Entrepreneur of the Year® competition celebrates Christo Botes, executive director: Business Partners Limited
The Lifetime Ambassador Award is bestowed on an individual who has spent a notable period of their lives in the service of entrepreneurs and/or contributing to the success of the Entrepreneur of the Year® competition sponsored by Sanlam and BUSINESS/PARTNERS. This is the first time we are bestowing this award and the Entrepreneur of […]
Ten tips for increasing diversity in your workplace
When businesses start up, they are often small, tightly-knit groups of pioneers that come from the same background, even from the same family. This works very well in the early survival stages of a venture, but as soon as the business reaches a more stable post-survival growth phase, the founders have the opportunity to look […]
Tips for small business owners to keep their employees motivated
By Ben Bierman Managing Director at Business Partners Limited Zig Ziglar, renowned American author and motivational speaker said: You don’t build a business. You build people and people build the business. As a small business owner, the up-keep of staff morale is vital to keep employees motivated so that they can contribute towards building and […]
Nine tips for entrepreneurs to attract investors and secure funding
By Ben Bierman Managing Director at Business Partners Limited The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor South Africa 2016/2017 reports that two-thirds (67%) of small businesses closed in 2016 either because they were not profitable, or because they encountered problems in accessing financing. Access to finance is not only a significant constraint for early-stage entrepreneurs in South Africa, […]
How to raise profit margins without losing customers
By Ben Bierman Managing Director at Business Partners Limited The beginning of the year is the ideal time for small and medium enterprise (SME) owners to explore additional revenue streams and other means of increasing their profit margins. However, this process is expected to still present some challenges for SME owners owing to South Africa’s […]
Ten financial tips for business owners in hard times
Financial management naturally tends to slip down the list of priorities for business owners when the economy is booming, finance is cheap and clients are plentiful. But when the tide turns, your ability to control your finances, especially your cash flow, becomes probably the most important survival tool available to the entrepreneur. Veroshen Naidoo, area […]
Are you thinking of scaling your business?
We discuss when it is the right time to do so By Christo Botes Executive director at BUSINESS/PARTNERS and spokesperson for the 2016 Entrepreneur of the Year® competition sponsored by Sanlam and BUSINESS/PARTNERS The urge to convert and scale up a small business to a medium to large enterprise is one of the most common […]
No business is too small for a proper budget
Many business owners mistakenly think their operation is too small for a formal budgeting process. The budget (of sorts) that many business owners keep inside their heads is often more like a basic recipe, and is usually inadequate to deal with the constant change that every business is subject to. This is according to Jeremy […]
Simple budgeting is better for a tough trading environment
By Kobus Engelbrecht, spokesperson for the 2016 Entrepreneur of the Year® competition sponsored by Sanlam and Business Partners Limited Just as the South African finance minister needs to ensure that the national budget is realistic and attainable, local entrepreneurs need to ensure they have their annual budgets in optimal order. The effective planning and prioritising […]
Simple budgeting is better for a tough trading environment
Just as the South African finance minister needs to ensure that the national budget is realistic and attainable, local entrepreneurs need to ensure they have their annual budgets in optimal order. The effective planning and prioritising of a budget is one of the most important elements of a business, and key to the future of […]