how to start a business plan company in south africa

Professional Business Plan Specialists

News and articles, 15 key steps to starting your own business in south africa.

• Thommie Burger
• February 9, 2023

“How to Start Your Own Business in South Africa?” This a question we face at JTB Consulting every week.

Starting a business in South Africa can be a challenging but rewarding experience. With a vibrant economy (if you look past the government corruption, load shedding, broken infrastructure, and other challenges), South Africa still has a (potential) growing entrepreneurial community.

There are plenty of opportunities for those willing to take the leap and turn their ideas into reality. However, starting a business in South Africa requires careful planning and preparation. This blog post will cover 15 key topics to help you start a business in South Africa and embark on your entrepreneurial journey.

How to Start a Business in South Africa ― Tip #1: Understanding the South African market and economy

Before starting a business in South Africa, it is important to understand the local market and economy well. Research the latest economic trends, consumer behaviour, and demographic information to determine the potential of your business idea. In addition, consider the current state of the industry you are interested in and what sets your business apart from others in the market.

How to Start a Business in South Africa ― Tip #2: Identifying your niche and target audience

Once you understand the market better, you can identify your niche and target audience. For example, who is your ideal customer (Customer Analysis)? What are their needs and wants? How will your product or service meet those needs? A clear understanding of your target audience will help you make informed decisions about your business strategy.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced many SME businesses to re-evaluate their business models, moving from the traditional “in-person” and “social” setting to “digitised brands” where they market and deliver their products and services via an online presence.

No longer can SMEs ignore having an online presence, which, given the current rapid move from the 4th to the 5th Industrial Revolution, would be a death sentence for those businesses that ignore moving their products and services online.

Read more about doing a Comprehensive Market Analysis .

To Start Your Own Business ― Tip #3: Develop a comprehensive business plan

A comprehensive business plan is crucial for any startup. It outlines your business goals, strategies, action plans, and a realistic financial projection. A business plan will also help you secure funding and attract potential investors.

To Start Your Own Business ― Tip #4: Raising capital and securing funding

Raising capital is a critical step in starting a business in South Africa. Consider all your funding options, including loans, grants, and investments from friends, family, and investors. You may also consider crowdfunding or pitching your business idea to venture capitalists.

Check our JTB Consulting’s Comprehensive Funding Guide for 2023 .

Start a Business in South Africa ― Tip #5: Registering your business and obtain the necessary licenses and permits

To legally operate a business in South Africa, you must register and obtain the necessary licenses and permits. The process of registering a business can be complicated, so consider seeking the assistance of an attorney or accountant to help you navigate the requirements.

Start a Business in South Africa ― Tip #6: Choosing a suitable business structure and registering with SARS

South Africa offers several business structures, including sole proprietorship, partnership, and limited liability companies. Choose a structure that suits your business needs and goals, and register your business with the South African Revenue Service (SARS).

How to Start Your Own Business ― Tip #7: Setting up a physical or virtual office space

Whether you set up a physical or virtual office space, creating a professional and functional environment that supports your business operations is important. Consider location, cost, and accessibility when choosing a workspace.

How to Start Your Own Business ― Tip #8: Hiring and building a team

As your business grows, you may need to hire employees to support your operations. Hiring and building a team requires careful planning, from defining job roles and responsibilities to offering competitive compensation and benefits packages.

Starting a Business in South Africa ― Tip #9: Marketing and promoting your business

Marketing and promoting your business are crucial for attracting customers and building brand awareness. Consider a comprehensive marketing strategy incorporating digital marketing, advertising, public relations, and other tactics.

Starting a Business in South Africa ― Tip #10: Establishing a strong online presence

A strong online presence is essential for any business in today’s digital age. Please create a website and social media accounts to reflect your brand image and messaging.

Starting up a Business in South Africa ― Tip #11: Navigating South African tax laws and regulations

South Africa has a complex tax system, and it’s important to comply with all tax laws and regulations. Consider seeking the assistance of an accountant or tax specialist to help you navigate the requirements and minimise your tax liability.

Starting up a Business in South Africa ― Tip #12: Building and maintaining relationships with suppliers and clients

Building strong relationships with suppliers and clients is essential for the success of your business. Establish clear communication and maintain regular contact with your suppliers to ensure the timely delivery of goods and services. Building a strong network of satisfied customers will also help you grow your business and attract new customers through word-of-mouth referrals.

How to Start a Business South Africa ― Tip #13: Staying compliant with labour laws and regulations

South Africa has strict labour laws and regulations, so staying up-to-date with the latest developments is important. To avoid legal consequences, you must comply with minimum wage requirements, working hours, and other labour laws.

