Tag: BusinessGrowth

Leaders are often too quick to blame the strategy when a business is not making progress. This instinct is understandable because strategy is visible, discussable and relatively easy to revisit. Execution, however, is harder to interrogate. It forces a more uncomfortable question: did we actually do what we said we were going to do?

If you run a franchise network long enough, you learn that the problem sitting in front of you is rarely the only problem you have. A franchisee tells you that margins are under pressure. Dig a little deeper and you may discover that they have stopped replacing staff. Training has slipped, and service standards are beginning to suffer. Sales then start softening, which puts further pressure on the numbers.

More flexible ways of working could unlock billions of rands in productivity gains by helping businesses attract and retain talent and protect critical knowledge. As businesses compete for critical skills and seek to improve productivity, attracting and retaining the right people has become an increasingly important boardroom priority.

For many South African businesses, spring marks the start of one of the busiest periods of the year. Retailers begin building stock ahead of the festive season. Meanwhile, manufacturers land export orders they've been chasing since autumn, and contractors pick up tenders that stalled over the colder months.

Most advice about selling a business focuses on the seller as an individual. It considers the founder, the entrepreneur, or the person whose name appears on the door. However, family businesses complicate that picture. The person sitting across the table from a buyer represents more than themselves. They represent a family. In my experience, family members rarely approach a sale with the same objectives.

Over 21 years of building a business have taught me many lessons about people, leadership, and sustainable growth. These lessons apply across industries and business environments. They also offer valuable guidance for South African business leaders navigating changing markets, evolving technologies, and complex workplaces.

Building a business from an innovative concept into a resilient, market-leading enterprise is rarely a linear journey. Over the course of my career, from pioneering South Africa’s first online salary survey in 2000 to my subsequent corporate chapters through PwC and Old Mutual, I have learned that sustainable growth requires a fundamental shift in perspective.

South Africa’s founder-led tech ecosystem is deeper than it has ever been, but it is still structurally thin at scale. The most recent data tells a clear story. The Southern African Venture Capital and Private Equity Association 2025 VC Industry Survey recorded R13.35 billion in active venture capital investments across 1,325 deals. ICT accounted for nearly two-thirds of total deal value.

Access to finance remains one of the most significant barriers facing South Africa's Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). While many entrepreneurs need additional capital to grow, securing funding can be challenging, particularly for businesses operating outside major economic centres.

If connectivity is now only a fraction of a viable Internet Service Provider (ISP)’s revenue, where does the business go from here, and what should companies be changing to ensure they remain relevant to South Africans? Over the past few years, mobile and fixed connectivity have delivered low to moderate growth for most ISPs.