Share

A watershed year

THE year 2010 has been a time in which entrepreneurship has been celebrated and during which it has made significant progress in South Africa - but the hangover from the 2010 Fifa World Cup can't be ignored.
 
This is the feedback from a variety of industry experts and entrepreneurs who spoke to Fin24.
 
Bruce Wade, who heads up the Entrepreneur Incubator, said he believed there had been "a significant movement towards small business development in South Africa in 2010".
 
He attributed this to increased focus on the subject of entrepreneurship, and politicians talking up the sector's prospects.
 
"We have also seen a lot more accountability lowered on the shoulders of small business support structures such as Seda, Red Door and Khula," said Wade.

"I have sensed a shift in the awareness of small business and entrepreneurship in our environment, either through desperation of financial issues or the inability to find secure employment, and all these have created a convergence towards the self-supportive sector."
 
Justin Stanford, IT entrepreneur and head of venture capital firm 4Di Capital, said: "On the whole, I think 2010 has definitely been a good year. In my space (technology), I've seen loads of new start-ups emerge and heard about lots of funding raised, so I think we've done well."
 
Stanford was also one of the founders of the Silicon Cape initiative in Cape Town, which allowed stakeholders to interact and celebrate entrepreneurship in the sector. This community has grown to more than 3 400 since its launch in 2009.
 
Neils Flaatten, CEO of Western Cape Investment and Trade Promotion Agency (Wesgro), has described the development of the IT sector and the entrepreneurial community spirit in Cape Town as one of the "untold success stories of entrepreneurship" in the country.
 
Entrepreneur Eric Edelstein, one of the founders of online crowdsourcing website Evly.com, pointed to the number of discussions on the site as a sign that interest in entrepreneurship was picking up.
 
He told Fin24: "The many crowdsourcing websites springing up on Evly, dealing with business issues such as entrepreneurship and fund-raising, are allowing the average person an outlet to ask the questions they didn't know who to put to, and get answers from a wide variety of people.

"In addition the consultants, advisers and business mentors can develop their own Q&A websites on Evly to connect with people who have questions about entrepreneurship."
 
However, not all has been positive.

Owner-only firms a worry
 
Cathie Vanmari, a portfolio manager at small and medium enterprise (SME) funder GroFin, cautioned that South Africa was still feeling the pinch from the two-month hold in revenue courtesy of the World Cup hosted earlier this year.

"Unfortunately we are seeing across all industries, from construction through to catering, that the World Cup had a detrimental effect on most SMEs in 2010, effects that were felt in loss of revenue for four months on average."
 
It is not just Vanmari who is cautious. Global entrepreneur support initiative Endeavor has described the local situation as "dire".

It said SA needs to "find more ways to support and nurture entrepreneurs if the country is to avoid becoming a backward welfare state, where handouts risk draining the country's innovative talent and ability to produce equitable growth and employment".
 
The FinScope small business survey for 2010 also showed some worrying signs, with two-thirds of small businesses not employing anyone except the owner.

There was also a dearth of knowledge about who entrepreneurs could turn to for support, with 74% of business owners unable to name any organisation that gives help and advice to small businesses.
 
Nazeem Martin, the managing director of funding business Business Partners, did however have a word of encouragement to South African entrepreneurs in his annual report.

He noted: "It would be easy to wallow too much in how tough the year was. It would, however, be infinitely better for us to remember that navigating and surviving the recession was no mean feat."
 
 - Fin24
We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Rand - Dollar
18.97
-0.4%
Rand - Pound
23.98
-0.3%
Rand - Euro
20.51
-0.2%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.36
-0.1%
Rand - Yen
0.13
-0.4%
Platinum
906.75
+1.1%
Palladium
1,015.63
+1.4%
Gold
2,206.97
+0.6%
Silver
24.60
-0.2%
Brent Crude
86.09
-0.2%
Top 40
68,261
+0.9%
All Share
74,453
+0.7%
Resource 10
56,939
+2.3%
Industrial 25
103,989
+0.7%
Financial 15
16,492
-0.2%
All JSE data delayed by at least 15 minutes Iress logo
Company Snapshot
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE
Government tenders

Find public sector tender opportunities in South Africa here.

Government tenders
This portal provides access to information on all tenders made by all public sector organisations in all spheres of government.
Browse tenders