The development of the small, medium-sized and microenterprise (SMME) sector is not only a vital driver and supporter of South Africa’s sustainable economic development but is also essential to the creation of much-needed employment opportunities, Nedbank says.

It is for this reason that the Nedbank Business Ignite Initiative is one of the core components of the financial services provider, which provides start-up companies, entrepreneurs and private practices with the opportunity to put their business in the running to win a business incubation package from Kaello Business Hub.

The package is valued at over R100 000 and includes a range of flexible business solutions, expert guidance and mentoring, as well as radio advertising.

The 2019 Nedbank Business Ignite competition, which was won by Ben & Co Designs, attracted more than 1 000 entries.

Nedbank client engagement head Alan Shannon says the initiative is indicative of both the desire among South Africans to unlock their entrepreneurial passions and the need for established businesses to partner with small businesses to enable their success.

Being part of the initiative, he adds, provides the bank with the opportunity to help empower South Africa’s entrepreneurs to carve out new markets and contribute to the sustainable industries that South Africa needs.

Kaello Business Hub founder Tshepho Phakathi, meanwhile, says that, this year, the competition took a slightly different angle by not only focusing on the business, but also on “the person behind the business”.

Factors such as turnover and profitability of their respective businesses determined who made it to the final cut.

“We had to call each applicant to establish truthfulness without doing extensive in-depth verification but we had to have measures in place,” Phakathi explains.

Moreover, one of the common challenges that the Nedbank Business Ignite programme has unearthed with small businesses, is their lack of an understanding of marketing and that they face major cash flow problems.

“Managing money in a small business can become a time-consuming practice and it is not shocking that small businesses often struggle to manage cash flow,” comments Phakathi.

He adds that the programme is set up to equip small business owners with skills to not only effectively manage their business, but to also understand areas such as human, financial and social capital, which all stem from the core fundamentals of problem solving and relationship management.

The incubation process also helps entrepreneurs to identify a set of objectives for their businesses and then puts metrics in place to track progress towards those objectives, which is important to determine business growth in terms of job creation, turnover and business margins with the end-goal being to ensure that the business turnover grows in line with the business’s profitability.