Entrepreneurs there's R10 million up for grabs

With recent surveys confirming our views that much more finance is need for SA entrepreneurs, we celebrate the work done by Enablis in making R10 million available for the right business plans:

http://www.sabusinesshub.com/webforum/viewtopic.php?t=196

Have the prayers of small business owners been answered?

I cant remember when last I had a conversation with a South African small business owners when the word 'Bank' or 'Bank Charges' did not come up somewhere in the conversation. As apposed to countries like the US, UK and much of Europe where low banking costs and often free banking is the order of the day, banks on South Africa still seems to justify to themselves why they can charge small business owners astronomical bank charges whilst delivering a basic and often poor service. I would be surprised if there was anyone on this forum or elsewhere in South Africa who has a different experience and view of this - Ben:

http://www.sabusinesshub.com/webforum/viewtopic.php?t=192

A bit of perseverance goes a long way

So often when we hear of entrepreneurial success stories, it comes as no surprise that when we look a little deeper into the why and how, we quickly realize that perseverance and resilience were the order of the day especially during the early days of the business.

http://www.sabusinesshub.com/webforum/viewtopic.php?t=190

Slow road to speedy internet

Surely by now Telkom and the SA government has realized that low cost ADSL will not only be a huge benefit to small business owners and consumers but also mean growth in the number of small business that are created. This in turn will mean increased profits for Telkom - so why the short sightedness from one of South Africa's largest and impactful organizations? - Your thoughts please?

http://www.sabusinesshub.com/webforum/viewtopic.php?t=189

African entrepreneurs side step finance gap

Finally some much needed financial support for African entrepreneurs, but will these resources be easily accessible by entrepreneurs on the ground or will it be another time and energy consuming process that only a select few who have already qualified for every other business support initiative there is because of who they know? Only time will tell:

http://www.sabusinesshub.com/webforum/viewtopic.php?t=187

Large IT companies shift their focus to small business

It seems that More and more large companies not only in the IT sector but across the board are focusing their resources on the small business sector. This does not come as a surprise as small business really means big business if you can attract enough of it. The following article appeared in the Business Day recently highlighting the economic importance of a strong small business sector in South Africa:
http://www.sabusinesshub.com/webforum/viewtopic.php?t=186

'Small business key to SA's future'

To confirm what we have been saying since the beginning, CEO of the Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO), Arthur Arnold said in Johannesburg today the key to SA's economic future was the growth of small- and medium-sized enterprises. He said medium-sized and small businesses created growth, jobs, stability and developed the middle class. "There can be no development unless you develop the medium and small sector," said Arnold.

http://www.sabusinesshub.com/webforum/viewtopic.php?t=175

Humor: Virus Alert (Not!)

Like me, many of you may be receiving endless virus warning via email. some of them true, some of them not.Here is one of the lighthearted kind.

If you receive an email entitled "Bad times," delete it immediately. Do not open it. Apparently this one is pretty nasty. It will not only erase everything on your hard drive, but it will also delete anything on disks within 20 feet of your computer.

It demagnetizes the stripes on ALL of your credit cards.

It reprograms your ATM access code, screws up the tracking on your VCR and uses subspace field harmonics to scratch any CD's you attempt to play.

It will re-calibrate your refrigerator's settings so all your ice cream melts and your milk curdles.

It will program your phone AutoDial to call only your mother-in-law's number.

This virus will mix antifreeze into your fish tank.

It will drink all your beer.

It will leave dirty socks on the coffee table when you are expecting company.

It will rewrite your backup files, changing all your active verbs to passive tense and incorporating undetectable misspellings which grossly change the interpretations of key sentences.

If the "Badtimes" message is opened in a Windows environment, it will leave the toilet seat up and leave your hair dryer plugged in dangerously close to a full bathtub.

It will not only remove the forbidden tags from your mattresses and pillows, but it will also refill your skim milk with whole milk.

It will replace all your luncheon meat with Spam.

It will molecularly rearrange your cologne or perfume,

causing it to smell like dill pickles.

It is insidious and subtle. It is dangerous and terrifying

to behold. It is also a rather interesting shade of mauve.

These are just a few signs of infection.


PLEASE FORWARD THIS MESSAGE TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW!!!

Access to finance, mentorship concern for youth

The exact reason why SABusinessHub came into being in the first place was this week identified as a major concern by the SA Government:

http://www.sabusinesshub.com/webforum/viewtopic.php?t=178

Why not use your existing skills and experience in running successful small businesses to support those just starting out. We provide all the training and support while coaching you to become a great small business coach. The best part is that you will be earning money from doing what you love.

http://www.sabusinesshub.com/affiliate/hubdetails.php/

Apologies to my regular readers for this shameless bit of marketing :)