How to Start a Business South Africa ― Tip #14: Ensuring the financial stability of your business

Keeping your finances in order is critical to the success of your business. Create a budget, track expenses, and seek professional financial advice when necessary. Regularly monitoring your finances will help you identify areas where you can cut costs and maximise profits.

How to Start a Business South Africa ― Tip #15: Staying up to date with the latest industry trends and developments

Staying current with the latest industry trends and developments is essential for staying ahead of the competition. Attend trade shows, conferences, and other events, and engage with industry experts to stay informed about the latest innovations and trends.

Something Extra ― 10 FAQs (and our Expert Answers) asked by People that are thinking of Starting a Business in South Africa

Faq #1 ― what steps must i take to start my own business from home.

Starting a business from home can be a cost-effective way to launch your entrepreneurial journey, but you still need to take important steps to ensure success. First, you need to validate your business idea to make sure there is a market for your product or service. You can do this by researching and reaching out to potential customers.

Next, you must create a business plan outlining your goals, strategies, and budget. This will help you stay focused and on track as you build your business. Finally, you must register your business, obtain necessary licenses and permits, and set up a legal structure, such as a sole proprietorship or limited liability company.

Real-world example: Sarah, a stay-at-home mom, wanted to start a business selling handmade baby clothing. She validated her business idea by contacting local maternity stores and asking if they would be interested in carrying her products, which they weren’t. After creating a business plan and registering her business, she started selling her products online and at local markets.

FAQ #2 ― What are the unique challenges of starting a business in South Africa?

Starting a business in South Africa can be both exciting and challenging. One of the biggest challenges is navigating the country’s complex regulatory environment, including strict labour and tax regulations. Another challenge is securing funding for your business, as access to capital can be limited for new businesses. Additionally, South Africa has a highly competitive business environment, so it can be difficult to stand out and gain market share.

FAQ #3 ― How can I find business ideas that will be successful in South Africa?

Finding a business idea that will be successful in South Africa starts with understanding the local market and consumer needs. One approach is to identify a gap in the market and create a product or service to fill that gap. You can also look for business opportunities that align with current trends, such as renewable energy or e-commerce. Networking with other entrepreneurs and industry experts can also be a great way to get inspiration for a new business idea.

FAQ #4 ― What business opportunities are available in South Africa for entrepreneurs?

South Africa offers entrepreneurs various business opportunities, including tourism, agriculture, technology, and renewable energy. The country is also home to a growing middle class, creating retail, finance, and health services opportunities. Additionally, South Africa has a large and vibrant small business sector, making it a great place to start a business in any number of industries.

FAQ #5 ― Do I need a startup coach to guide me through starting my own business?

While hiring a startup coach can be helpful, starting your own business is unnecessary. Many resources, such as online courses, books, and mentorship programs, can provide the guidance and support you need to succeed. Hiring a Startup Coach will ultimately depend on your needs, budget, and experience level.

Real-world example: A recent college graduate, Lucy, wanted to start a business selling handmade jewellery. She found a mentorship program that gave her the support and guidance to get her business up and to run. With her mentor’s help, she created a successful business plan, secured funding, and launched her business.

FAQ #6 ― I fear the risks of starting my own business. What should I do?

Starting a business will always involve some risk, but there are ways to minimise that risk. First, thoroughly researching and validating your business idea is important to ensure a market for your product or service. Next, create a solid business plan that outlines your goals, strategies, and budget. This will help you stay focused and on track as you build your business. Finally, consider seeking advice from an experienced mentor or business coach to help you navigate the challenges of starting a business.

Real-world example: Thabo, a former corporate employee, was afraid to leave his secure job and start his own business. He sought advice from a business coach, who helped him validate his business idea and create a solid plan. With the coach’s support, Thabo launched a successful marketing consulting firm.

FAQ #7 ― How can I validate my idea before starting a business in South Africa?

Validating your business idea is an important step to ensure that there is a market for your product or service. One way to validate your idea is by conducting market research to determine if there is a demand for your offer. You can also reach out to potential customers for feedback on your idea. Finally, consider talking to industry experts and entrepreneurs to get their insights on your idea and the market you are entering.

FAQ #8 ― What resources are available for entrepreneurs starting a business in South Africa?

Many resources are available for entrepreneurs looking to start a business in South Africa, including government programs, business incubators, and mentorship programs. In addition, the South African Department of Trade and Industry supports small businesses, including access to funding and resources for business growth.

In addition, several business incubators throughout the country offer resources and support to entrepreneurs, including office space, mentorship, and access to funding. Entrepreneurs can also seek advice and guidance from business organisations, such as the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SACCI) and the National Small Business Chamber (NSBC).

