Success stories from the VW Business Support Centre in Uitenhage

The VW Business Support Centre in Uitenhage is one of the sites at which Raizcorp runs the ARIZE Comprehensive Enterprise Development (CED) programme. The following success stories from the VW Business Support Centre show the impact that Raizcorp's ARIZE CED programme can have on small businesses.

For more information about the ARIZE programme, visit the Raizcorp website at www.raizcorp.com.

Click on the captions of the images below to view each of them in full size.

Sithembiso Foster of Ezethu Tours

Tanya Kisten of Khanyisela Training

Ashwin Doolabh of Jags Quality Treats and Spices

It’s not just about more entrepreneurs

South Africa doesn’t just need more entrepreneurs, it needs better entrepreneurs

South Africa is one of the more poorly-performing countries with regards to entrepreneurial activity. Of the South African population, only 9.1% are in the process of setting up a business or have started a business that is less than 3½ years old. Even though this figure is low, increasing the number of entrepreneurs will not automatically lead to economic growth.

According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) Report, developing economies specifically need a healthy percentage of high-expectation entrepreneurs, which are entrepreneurs who plan on starting businesses that will employ at least 20 people. High growth entrepreneurs have been shown to generate a significant proportion of the new jobs, wealth, and taxes in the economy (Autio 2007).

Pitch & Polish has been established over the past four years to help solve this crisis in South Africa by developing a programme that helps entrepreneurs become more successful. This is a forward-thinking and strategic approach to stimulate entrepreneurial activity. The objective is to steer the country’s development towards commercially viable innovation.

Click here to go to the Pitch & Polish website

The purpose of Pitch & Polish is to nurture businesses; in concordance with the GEM report, they believe that establishing businesses within smaller communities there will be job creation, poverty alleviation and economic growth.

Business incubators such as Raizcorp play a pivotal role in stimulating entrepreneurship. Channelling the transfer of knowledge between established big businesses and emerging small enterprises can be solved with programmes such as Pitch & Polish.

A contestant at the Regional Pitch & Polish held in Secunda on 06 April 2013

Creating high-growth entrepreneurs is no easy task. Entrepreneurs need to be able to sell their ideas, raise funding and communicate effectively. Research has shown that 82% of the best entrepreneurs in the world are the main salesperson in their organisation. Unfortunately the large majority of entrepreneurs in South Africa don’t know how to pitch their ideas, business and themselves.

This is where programmes likes Pitch & Polish add great value, as they aim to address this problem by teaching entrepreneurs to deepen their understanding of their business and then to sell the idea. It is an interactive learning experience with instant feedback on how to better present their businesses. These real world skills are invaluable to any entrepreneur trying to start and grow a successful business.

Locally, entrepreneurs who introduce products or services that exhibit a range of innovation should be encouraged as they have the potential to significantly impact the employment growth and increase economic and social health.

Pitch & Polish audience members actively take part in the workshop and competition

“Pitch & Polish is the application of theory. There is an abundance of talent and innovation in smaller towns, and these entrepreneurs need access to knowledge in order to analyse their business and determine its viability. Then to be able to communicate their vision and strengths to seize opportunities that present themselves”, says Allon Raiz, a World Economic Forum member and CEO of Raizcorp.

Nelson Mandela’s words aptly describe the path to growth, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”.

The winners of the Secunda Regional Pitch & Polish event

R12 million business support and development available for 51% black-owned businesses

ACUMEN enterprise extension programme launched by Investec and Raizcorp

Investec and Raizcorp have partnered to provide business support and development worth R12 million to entrepreneurs. The partnership between Investec and Raizcorp allows selected entrepreneurs to take part in the ACUMEN enterprise extension programme.

Click here to apply for the ACUMEN programme

The innovative ACUMEN enterprise expansion programme will take 12 gifted entrepreneurs on a two-year programme towards increased profitability. ACUMEN is designed for growth-hungry entrepreneurs who require support to take their business to the next level. Valued individually at R1 million, the Raizcorp ACUMEN programme is open only to the most ambitious and tenacious entrepreneurs.

The ACUMEN programme consists of high touch entrepreneurial support and development valued at R1 million per selected entrepreneur over the course of two years.

Investec has chosen to partner with Raizcorp, an internationally recognised business and entrepreneurship development provider, to support and develop small business owners with high growth potential. Over a period of one to two years, Raizcorp manages to increase the profitability of over 95% of the businesses it supports.

Commenting on the partnership, Investec CEO Stephen Koseff said: “Entrepreneurship has always been integral to Investec’s culture and is embodied within our core values and philosophies, how we conduct ourselves and the activities in which we engage. Investec has always supported entrepreneurs, realizing the importance of the role they play in our economy. The partnership with Raizcorp is aligned with our strategy to support and develop small business owners with high growth potential.”

The 12 entrepreneurs selected for the programme will be assigned a dedicated team of five Raizcorp Guides, who will focus on strategy, finance, marketing, sales and personal development. These Guides have all been trained by the Raizcorp Guiding Academy.

Furthermore, entrepreneurs and their staff members will also have access to Raizcorp Learning, one of the incubator’s core offerings, consisting of courses and workshops tailored to the unique needs of entrepreneurs.

