South African small and medium- sized enterprises (SMEs) continue to show resilience in the face of lingering economic headwinds, funding shortfalls and delayed client payments, results from the 2015 National Small Business Survey released by the National Small Business Chamber (NSBC) have shown.

The yearly survey, which canvassed 18 500 small businesses throughout the country, found that some 57% of small businesses cited a lack of funding and insufficient cash flow as the biggest obstacle preventing growth, closely followed by poor sales, at 52%.

An additional pressing challenge was the inability of SMEs to further develop a customer base to boost top line growth, noted NSBC founder and CEO Mike Anderson.

“Cash flow is of vital importance to the health of a small business. Enhanced efforts to encourage and promote best practice between government, larger organisations and their SME suppliers will go a long way towards ensuring small business continues to play a role in growing the South African economy,” he commented.

According to the survey, the Western Cape was the fastest-growing region in South Africa for SMEs, while Gauteng remained the largest.

The bulk of small businesses in South Africa operated in the manu- facturing (14%) and business services (14%) sectors, followed by information technology and professional services, at 12% and 11% respectively.

The 2015 survey also pointed to the fact that small businesses had a considerable interest in marketing themselves more effectively, with 43% of those polled indicating sales and marketing as a key area in which they required the most assistance.

A further 30% required help with business and strategic planning, while 32% of respondents believed failure to market their business had been their biggest mistake thus far.
Despite hurdles on the path to growth, a substantial 78% of small business as surveyed planned on hiring more staff in the next year, Anderson revealed.
“The future of the South African economy and the future of job creation are inextricably dependent on small business.

This is why small business matters and why supporting small business should be a priority for all South Africans,” he concluded.