FAQ #9 ― What are some common challenges entrepreneurs face when starting a business in South Africa?

Entrepreneurs in South Africa can face many challenges when starting a business , including limited access to funding, a challenging economic environment, and a lack of government support. In addition, entrepreneurs may struggle to find the right talent and resources to grow their businesses and may face competition from established businesses. However, with the right approach and support, these challenges can be overcome, and entrepreneurs can be successful in South Africa.

FAQ #10 ― Can you start a successful South African business, even with limited resources?

Yes, even with limited resources, starting a successful business in South Africa is possible. The key is to start small and build a strong foundation for your business. Then, find ways to reduce costs, such as working from home or outsourcing certain tasks, and strategically allocate your resources.

With a solid business plan and a willingness to learn and grow, you can build a successful business in South Africa, no matter your starting point.

In conclusion, starting a business in South Africa requires careful planning and preparation. However, by following these 15 key topics, you will be well on your way to turning your entrepreneurial vision into a successful reality. Good luck!

Established in 2006, we have successfully written hundreds of bankable and world-class Business Plans  for clients across 25 countries. As South Africa’s Leading Business Plan Company , we are confident that we would be able to assist you too. Kindly note that we also offer “Investor Pitch Decks”, “Excel-based Financial Models”, and “Proposal/Tender Writing Services” in addition to our Custom Business Plan Writing Service . Please visit our Services  page for more information.

We look forward to being of service to you. Please feel free to contact our Founder, Dr Thommie Burger, on +27 79 300 8984 should you have any questions. He is also available via email and LinkedIn .

JTB – Your Business Planning Partner.

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A Free Business Plan Example to Launch Your South African Business This free Business Plan example provides you with a sample business plan as well as guidance on how to write a business plan and important sections to include in your plan.

By Catherine Bristow Scott • May 28, 2019

You're reading Entrepreneur South Africa, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.

It pays to plan.

Research conducted by Harvard Business Review found that "entrepreneurs who write formal plans are 16% more likely to achieve viability than the otherwise identical non-planning entrepreneurs."

Simply put, writing a business plan could make the difference between business success and failure – which is why planning now could pay dividends as your business gets off the ground.

But where do you start when writing a business plan? In this comprehensive business plan example, we provide you with what to include in your business plan and a sample business plan to help you to create a compelling plan for your start-up.

1. Executive Summary

If you have seven seconds to make a strong first impression in person, an Executive Summary will be the make-or-break section of your business plan – so make this section count.

As a brief outline of your company's purpose and goals, the Executive Summary should generally take up 1 to 2 pages of your business plan. Some key components to include in your business plan are:

• A company description
• A brief summary of your products or services
• The company objectives
• A short but thorough overview of the market
• A justification for viability, particularly "why now?"
• A snapshot of your business's growth potential
• A short description of the organisation team
• Your marketing plan
• Financial projections

Importantly, your Executive Summary must clearly depict the Problem, the Solution, and carry a sense of timeliness – why now should your business be considered as the solution to solve this problem.

NOTE: The following Business Plan Example is based on a fictional company. Figures will not reflect the exact financials of a similar company.

Example of a Business Plan Executive Summary

Snug Sneakers is a sneaker shoe range based in Cape Town that currently focuses exclusively on selling locally produced men's and women's custom sneakers.

The business was founded by David Smith and Stewart Bruce, who have both been working within the retail industry for over 20 years, David Smith, a serial entrepreneur has also founded successful brands – Creative Caps and women's cycling brand Pedal Power.

The brand is currently selling online, however has also recently diversified to selling in independent shoe shops.

The company is projecting to sell R2 million in year 1 and R8 million in three years' time. Additionally, there are expansion plans within year 2 to set up distribution networks in Johannesburg, and Durban in the early part of year 3.

Both David and Stewart are social entrepreneurs at heart and believe in providing sustainable jobs for impoverished communities.

As such, the company has started a recycling and training academy in Khayelitsha, where consumers can return old sneakers that are then repaired by Khayelitsha residents and donated to those in need of shoes. This also provides learners within the academy with shoe-making and recycling trade skills.

Industry research has shown that, on average SA consumers own 4 pairs of sneakers, with 4 in 4 consumers indicating that shoe fit and sizes vary across brands.

3 in 4 consumers indicated that their number one concern when purchasing is having to "settle' for the best fitting shoe, despite the fit not being 100% correct.

Based on these and additional industry research statistics, the company's sneaker products are driven to provide the best shoe fit, with the tagline of "shoes that fit so good, you'll never go barefoot again.'