Applications are open for entrepreneurs who are active full-time in their 51% or more black-owned business. The business must already have been trading for at least 12 months with an average turnover of at least R50 000 per month.

Those interested in applying must fill in an online application before 17 May 2013. The application form is available online at www.raizcorp.com.

Investec’s backing of the programme will result in these entrepreneurs being able to realise their potential through the creation of a more attractive business profile, both for investors and procurement processes.

For more information, contact Raizcorp directly on 011 566 2000 or email Andisa Ngqwebo (andisan@raizcorp.com).

Raizcorp CEO Honoured Guest at Incubation/Enterprise Development Exhibition with Dr Rob Davies, Minister of Trade & Industry

On 22 February 2013, Raizcorp CEO Allon Raiz was an Honoured Guest of the American Chamber of Commerce in South Africa at an Incubation/Enterprise Development Exhibition, at which he participated in a panel discussion that included Dr Rob Davies, the Honourable Minister of Trade and Industry.

Click here to go to the American Chamber of Commerce in South Africa's website

Exhibition

The exhibition, which took place at the American Consulate in Sandton, showcased what is being done by American companies in terms of incubation and/or enterprise development.

The Minister of Trade and Industry was present to view and discuss the various exhibits with the business representatives, and he participated in a panel discussion along with other experts, including Allon Raiz.

The purpose of the initiative was to profile the contribution of American business to South Africa; to profile the projects that the businesses are involved in; and to enable companies who have not yet embarked on similar projects to benchmark successful and sustainable projects.

The Honourable Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Rob Davies

Panel discussion

The panel discussion was based in the ongoing debate surrounding the value of business incubators within society. The Minister indicated that the government is supportive of incubators and the role they play in fostering the establishment and growth of small enterprises. This support is backed up by the recent announcement that the Small Enterprise Development Agency (seda) of the Department of Trade and Industry (dti) would be launching 250 incubators in eight provinces nationally. Over the past six years, seda has been able to establish 1 210 small businesses with its current 38 incubators in various sectors.

During the panel discussion, Raiz indicated his views on business incubation in South Africa. “Raizcorp defines business incubation as a combination of both physical and non-physical support to selected entrepreneurs offered by providers who have a provable intervention methodology that creates results.”

Raiz said that Raizcorp uses both growth and sustainability to determine the success of the businesses that participate in its programmes. “The way that many incubators determine their success is to look at how many of their businesses still exist three years down the line. Raizcorp uses a different metric, however. We look at four metrics: turnover, profitability, net asset value, and jobs.”

Overall, Raiz is positive about the role that incubators play in creating economic growth, but he sounds a note of caution: “In many instances, incubators are deemed to be the silver bullet, but they are certainly not. They are part of the answer, provided they are designed properly to achieve the desired results. Many incubators are not.”

Entrepreneur Carlson Dudtz in life-and-death struggle against the 96% small business failure rate

A new cartoon series by Allon Raiz, CEO of Raizcorp, presents an insider’s take on the daily trials and tribulations of entrepreneurs

Avoiding the 96%, a new cartoon appearing weekly on Entrepreneur Magazine Online and monthly in Entrepreneur Magazine, gives its readers a peek behind the scenes in the life of its main character, an archetypal entrepreneur: Carlson Dudtz, a candle manufacturer with greater entrepreneurial ambitions.

The title of the cartoon refers to the fact that 96% of South African small businesses fail within 10 years. In this difficult environment, the entrepreneurial journey is a lonely one. Avoiding the 96% is written from the perspective of entrepreneurs, and reflects how they see themselves, allowing them to relate to the challenges that Carlson faces.

Avoiding the 96% is the brainchild of internationally recognised entrepreneurship expert Allon Raiz, serial entrepreneur, CEO of Raizcorp, and member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council for Fostering Entrepreneurship. Raiz has distilled his deep insight into the world of small business owners into these cartoons. In each strip, entrepreneurs and other readers are treated to the author’s wry view on the often mundane challenges that Carlson stumbles upon in the pursuit of his glamorous dream of owning and growing a successful business.

Meet Carlson Dudtz in Avoiding the 96%

The experience of writing two bestselling books for entrepreneurs, Lose the Business Plan and What to Do When You Want to Give Up, led Raiz to the belief that the stories of the day-to-day challenges that entrepreneurs face also deserve to be told. Raiz commented, “Like many entrepreneurial ideas, Carlson was born at 02:13 on a Tuesday morning, after an extremely long working day!”

The cartoons in the series fall into two broad categories. The first covers those that reveal an often unspoken truth about what entrepreneurs do to survive, and the other those that are simply situationally funny. “In my dealings with entrepreneurs, I’ve often come across stories that, apart from being funny, also encapsulate various aspects of what being a true entrepreneur really means, including resilience, hard work, perseverance… and being able to keep your sense of humour!”

Always entertaining, often enlightening, sometimes bittersweet: Carlson’s experiences of the highs and lows of his entrepreneurial journey has been published weekly on entrepreneurmag.co.za from February 2013.