Johannesburg – South Africa’s inequality and unemployment can be addressed through the promotion of entrepreneurship and the creation of small businesses, according to Entrepreneur of the Year sponsors Sanlam and Business/Partners.
At the launch of the competition, now in its 29th year, in Rosebank on Tuesday, managing director of Business/Partners Ben Bierman highlighted the importance of creating an environment supportive of entrepreneurial activity.
“The growth South Africa needs, can only be effectively delivered through SMEs (small and medium enterprises),” he said. “They are not the main drivers of growth, but will deliver the multiplying growth effect we need to address issues of inequality and unemployment.”
The competition is aimed at promoting entrepreneurship as a “viable, honourable and rewarding” career option for young people, explained Bierman. He also added that it is a challenging career choice but that the competition aims to influence the regulatory frameworks and environments in which entrepreneurs operate.
“We need a healthy and vibrant ecosystem to ensure business formation is improved and that businesses struggling in a ‘not so good economic environment’ are protected and sustained and can survive,” he said.
“The competition will serve as a platform for entrepreneurs to identify areas to be improved, and to remove obstacles that are constraining them so that we can unleash full creative capabilities,” he said.
About 73% of the country’s adult population sees entrepreneurship as a good career choice, according to the 2017 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor report, said Bierman.
“If we can create more entrepreneurs as a country, we can boost the economy which then in turn has various positive knock-on effects, such as creating jobs, introducing innovation and having a larger tax pool to fund all the key government projects including educating our young people,” he added.
How to enter
There are five categories entrepreneurs can choose to enter. These include; emerging entrepreneur for those operating businesses for a maximum of three years with a turnover less than R5m. The small business entrepreneur category is for those with a turnover between R5m and R30m, and the medium business entrepreneur category is for those with a turnover worth more than R30m.
There are also categories for the job creator of the year, this is for an entrepreneur who employs a significant number of employees, and also makes provision to uplift, up-skill and train them.
There is also an innovator of the year category and a lifetime achiever category, explained Bierman.
There are cash prizes worth R60 000 to be won by category winners and a R160 000 cash prize for the overall winner, along with other networking opportunities and mentorship.
Entry forms are available online at www.eoy.co.za. The closing date for the competition is 31 May 2017.