The main competition to Snug Sneakers comes from 1 local brand, SuperStars, and 2 overseas brands Sassy Sneakers and Rock Your Sneakers.

Although SuperStars supports sustainable use of local manufacturers, the competitor does not provide custom fit sneakers. Sassy Sneakers and Rock Your Sneakers both offer custom fit sneakers, both brands are manufactured in China and do not promote sustainable, social conscious value propositions.

The primary means of marketing will mainly be focused on digital marketing, through evidence-based approaches, including search engine optimisation, Google Ads, Facebook Advertising as well as utilising social media channels that have proven very popular for the company, including Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook.

The locally sourced raw materials, which include cotton, rubber and leather, will be supplied from a sustainable cotton mill and tannery in the Limpopo Province.

Funding for the company was derived through the 2 founders, as well as private investment.

2. Business Overview and Objectives

Creating an overview of your business when you are already established makes it easier, but it may be a little harder when you're either just starting out or haven't even kicked off your operations yet.

When you're just starting out, think about your products and services as your starting point.

• What will you be providing your market with?
• How will you be sourcing/ producing these items?
• What do you need to have in place before you can start selling your products?
• Who will be distributing/ manufacturing your products?
• Importantly, who will your target market or customer be?

In our example business plan, Snug Sneakers serves both retail and online customers, although the bulk of the business is through their online clientele.

This means that Snug Sneakers will need a secure e-commerce platform and a website that has carefully considered the user journey when buying custom sneakers.

The company will also need employees to assist with technical challenges, customer support, and warehouse staff for the packing and distribution of their products.

Similarly, you would need to consider the following when identifying their business objectives:

• What industry will you operate in?
• Who will be your customer?
• What is the problem that you will be solving?
• How will you solve this problem?
• Where will my business be located?
• What equipment and resources will I need within my business?
• What type of employees do I need?
• How will I differentiate my offering from my competitors?

After answering these questions, you will have a better understanding of what it is that you will be offering and what you need to make it happen. A summary of these points will make up your Business Overview and Objectives for your Business Plan.

Example of a Business Overview and Objectives

Snug Sneakers, based in Cape Town South Africa, is focused on providing sustainable, locally produced custom footwear to South Africa, and internationally through its e-commerce platform and local distributor network.

Founded by entrepreneurs David Smith and Stewart Bruce in December 2017, from Stewart's garage, Snug Sneakers grew exponentially within 1 year from 5 online purchases a month to an average of 200 per month within 12 months.

From the company's rapid growth, it became very clear to the founders that there is a gap in the South African market for locally produced, quality sneakers.

The founders' vision for Snug Sneakers is to become a socially conscious, sustainable brand that supports the South African economy by buying 80% locally produced raw materials.

Additionally, the duo noticed a gap in the market where consumers were looking for custom-fitted shoes and remain loyal to the brand that fit them best. To this end, Snug Sneakers offers a wide range of shoe sizes including quarter and half sizes to ensure that all customers find the right snug fit for their feet.

The overarching philosophy and ethos for the company are:

• "Soul sneakers' that allow customers to purchase sneakers that promote social consciousness.
• "South African sourced' sourcing locally produced raw materials that provide job sustainability.
• Superior sneakers' ensuring that customers still get a high-quality product that outmatches popular brands in workmanship and quality.

Company Status

Snug Sneakers was registered as a PTY (Ltd) on 1 December 2017. The main directors are David Peter Smith and Stewart Owen Bruce. Company shares are held by the founders.

The company currently operates out of rented commercial property in Blackheath, Cape Town.

Company Objectives

Snug Sneakers is currently selling custom sneakers primarily through its online store https://www.snugsneakers.co.za , with market penetration nationally, and highest market penetration in Johannesburg and Cape Town. Sporadic orders have also been received from the USA and the United Kingdom.

The company has also partnered with 3 independent shoe and clothing retailers focused on selling locally-sourced South African apparel.

The company has identified a 2 phased upscaling approach for growing sales and operations:

• Increase online sales by 40% within a 6-month period of 2019
• Increase brick-and-mortar retail partnerships from 2 stores in Cape Town to an additional 4 stores in Johannesburg by year end.
• Increase online sales by 50% by end of year 2020
• Explore opening up a brick-and-mortar store in the Canal Walk Shopping Centre, Cape Town
• Increase brick-and-mortar retail partnerships to include 1 store in Durban.

3. Products and Services

In this section, you will be unpacking your product and services offering, especially your key product differentiation from your competitors. Importantly, in this section you will also need to validate why your product is needed by your customers.

If you have applied for any patents, copyrights, or trademarks, you would also include these in this section.

Products and services that already exist may not need a deep analysis of what they are within your business plan.

