Rendani Makhomu and Peggy Mahlaba are two of an increasing number of local entrepreneurs venturing into Africa, with many more gazing with renewed interest at the continent. While Makhomu, who runs the Limpopo engineering company Tshete Holdings, plans to set up a small cold-mix asphalt manufacturing plant in Ghana, Mahlaba’s renewable energy firm has, since… [Continue Reading]
In business, networking is the key to success, and this is exactly what an intrepid business networking forum is focusing on to boost the fortunes of entrepreneurs and economies in the townships. Ekasi Business Network, which means “township” in isiXhosa, was established by entrepreneur Luvuyo Rani, who realised that there were no platforms in the… [Continue Reading]
Christoff Oosthuysen reviews Jason Baptise’s ‘The Ultralight Startup – Launching A Business Without Clout Or Capital’, published by Penguin (2012). This is the book Jason Baptise, author of ‘The Ultralight Startup’, says he wished he had when he started as a “naive and passionate entrepreneur at the tender age of nineteen” because it would have… [Continue Reading]
Perceptions of others are the most disabling aspect of being deaf or disabled. “That is why our focus at Deaf Hands at Work is to turn ‘disAbility’ into ‘thisAbility’,” says Charles Nyakurwa. Nyakurwa is an entrepreneur with infectious enthusiasm for empowering the disabled and breaking stereotypes they face. Growing up in Zimbabwe with a deaf… [Continue Reading]
A Johannesburg business owner says that since receiving mentorship and training by the Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship five months ago, he has already seen an increase in productivity resulting in a 20% growth in his software development business. The centre, which is an initiative of the Virgin Group owned by entrepreneur extraodinaire Sir Richard Branson, started… [Continue Reading]
Since joining the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) trade missions, a family-owned business has managed to globalise its business and is now exporting to 23 countries. Tammy Fry Kelly, international marketing director of the Fry Food Group, and daughter of founders Wally and Debbie Fry, says her parents started the business in 1991. “My… [Continue Reading]
The single biggest way for franchisees to protect themselves against unfair practices by un-scrupulous franchisors is to seek legal advice before signing any agreement. So says franchise attorney, Esmari Jonker, of SWV Inc. “Franchisees are willing to pay R500 000 or more for a business, but they do not want to spend a couple of… [Continue Reading]
You can discipline an employee who is on sick leave but if the employee’s illness is genuine, failing to postpone the hearing will probably be regarded as procedurally unfair. Illness can be regarded as genuine if the employee presents a certificate from a registered medical practitioner stating that according to the assessment, the employee was… [Continue Reading]
So you’ve got a flair for hair-dressing, and you’ve got some training and experience? Great start, but now what? Here are some ideas for going out on your own – without becoming one of those failed business statistics. As you will know by now, there is no shortage of hairdressers in South Africa. It’s a… [Continue Reading]