Tag: cash flow management

Four in five small businesses want to become more knowledgeable about financial management, but two thirds lack the support they need. New research reveals that South African small businesses are making mistakes costing them an average of R91,311 per year due to a lack of financial knowledge.

For most Small and Medium Enterprise (SME), funding and loans are vital to their ability to purchase equipment, expand the business and maintain cash flow through challenging times. But to maximise their chances of getting the loan, it’s vital that that they do their homework before approaching a funder.

The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) found that South Africa has one of the highest business start-up failure rates in the world. In the GEM National Entrepreneurship Context Index (the NECI Index), South Africa ranks 49th out of 54 countries, ahead of only Croatia, Guatemala, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, and Iran. Often, people think that the number one thing an entrepreneur needs is a winning idea.

Creating awareness around financial saving is important for businesses, and cash flow management is critical for survival.

Having a good business idea, nurturing it, and putting it into practice is one of the critical steps on the journey to entrepreneurship. Running a successful business, even during a pandemic, is the ultimate goal for all entrepreneurs.

Exports could hold the key to South Africa’s economic recovery and growth. South Africa is experiencing a record trade surplus in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic with our exports far outpacing imports. Recent data released by the South African Revenue Service showed that South Africa recorded a trade surplus of R51.4 billion in April 2021, surpassing market expectations of R31 billion.

Any listed company has a strategy outlining where that company wants to go and how and when it is planning to achieve this. The same can be said about an investor looking to achieve long-term financial success. As an investor and saver, you should know where you want to go (identify your goals), how you are going to achieve this (investment and savings strategy), and the time frame associated with those investment and savings goals.

Being an entrepreneur is stressful at the best of times, but what happens when unforeseen circumstances (like a pandemic for example) cast its dark shadow of doubt, forcing you to rethink everything about your business and yourself? It’s more important than ever to bring discussions around mental health and wellbeing into the light as we all learn to adapt to a rapidly changing world and an uncertain future.

Economic analysts recently reported that by August 2020 as many as half of South African small businesses had closed down due to the national lockdown. A more frightening statistic awaits our economy as, 6 months later, many more find themselves on the threshold of survival as the impact of the lockdown continues to distress small, medium and micro-businesses (SMMEs).

Without rapid immunisation, many experts believe that South Africa will experience a third wave of COVID-19 by the coming autumn or winter. Although there is no clear-cut definition of what could constitute this surge it will become evident as we start to observe a continuous rise in new cases.