SMME NEWS - NOVEMBER 2018 ISSUE

the heartbeat of small enterprises smme news
10
LAND OF OPPORTUNITIES
The World Bank SDG’s & HER Competition 2019 for
women Entrepreneures
In 2015, all 193 United Nations member countries signed
on to 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to “create
the future we want in 2030.”
SDGs&Her is an online competition for women
entrepreneurs to showcase how they are supporting the
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through their
business operations. The objectives of the initiative are to:
Recognize women implementing the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs), including women business
owners of microenterprises;
Increase knowledge about the SDGs and their potential
impacts on women among non-traditional audiences; and
Collaborate with private sector partners on all SDGs, but
SDG5 in particular; to share best practices and innovative
ideas.
The first ever SDGs&Her competition in 2018 attracted over
1,200 contenders through an online competition platform
from 88 countries. The 2019 season of the competition is
now open:
To be eligible you must:
• Be a woman owner of a business that has been in
operation for at least 3 years
• Own a micro-enterprise, with at least 1 and no more than
9 employees
• Have a loan eligibility of under USD $10 000 OR ANNUAL
SALES OF UNDER USD $10 000
Eligibility: The competition is open to women who own
and/or lead microenterprises (1-9 employees; under USD
$10,000 loan eligibility OR annual sales under $100,000).
To Enter: Applicants complete a short online template,
describing their work and linking their initiative/product to 1
or more SDGs.
Judging: Entries will be screened by a university partner
and then judged by an expert panel. Judges will determine
the winners based on the impact on the SDGs, vision and
purpose, and clarity of the entries.
Prizes: The top winners will be recognized in April 2019 at
an event on the margins of the 2019 World Bank Group-
IMF Spring Meetings in Washington D.C. The stories of
the winning women entrepreneur (and many other notable
entries) will be shared through partners’ social media and
websites.
The deadline for the competition closes on December 31,
2018.
Africa Innovation Challenge 2.0
The Innovation Challenge is seeking driven
entrepreneurship throughout Africa in order to advance
health care solutions.
The chosen applicants for the challenge will receive a
funding of 50,000 US Dollars, technical mentoring from
some of the most important and brightest minds at Johnson
& Johnson to assist and bring their ides to life while
creating a meaningful change in their particular community.
Applicants can however apply to one or more categories
The categories are as follows:
Botanical Solutions
Mental Health
Packaging Innovations
Digital Health Tools
Worker Support
Essential Surgical Care
The application process:
The submitted health care solutions will be evaluated
based on the applicants ability to meet the following criteria
:
The idea submitted addresses at least one of the
challenge categories
The idea is innovative
The idea submitted is scalable
The idea outlines how the award would help the
applicant(s) reach a milestone within the timeframe of a
single year and provides a full commercial plan.
All you have to do is to sign up for an account to get started
and you will receive an email in order to activate your
account.
The applicants will be thoroughly guided with the
application process which will include signing general
Terms and Conditions Agreement, filling the application
form and uploading the non-confidential project plan.
The Deadline to apply is 16 June 2019 and winners will be
announced in Spring 2019.
“If your financials as an SMME are in order, it will work in your
favour,” said Macilwaine. In closing, he touched on having a
traceable footprint. Businesses need to have a professional
website and online presence. Old Mutual was represented by Ms
Sibongakonke Nkosi, who touched on how to do business with
the Financial Service Provider, through the subdivision called
Masisizane Fund. Established in 2007, this Fund aims to assist
SMME’s with financial backing to get business off the ground.
They focus on 51% or more Black owned businesses, women,
youth and people with disabilities.
The Fund aids, technical support, capacity development
and financial education as well as market development and
other services. Funding is provided in the form of a loan. With
reasonable payment terms. It identifies and wants to fund
profitable SMME’s. Loan terms differ in accordance with the
SMME’s goals and finance requests.
SAPREF also contributed to this link between the two sectors.
