Yesterday i was part of the selection process for the Raymond Ackerman Academy for entrepeneurs. Seeing all these young faces come through the door is truly one of the highlights of my year. Soooo much potential oozing out of most of them. Young people all black giving business a go. Some had started businesses but had really struggled maintaining them. Some were still running small businesses and earning a small living while employing others. I am amazed that a country with so much potential sitting out there doesnt give these youngesters more support. We live in a country that is so buraucratic and rule bound when it comes to business. The authorities want to apply the same rules to a small start up as they do to large multinationals. This is ridiculous. In the NGP [ new growth plan] ( of which you can tell I am not a fan) this is mentioned as vital to create jobs. And I do agree. However the rules need to change.
Here are my 10 rules for small black business creation for South Africa.
1. Free courses like the RAA course funded by the state offered en masse to selected young business stars. These will be around 6 months.
2. Subsidised incubator services and costs by the state ( and state institutions such as telkom, eskom etc) once they have completed the course work. This will be for 3-5 years, and will provide the tracking of these small businesses
3. A new company structure for small start up businesses that will include a maximum time period to register of 24 hours.
4. For a start up company only a 5% tax rate should be paid for the first 10 years.
5. People should be able to hire and fire as they wish without any labour legislation
6. There should be a "special fund" funded by a state bank managed by high risk entrepreneurs ( not bureaucrats) to loan small businesses money.
7. Every company should still invest in ED ( enterprise development) and PD ( Procurement development) where larger companies are funding specific programs.
8. A massive state funded public campaign by the state to promote and guarantee work to these small businesses over a 5 year period.
9. Reward Innovation (teach innovation) at schools and teach and reward risk taking
10. Let people fail but dont punish them for that. In South Africa we punish people who have tried rather than rewarding them for their efforts.
This is what this blog is all about!
Achieving 7% Growth in South Africa
ReplyDeleteby Vuyisa Qabaka on Tuesday, October 5, 2010 at 9:56am
[A lot of the ideas already fall within government's thought process, but I guess it would be so much nicer if they didn't exist in a vacuum and were adopted/ implement within a collective strategy]
South Africa is poised to achieve an estimated 3.5% growth for 2010, which is below the 7% that the government has set itself.
Instead of focussing its attention on projects that will "take away" from the economy (like NHI or bullet trains or (God-forbid) the ANCYL's mine nationalisation agenda), the government needs to reposition the economy over the next 2 years, which will lay the foundation for implementing such ambitious projects.
I have put forward a some "solutions" to help the nation achieve it 7% economic growth challenge (currently facing South Africa). Along with this, I hope these "solutions" will help close the (in)equality gap issue:
1) Provide finance for well researched, viable start-up businesses
2) Convince large corporates sitting on cash in their balance sheets to invest locally, through direct engage of the JSE top 40 and top 40 unlisted private companies, use tax incentives as last resort
3) Invest in innovative social housing (private/ public partnerships) and township development (convert apartheid-style townships into modern suburbs). I (personally) don't understand why we still have 'native yards' and 'native units' in modern-day/democratic South Africa (as a matter of principle, identity and psychology
4) Encourage micro-financing and co-operative banking structure for women-run businesses
5) Skills and tenders for small EPW (expanded public works) to be source through FET-colleges and institutions (eg school construction, govt vehicle maintenance etc)
6) Tenders for large EPW projects to be centralised at national level, to minimise effect of corruption on the tendering process
7) Convince major banks to lend to expanding businesses
8) Establish Green Industry (with green jobs. New industries advance innovation...this is needed every 5-8 years! The new trend is the GREEN ECONOMY...then biotech, then nanotech...
9) Expand graduate training by introducing an incentive to employers
10) Create tax incentives for smme's looking to make capital investments
11) Increase on-job training & tech training for drop-out
12) Have a national focus on strategic Investments into 5/6 industries. Pick industries that are in the "Advanced Manufacturing Technology" sectors or in creating secondary industries based on the countries natural resource, an example is the Western Cape where the local government will be investing in a) gas & oil b) BPO c) creative industries d) boat building e) tourism
13) Provide free wireless internet in major business districts and subsidised wifi internet in the suburbs. This will advance entrepreneurship (create new industries) and improve education (through access to information)
Achieving 7% Growth in South Africa
ReplyDeleteby Vuyisa Qabaka on Tuesday, October 5, 2010 at 9:56am
[A lot of the ideas already fall within government's thought process, but I guess it would be so much nicer if they didn't exist in a vacuum and were adopted/ implement within a collective strategy]
South Africa is poised to achieve an estimated 3.5% growth for 2010, which is below the 7% that the government has set itself.
Instead of focussing its attention on projects that will "take away" from the economy (like NHI or bullet trains or (God-forbid) the ANCYL's mine nationalisation agenda), the government needs to reposition the economy over the next 2 years, which will lay the foundation for implementing such ambitious projects.
I have put forward a some "solutions" to help the nation achieve it 7% economic growth challenge (currently facing South Africa). Along with this, I hope these "solutions" will help close the (in)equality gap issue:
1) Provide finance for well researched, viable start-up businesses
2) Convince large corporates sitting on cash in their balance sheets to invest locally, through direct engage of the JSE top 40 and top 40 unlisted private companies, use tax incentives as last resort
3) Invest in innovative social housing (private/ public partnerships) and township development (convert apartheid-style townships into modern suburbs). I (personally) don't understand why we still have 'native yards' and 'native units' in modern-day/democratic South Africa (as a matter of principle, identity and psychology
4) Encourage micro-financing and co-operative banking structure for women-run businesses
5) Skills and tenders for small EPW (expanded public works) to be source through FET-colleges and institutions (eg school construction, govt vehicle maintenance etc)
6) Tenders for large EPW projects to be centralised at national level, to minimise effect of corruption on the tendering process
7) Convince major banks to lend to expanding businesses
8) Establish Green Industry (with green jobs. New industries advance innovation...this is needed every 5-8 years! The new trend is the GREEN ECONOMY...then biotech, then nanotech...
9) Expand graduate training by introducing an incentive to employers
10) Create tax incentives for smme's looking to make capital investments
11) Increase on-job training & tech training for drop-out
12) Have a national focus on strategic Investments into 5/6 industries. Pick industries that are in the "Advanced Manufacturing Technology" sectors or in creating secondary industries based on the countries natural resource, an example is the Western Cape where the local government will be investing in a) gas & oil b) BPO c) creative industries d) boat building e) tourism
13) Provide free wireless internet in major business districts and subsidised wifi internet in the suburbs. This will advance entrepreneurship (create new industries) and improve education (through access to information)