However, if you're creating a completely new product or service (if you were the first Uber of the world), carefully detail in this section what your product is about, it's uses and the value it brings to the market so your readers will be able to evaluate the value of your product and services.

Some important aspects to cover include:

• The anticipated timeline to bring your new product to the market.
• What differentiates your product or service from those already available in the market.
• What will your operating costs be and profit margins.
• How will you source/ manufacture your product.
• How will the product be distributed to customers.

Example of Products and Services

Snug Sneakers will provide a line of custom sneakers for both men and women. The main product lines include:

• Casual Range: Everyday sneaker footwear
• Active Range: Active gym range of sneakers
• Fashion Forward Range: Formal but funky range of sneakers

Current pricing of the sneakers as follows:

• Casual Range: R550
• Active Range: R950
• Fashion Forward Range: R850

Competition

There are three main competitors that have been identified within the market. These include:

Local competitor:

1. SuperStars 40% locally made raw materials, with 60% of the raw materials originating from China. The brand however does not provide custom-fit sneakers.

Foreign competitors:

2. Sassy Sneakers are based in Australia, with the product line produced in China. The company offers custom fit sizes, however customers have to pay extra for the custom fit and product quality is low.

3. Rock Your Sneakers is a US based company, with the product line produced in China. The company offers some custom fit sizes, however the sizes are limited and the product is only available to South African's online and with a long lead time to delivery.

Snug Sneakers products have a unique differentiator within the market:

• A greater range of custom fit sizes ranging from ¼ - to half sizes as well as broad and narrow width ranges.
• The company will be the only brand within South Africa to offer 80% locally manufactured sneakers.
• Quality of the products is superior to the current locally-made competitor, due to locally sourced high-quality raw materials.

Future Products

The company has also been looking into introducing a line of sneaker care products to assist customers in increasing the longevity of their purchases.

4. Competitive and Market Analysis

Providing evidence that there is demand for your product or service is one of the most critical components of your business plan. Key to this is understanding your market and your competition within that market.

Embarking on market research requires you to have a deep understanding of what your market is and the opportunities inherent within it. You should be able to define:

• Target Market. The types of customers you will be targeting with your product or service.
• Market Need. If there is demand for your products and services and whether this is increasing or declining.
• Competition. The positioning of your competitors in the market and how you will differentiate your offering from them.
• Barriers to Entry. What will prevent someone else from providing the same offering or better.
• Regulation. Regulations that will be applicable to the industry that your business will be operating in.

Example of a Market Analysis

Target market.

With our initial line of casual, active and fashion forward sneakers, we're looking to target the following consumer segment:

• Age: 16 -36
• Digital Savvy: Researching and shopping online is part of this customer's DNA. The target market is also very active on social media platforms such as Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook.
• On Trend: Fashion forward and looking to illustrate their unique personalities, the target market is always looking for fashion to express their uniqueness.
• Social Consciousness: The target market is proudly South African and are highly conscious of the socio-economic issues and have a keen desire to take part in improving the SA economy, uplifting communities and supporting local initiatives.

Market Need

According to a Global View Research Marketing Report, the global athletic and leisure footwear market size was valued at USD 67.8 billion in 2017. The report found that this value is expected to expand at a CAGR of over 8.0% from 2018 to 2025.

The ever-growing awareness with regards to the health benefits of sports and fitness activities, as well as an expanding retail e-commerce sector globally, including increasing levels of disposable income amongst millennials are estimated to be the key reasons for increasing market growth in this market.

Additionally, the Global Sneaker Market 2018 Industry Trends and Sales report found that although the global brands reported increased profit margins in 2017, these have decreased by 1.5% from 2016.

On the other hand, independent Sneaker retailers have reported a 15% increase in sales, particularly online, in 2017, indicating that consumers are moving away from global brands to pursue lesser known boutique footwear retailers.

• SuperStars is based in Johannesburg and provides sneakers with 40% locally made raw materials, with 60% of the raw materials originating from China. The brand however does not provide custom-fit sneakers.
• Sassy Sneakers are based in Australia, with the product line produced in China. The company offers custom fit sizes, however customers have to pay extra for the custom fit and product quality is low.
• Rock Your Sneakers is a US based company, with the product line produced in China. The company offers some custom fit sizes, however the sizes are limited and the product is only available to South African's online and with a long lead time to delivery. (Repeated above)

5. Marketing/Sales Strategy

You're on the right track when you have established that there's a market for your product and service and you have identified who your target market is quantifiably, but how will your market segments know to look out for or even buy your product and services?

This is where your marketing and sales strategy comes into play.