Ms Mpume Mbambo, Sustainable Development Manager for the
company, informed the attendees about what SAPREF does and
what opportunities they have for SMME’s. As a company that
doesn’t sell anything, she firstly took entrepreneurs through what
the corporation does. Owned by Shell and BP, the company
makes products that supply these entities. Mbambo finds that
many SMME’s approach SAPREF for construction contracts,
not understanding that they do not operate in the construction
sector. They run a pipeline bringing oil into the country and
from that, manufacture products accordingly. She stressed that
entrepreneurs do thorough research before approaching big
business to assess whether or not they are able to supply the
needs or provide a service to that particular corporation.
Located on the coastline South of Durban, SAPREF prioritise the
awarding of contracts within the Basin. “We work closely with
companies around us, as well as communities around us,” said
Mlambo. The reason is mainly because these communities are
directly impacted by SAPREF. The company prides itself in its’
Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives. Building Maths and
Science Laboratories, which target grade eleven students and
grooming them, as well as providing bursaries as it feeds into the
agenda of giving back to the community, hoping to employ those
students in the future. After the #FeesMustFall protests, SAPREF
saw an opportunity to contribute in other areas connected to their
programme.
For more information go to the website: http://wrld.bg/
IvLC30lBhJE
Being a member of the Durban Chamber of Commerce, it also
networks through the organisation when they look for enterprise
development programmes. Procurement with SAPREF requires
all the standard necessary regulations, which are valid company
registration, Tax and BBBEE verification. The Points system
operates between BEE levels 1-4, specifically intended to focus
on small business. SAPREF regards safety and quality as
extremely important. Procurement specialists check pricing. The
problem SMME’s have is usually over/under pricing. Mbambo
reiterated that they will only use international suppliers only if they
cannot secure a product or service within the country. Therein
lays huge opportunity for SMME’s.
Supplier and Development network session
The Chamber continues to encourage SMME entrepreneurs to
become members with the organisation as there are abundant
opportunities through the entity. They offer loads of services and
networks for SMME growth and development. The Chamber
is committed to SMME and access to markets therefore has a
willingness to ensure that entrepreneurs succeed.
Durban Chamber of Commerce (DCC) held a series of many
sessions that bring big and small businesses together. The DCC
found that with all the strides made to bring information about
opportunities to the fore in a bid to assist SMME’s, there was a
lack of engagement between the two sectors.
The Chamber saw the need, and realised the opportunity
to bridge the gap between SMME’s and well established
businesses. It’s no secret that small business require access to
information, capital, skills and especially, access to market.
It seems to be a trend that when SMME’s look for opportunities,
for some reason they gravitate to the public sector. Although
there seems to be some sort of window of opportunities, tenders
and the likes don’t avail as much as previous times.
“There are opportunities in the private sector,” said Macilwaine.
Acknowledging that there are some hurdles to doing business
with this sector, the possibilities are there. Examples of these
are around the 30/60/90 even 120 day payment policy, he urged
entrepreneurs to consider how these challenges affect them and
whether to continue with the contract. The economy is under
pressure which forces entrepreneurs to adjust accordingly.
He reflected on the 4P’s, saying that if one got the basics of
that right, then chances to succeed were higher. These being:
Product, Price, Promotion and Play/Place. Macilwaine said that
procurement is now the most challenging step for any business.
Nowadays these are done online via e-auction, so in order to
compete, one needs to have a powerful strategy in play.
Pictured above : Ms Mpumi Mbambo, Sustainable development
manager at Sapref
Kim Macilwaine of Distil Consulting, has partnered with the DCC
and Transnet in their mentorship programme, which assists
SMME’s to do business with the private sector. With years of
experience in this sector, coming from Unilever and other big
cooperates, he spoke to attendees about the fundamental
requirements to penetrate the space of the private sector.
The entrepreneur today must have a unique selling proposition.
There needs to be a clear point of difference between your
services, compared to what everyone else offers. Your points
system needs to prove transformation, it must be precise. He
stressed professionalism. Small business must commit and
comply with communication and obligations.
issue no. 24
NOVEMBER 2018