JOHN DURR CHANGING the mind-set of the business owner and employees to embrace needed changes is one of the biggest challenges a business faces. In the many projects that we have taken on at businessknowhow, we have found that we can design the best possible intervention, but if the people in the business aren’t… [Continue Reading]

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New way for supporting grassroots retail

BY JACO SLABBERT IN the heart of Bloekombos, located just outside the Northern Suburbs of Cape Town, there’s an interesting social enterprise working to create a grassroots retail mechanism. It’s a unique approach to the bottom-of-the-pyramid market, using a hybrid model to create work opportunities, empower entrepreneurs, cultivate a responsible economic ecosystem and increase the… [Continue Reading]

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Dealing with tax and short-term staff

STARTING your own business is an extremely exciting step to take for every entrepreneur, however far too often the small business owner becomes so focused on the productive aspect of their business that the administrative and legislative side of the business falls by the wayside. It is this failure to attend to specific tax legislation… [Continue Reading]

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