Cape Town - Small business owners don't pay themselves a salary and therefore can't tell if they are making a profit, said business consultant and Fin24 blogger Bertie du Plessis in an interview with Fin24.

He said entrepreneurs must price their entire product or service correctly, including paying themselves a salary.

You cannot have a proper business if you are subsidising the business, he said.

"How can you evaluate whether your business is functioning properly if the main employee of the business is working for free," the author of Your small business nightmare and how to wake up asked.

Du Plessis said his book provides small business owners with sensible, realistic ways of getting themselves out of the mess - and into the black.

"Many small business owners don't realise they won't ever get there (among the top global players), but you can have a good life even if you do not become a top class entrepreneur."

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- Fin24

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