A well-defined marketing strategy goes beyond simply advertising your product and service – it includes a deeper understanding of how your customers will view your brand, what is the best way to reach your customers, the benefits that your customer will receive from using your service or buying your product.

Your marketing strategy must also include the budget for your marketing and sales efforts, whether you will require sales staff to sell your products and offer post-sales support, as well as how you will measure your marketing and sales efforts to evaluate their effectiveness.

Example of a Marketing Strategy

Marketing plan.

• Search Engine Optimisation : Our website pages will be optimised for search engine rankings, with the objective to rank within the top 3 search positions for keywords "custom sneakers", "custom size sneakers" and "custom made sneakers".
• Paid Search : Snug Sneakers will be investing in Google Ads and Facebook Advertising and well as Programmatic Advertising to increase landing page conversion rates.
• Social Media : We will be establishing a targeted social media strategy to increase followers across the social media platforms that have shown the highest engagement with the target market. High frequency posts will be created target at highest engagement times to increase engagement and brand awareness.
• Business Network : We will partner with independent apparel and footwear retailers to drive link building and link sharing both on website and on social media.

Customer Value Proposition and Value Differentiator

Although there is one locally produced sneaker competitor within the market, the founders believe that the customer value proposition being brought to the market is a unique offering and therefore a strong differentiator within the market.

The founders are cognisant that without this differentiator, the only differentiator will be price, which will ultimately have a negative impact on profit margins.

As a unique differentiator and value proposition, Snug Sneakers provides customers with Sneakers with South African Sole, leveraging the Proudly South African heritage and support for local initiatives to help grow South Africa's job economy and promote community upskilling and learnership programmes.

Additionally, Snug Sneakers will ensure that the quality of the products far outweighs those of global brands manufacturing in China. The most important differentiator, however is the ability to custom size shoes to each individual's unique size requirements.

6. Staffing and Operations

Strategy is irrelevant without execution – which is where your Operations Plan comes into play in your business plan. How will you serve your customers, while keeping your operating costs low enough to make sufficient profitability?

Your Operations Plan will detail how you will manufacture, staff, fulfil and stock your products, including your day-to-day operational requirements. Ultimately, this section describes how you will run your business.

Some questions to answer in this section include:

• Where will your operations be based?
• What is your management structure?
• What are your staffing requirements?
• What equipment, facilities and supplies will you need?
• How will you establish your suppliers?
• What will be the operational changes required should your company grow?
• What will your production methods entail?
• How will you service/ deliver goods to customers?
• What regulatory requirements must be in place? (Licences, permits etc.)
• How will you manage your inventory levels?

Example of Staffing and Operations

Management team.

David Smith is a serial entrepreneur who founded successful and well-known brands Creative Caps and women's cycling apparel Pedal Power.

David graduated from Stellenbosch University with a B Comm in Economics and went on to study an MBA at GIBS Business School. David heads up Snug Sneakers as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

Stewart Bruce has worked in the retail industry as a Senior Designer for well-known retail brands, including Puma and Sketchers.

With over 20 years' experience in designing active and casual footwear, as well as sourcing and overseeing materials for the product range, Stewart brings excellent experience to the management mix as Chief Design Officer.

7. Financial Projections

The bottom line counts the most when it comes to writing your business plan.

Without the numbers to prove whether your business will be profitable or not, potential investors or lenders will have a difficult time objectively deciding if your business will be a sound investment.

Aside from persuading potential investors, crucially, the numbers that you have crunched will also indicate whether you have a viable business.

There are five basic reports or cash projections to include in your business plan:

• Income Statement
• Balance Sheet
• Cash Flow Statement
• Operating Budget
• Break-Even Analysis

It's important to come up with credible financial projections for your business to illustrate that it is feasible.

One way to tackle this section is to break down the figures into various components, such as by sales channel or target market segment.

At this stage, you won't be able to supply exact figures, because you're still estimating your future financials, but by breaking down your guesses into components you will be able to determine a more realistic figure for each component, rather than hazarding guesses as a whole.

The business plan should be an ongoing, living document that can be used as your guide for running your business. It requires continuous adjustment as your business changes and grows.

Entrepreneur Staff

Sales Enablement - Content Division Manager

Catherine Bristow Scott is the Content Division Manager for Entrepreneur South Africa. With specialist expertise in developing SEO content, effective sales enablement content to drive lead generation, as well as digital strategy, Catherine brings an in-depth understanding of developing both written and video content to assist businesses in remaining competitive and growing their revenue.

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How to start a business in South Africa

• July 7, 2020

Starting your own business from the ground with no experience can be a daunting task. A lot of people are afraid of what might go wrong and some of the ones who are brave enough to start their own businesses often quit too soon. South Africa has unique challenges and opportunities for entrepreneurs. This is a guide on how to start a business in South Africa.

