SA Future Trust, Raizcorp launch programme to assist with small business development

6th December 2021

By: Simone Liedtke

Creamer Media Social Media Editor & Senior Writer

     

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The South African Future Trust has partnered with business development service Raizcorp to launch Scaffold, a pilot programme focused on developing high-growth potential small businesses in the Alexandra and Tembisa townships that operate in the manufacturing sector.

Over time, the strategy will be to build value chains within a township context.

“Raizcorp and the SA Future Trust are aligned in wanting to tap into opportunities to create jobs and value chains within township environments,” says SA Future Trust interim head Bridget Fury.

Over a period of three years, the programme will work with a range of small businesses on year-long programmes. These businesses have the potential to scale on a very intensive, high-touch programme to increase skills, provide mentorship and offer the backup of Raizcorp’s access to market, Fury explains.

Once the pilot project has been tested and refined in Alexandra and Tembisa, it will be replicated in other townships across South Africa.

“Townships across South African suffer from low levels of local economic activity. However, with the right support and skills development, small businesses in these areas have the potential to build sustainable and highly profitable businesses,” says Raizcorp CEO and founder Allon Raiz.

Through Scaffold, the company will identify high-potential entrepreneurs who possess basic manufacturing skills, which the company will enhance to the point where fewer people can replicate them.

“Businesses can be built around these skills by ‘scaffolding’ the individual’s business skills, management and leadership capabilities,” Raiz comments.

Scaffold is a year-long, high-intensity business-development programme designed to help entrepreneurs scale their businesses in a sustainable way by offering a range of support and learning resources.

It aims to accelerate sustainable scaling so that businesses can become significant suppliers to large corporate clients. Some of the standard scaling issues the programme will address include capital, staff, process and consistent access to market.

Programme participants will receive the benefit of a hands-on, practical entrepreneurial learning curriculum, as well as individual mentorship in the areas of leadership, management, personal development, finance and sales.

By enhancing these skills and scaffolding the growth of the businesses, Scaffold will allow entrepreneurs to advance their manufacturing capability to produce higher-value items that have lower levels of competition, and thereby, enhance the businesses’ ability to scale.

Raizcorp will source potential candidates through scouting, advertising in community media and social media advertising targeting manufacturing entrepreneurs based in Alexandra and Tembisa.

A technical assessment will also be carried out to assess the entrepreneurs’ current technical skills and identify the degree of technical upskilling required.

Interested applicants for the Scaffold Programme are invited to apply on Raizcorp’s website.

Recruitment will take place in December and January and the project is expected to kick off in February.

Edited by Chanel de Bruyn
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor Online

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