Portal aims to help small businesses survive

12.04.2005
Von Nicolas Callegari

While small business (i.e. companies with less than 25 PCs) is not a new focus area for Microsoft South Africa, the software maker has recently launched an online portal aimed at helping small businesses in SA survive.

The portal, according to Kaylash Bhana, Microsoft SA small business segment manager, incorporates volumes of localized information, which covers everything from the requirements for establishing a business, to marketing, competitive advantage, tax information, security and a small business community forum, to name only a small portion.

"Microsoft SA has partnered with Business Day, Standard Bank and M-Web Business to officially launch the Small Business Centre portal to the public, at a road show in KZN on 14 April, PE on 15 April, Gauteng on 19 April and Cape Town on 21 April," Bhana says. The road show is subsidized by the business partners, and will offer delegates practical help and skills transfer, he says.

Business Day Real Business editor, Colin Anthony, adds that delegates should not expect sales pitches from any of the partners, with the aim being to provide professional business training and coaching by expert business trainers in an informal and accessible setting.

The need for this type of training and skills transfer is seen as critical. According to Bradley Hopkinson, director for the small and medium solutions and partner group at Microsoft SA, a staggering 80 percent of small businesses never make it to year two of operation, because they lack the basic skills and knowledge for running a business.

However, the small business market is indeed one of the fastest growing markets, and is expected by IDC to grow worldwide from US$280 billion in 2003 to $411 billion in 2006. Currently, the EMEA region houses the second highest concentration of small business, with over 190 million people employed in the small business sector.

Locally, the Government"s white paper on The National Strategy for the development and promotion of Small Business in SA, says: "Although the statistical base of the SMMEs in SA is still poor, there can be little doubt about their relative significance."

There are more than 800,000 small, medium and micro-enterprises in the country, absorbing about a quarter of the labor force of 15m people. This is in addition to about 3.5 million people involved in some or other type of survivalist enterprise activities.

According to Hopkinson, chronic challenges in the SA small business market, such as limited skills and a smaller capital base, are seeing the majority of businesses just surviving.

"It is surprising when we look at the statistics, but many small businesses fail because of simple reasons," he says. "These include the lack of an adequate business plan, business and management skills, mission, vision and value propositions, cash flow management (most important), market knowledge and systems and procedures."

Delegates at the road show will be expected to pay Rand 350 (US$57) per person to attend the workshops. "This," Bhana concludes, "is to ensure that we get delegates who are serious about doing business going forward."