This guide comes after seeing a lot of entrepreneurs making errors in starting their own businesses. The information contained in this guide has been pulled from multiple sources, mainly from entrepreneurs who have succeeded in starting up a business in South Africa. South Africa is one of the most difficult places to do business, with a start-up failure rate of 80% within the first year. This guide may be unorthodox as it highlights parts of entrepreneurship that are often overlooked and goes around the general information.

• 80%-90% of businesses formed in South Africa fail within the first 2 years. The average global failure rate of businesses is 30% within the same period.
• South Africa is ranked number 84 in ease of doing business as of 2019. It was ranked 32 (lowest) in 2008. This means conducting business in South Africa is extremely difficult.

It’s important to familiarize yourself with statistics as an entrepreneur, they paint a better picture of how things really are, especially to people with no experience. Now that you have seen these stats, are you discouraged? Don’t be, this article will guide you on everything you need to know to be on the safe side.

Long term vision: starting a business in South Africa

You need to have a long-term vision, especially if you have never run a business successfully before. This is a vision that you must believe in and devote yourself to wholeheartedly.

You will face a lot of obstacles in your business journey; it’s important to remember that the odds are against you and not for you. Your vision will keep you on track, it is of utmost importance that you believe in the vision. Your vision should not be about making money, if you start a business with the aim of making money and not adding value to society then it’s likely that your business will end up as part of the 90% businesses that fail within the first 2 years.

Imagine your business at its finest hour, what do you want it to be and what do you want it to stand for? In my case (author) I believed in my vision so much that I chose to drop everything else in life to pursue it.

Value vs Money

We live under capitalism; in order to win a capitalistic society; you must provide value. People pay for things they consider to be valuable, all the successful businesses you know got successful by providing value.

It’s very important to understand this, a lot of aspiring entrepreneurs aren’t concerned with providing value but with making money. If you provide value, you will definitely make money. A good example of a company that has always stood for providing value to customers is Amazon.com, Amazon has a market cap of over 1 Trillion USD.

People aren’t going to support your business because they know you or because you are from the same town. They will go where they feel like they get the most value for their money. Your long-term vision should be focused on the value your business will add to society.

It’s important to note that value is calculated differently, a tech company and a clothing brand aren’t going to calculate value the same way. It can be said that people like feeling beautiful; therefore, they find value in clothing that makes them feel more beautiful. However, a tech company will most likely have to solve a problem or improve a system in order to create value.

If you start your business with the sole purpose of earning money then you are likely to be crushed by competitors who are aiming to provide value.

Things won’t go according to plan

You will not be successful within 3 months, sorry to break it to you. Almost everything will not go according to plan and that’s okay. We don’t even recommend having a business plan, it’s better to have a mind map of where you are taking your business.

It doesn’t matter how much you pay for a business plan; things just won’t go according to it. You will find yourself changing your business plan multiple times as the company evolves. Just don’t pay for a business plan, I know it’s very tempting for novice entrepreneurs to draft a business plan as it makes them seem more professional, but don’t, save your time.

It takes around 2 to 3 years for businesses to be profitable on average; let that sink in. This also depends on your start up costs, the more money a business needs to operate, the longer it will take to make profit.

It takes around 4 – 7 years before a business truly reaches its height. A unicorn or an overnight success is a business that grows tremendously in value in 4 years. Are you prepared to wait for 4 years to get your business where it needs to be? Moreover, are you prepared to work for over 18 months without seeing any profits in your business?

These are some of the benefits of familiarizing yourself with statistics, they allow you to see the true picture of what is happening. Most South African entrepreneurs quit after not making profit for 12 months because they think they have failed, while in reality they are doing just fine. You can only start panicking after not making a profit in 3 years, otherwise you are still just fine.

You are not immune to statistics, it’s not like you will come up with a magic formula that will have you achieve success in just 3 months. There are always outliers but that doesn’t mean you should base your calculations on the hopes that you will be that outlier.

Fail fast and adapt

Don’t be afraid of failure, if you fail but still stay in the game then you have not failed, people who fail are the ones that quit. As we said above, things will not go according to plan, you might blow up all your capital, that’s fine, as long as you are learning.

Show me one discipline where you start off being a professional. In almost all disciplines, whether it’s sport, art or careers in general; you start off being an amateur. You have to learn before mastering your craft, it’s okay to fail, as long as each and every failure teaches you something (experience).

Some entrepreneurs fail and don’t know what caused them to fail, those entrepreneurs are doomed. If you don’t know what made you fail then you are bound to repeat your mistakes. Adapting is also key in building a successful business, after failing; you should adapt. You can not afford to repeat the same processes that made you fail in the first place.

