South African entrepreneurs across all sectors have the opportunity to share their views and make their voices heard in the country’s largest entrepreneurial survey, The State of Entrepreneurship in South Africa 2017 - The Entrepreneur's View.
 
The survey comes as high unemployment and poor growth remain among the most pressing issues facing the economy today. Conducted by Seed Academy and now in its third year, the survey continues to enjoy success as the biggest and most widely referenced survey of its kind.
 
In 2017 the survey expands its scope and focus from start-ups to all entrepreneurs in order to gain an accurate picture of the state of entrepreneurship directly from entrepreneurs themselves. “Entrepreneurship is often mentioned as an antidote to South Africa’s economic woes. Through this survey we want to pinpoint exactly how much or how little things have progressed over the last two years,” says Donna Rachelson, Group CEO Seed Engine.
 
The newly expanded survey is open to all entrepreneurs irrespective of business size, age or revenue and aims to create a basis for real dialogue in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. “In what is no doubt a difficult economic environment, the time is ripe to take a closer look at whether entrepreneurs are getting the support they really need to grow their businesses into sustainable and successful enterprises,” she adds.  
 
The online survey takes less than 10 minutes to complete, following which participants have the chance to be part of exclusive one-on-one mentoring sessions with some of South Africa’s leading entrepreneurial lights. Just some of the sessions include ‘Swimming with a Shark’ featuring Gil Oved, Co-founder of The Creative Counsel, SA’s biggest activations agency, ‘Dreaming Beeg’ with Miles Khubeka, Founder of the Vuyo’s restaurant brand, and ‘Getting that entrepreneurial feeling’, led by Ian Fuhr, Founder of the Sorbet Group, with more sessions to be announced in the coming weeks.
 
This year’s survey aims to build and expand on the successes of previous years by focusing on the challenges faced by entrepreneurs in key areas such as access to funding, business support and skills development. “It’s clear that entrepreneurship is a key driver of economic and socio-economic improvement. The purpose of this research survey is to bring the real challenges and issues to light so that we can forge ahead with better insights and a greater understanding of how best to tackle the challenges of growing entrepreneurship in South Africa, says Rachelson.
 
Interested entrepreneurs can find and complete The State of Entrepreneurship in South Africa 2017 - The Entrepreneur's View survey at www.surveymonkey.com