Welcome to 2013

Feed on the positive SME entrepreneurs! The Sanlam / Business Partners Entrepreneur of the Year® team welcomes you to 2013! May we feed on the positive this year and not allow the eternal pessimists to shape us into a negative frame of mind. May we celebrate entrepreneurs and their relentless drive to grow their businesses […]

EOY finalist discusses how seasonality affects her business

Seasonal entrepreneurs rely on the cyclical nature of their business and are therefore required to be considerably future orientated when making managerial decisions. This can be very challenging and requires careful planning and an in depth understanding of one’s business environment. Anthea Ambursley, General Manager of Anansi Business Enterprises T/A Anansi Heights guest house, is […]

Seasonality and your business

Why does seasonality affect your business? Seasonality in your business refers to regular and predicable changes in business activity at given times or periods. These changes or fluctuations can occur during the workday, week, month or seasons of the year. The most significant changes generally occur during the seasons of the year where there is […]

Business owners urged to prepare for upcoming ‘silly season’

With the festive season looming, entrepreneurs often get caught up in the rush and forget to step back and analyse how their business operates within this busy period of the year. According to Nimo Naidoo, project manager of the Sanlam / Business Partners Entrepreneur of the Year Competition®, the festive season can be one of […]

Challenges that EOY winners overcame on the path to success

We chatted to the 2012 EOY winners about the various challenges they have experienced in their careers thus far: William Duk, owner of Plantation Shutters and the overall winner of the 2012 Sanlam / Business Partners Entrepreneur of the Year® competition shares some of his challenges: The biggest initial challenge that we faced was getting […]

Some questions on financial challenges in business answered

What documents do financiers require when considering my application for business finance? The information required varies between financial institutions. If the decision hinges on security, then a brief business background, financial needs, security details and financial information will suffice. If it is based on viability, then this will be the focus. The investor wants to […]

Entrepreneurs urged to embrace online tools to overcome challenges

It is essential that South African entrepreneurs and small business owners utilise all tools and resources available at their disposal, in order to reduce the relatively high current business failure rate in the country and to overcome challenges they are experiencing. This is according to Nimo Naidoo of the Sanlam / Business Partners Entrepreneur of […]

Photos: 2012 EOY winners

After months of searching and assessing, the 2012 Sanlam / Business Partners Entrepreneur of the Year® competition winners were announced at an awards ceremony held on Thursday, 6 September 2012 in Johannesburg. Category winners Emerging Entrepreneur: Tabisa Nomnganga, Bravo Promotions Small Business Entrepreneur: Warren Graver, EnviroDeck Medium Business Entrepreneur: Trevor Davids, Trevor Davids Plumbing Innovator […]

2012 Sanlam / Business Partners Entrepreneur of the Year® winner named

After months of searching and assessing, the 2012 Sanlam / Business Partners Entrepreneur of the Year® competition winners were announced at an awards ceremony held on Thursday, 6 September in Johannesburg. The overall Entrepreneur of the Year® Winner for 2012 is William Duk of The Plantation Shutter Co. (Pty) Ltd, a business that designs, manufactures […]

Lucky chance leads to entrepreneurial success

South Africa’s top entrepreneur of 2012 revealed In a field of 22 finalists, William Duk, owner of The Plantation Shutter Co., has been honoured with the title of the overall 2012 Entrepreneur of the Year® award in the annual Sanlam / Business Partners Entrepreneur of the Year® competition. William managed to successfully transformed The Plantation […]