The above was mainly the mental framework or head-space an entrepreneur needs to be in. You should not expect anything to be easy, don’t you love a challenge? I love challenges, I think challenges are fun.

Now let’s look at some of the steps that you can take when starting your own business in South Africa .

1. Decide on what your business will do

Decide on what type of business you are going to open, is it a service-based business or does it sell physical goods? It’s also important to look at the value proposition of your business at this stage.

Generally speaking, do you think people will find value in what you have to offer? This is usually easier to answer if there are already successful businesses in the market you want to penetrate.

2. Organize your idea

No, don’t do a business plan, just make a very detailed mind map of how your business will operate. Try to write this down if possible, at this point you should be willing to play devil’s advocate, try to come with a list of reasons why your business will not be successful. Then think hard about how you are going to go around those obstacles, sometimes, entrepreneurs are too optimistic and don’t want to acknowledge the reality of their unique challenges. That’s why 90% of businesses fail in South Africa, it’s always these overly optimistic entrepreneurs.

Don’t focus on the tiny details, but the overall mind map or highlights of where your business will go. This will give you direction.

3. Research - starting a business in South Africa

Every business sector or industry has unique challenges. The same goes for entrepreneurs, at this point you should do a lot of research on how your industry functions. This includes all the challenges that businesses in your industry face, you will likely face them as well.

Your research should include market research, do you think there are people who are willing to pay for your products or services where you operate? Sometimes it’s harder to do market research if you are going to be the first to open a certain business in your area. Try to get all statistics of mainly challenges and operations of your desired business.

If for example you are going to open a social app, you should do research on how much app development will cost you, the time it usually takes to develop an app, maintenance costs, and user acquisition techniques. After acquiring this information; you should go back to step 2 and re-organize your idea.

4. Validate your business idea

You can validate your business idea by asking people you know if they would find your business valuable. There are many ways to validate your business idea, you can make online surveys or sell a sample of your product. If validating your idea requires you to produce samples then this is the stage where you do that.

The purpose of this stage is to find out whether people are willing to pay for your products or services, or whether they find them valuable. If there are enough people who are validating your idea then go for it, it’s always better to ask strangers or people you can trust when it comes to honesty.

5. Come up with a name for your business

Don’t think too hard about a business name, it can be changed at any time. It is always important to come up with a name that will be easy to remember and brand.

It may happen that your business name is already taken, it’s best to go and check through the CIPC website if your preferred business name is not taken. It is also important to check on whether a domain for your name is available. It would be such a shame if you were to think of opening an eCommerce store, go through the hustle of registering your business, only to find out that your domain name is already taken.

It’s important to make sure that both the dotcom and co.za versions of your domain name are available. You can easily check the availability of your domain name on Blue Host .

6. Register your business

Registering a business in South Africa only costs R175, it usually takes a week or 2 before your business is fully registered. You can register your business through the CIPC website or through FNB. FNB will open a business account for you when you register through them.

A logo is one of those things that matters more to other businesses than it does to others. A fashion brand definitely needs to pay more attention to its logo than an accounting firm. A spaza shop or Shisa nyama might survive without a logo. However, it’s important that all businesses have a logo. A logo can cost you anywhere between R150 and R1 500 (or more) in South Africa.

The amount of money you pay for a logo should go hand in hand with how important a logo is for your business. A logo can be redesigned anytime but it becomes difficult if you are producing physical goods that have to come with your logo. Think Vodacom, remember it was blue, they made a switch to red and a new logo and people have adapted to that.

8. Open a website

I wish someone explained to me the importance of having a website when I started my business. It is especially important if you are in the services sector, if you run a business that sells services then you definitely need a website.

A car wash or spaza shop might do well without a website. But you will find that a website will be your best ally if you are in the services sector. However, it’s important to note that a lot of people will never really see the benefits of owning a website, that’s because they go about it the wrong way.

Most entrepreneurs just use a website as some sort of portfolio, a place to dump information about the business. That’s not how it ought to be, a website can be a powerful sales tool if used correctly. Let’s do some quick math, the average lead conversion rate is around 3%. A lead is a person who has the potential to become your client/customer. If your website receives around 5 000 visitors per month then it’s very likely that 3% of them will end up as your clients. That’s 150 people. Guess what? A lot of business websites are a ghost town, no one ever visits them, they only get visited by the owner and on the first month when the owner announces to his WhatsApp friends that he has a website.

This website (MySouthAfrica) receives around 20 000 to 30 000 visitors per month, and it’s only 7 months old, the projected traffic by November is 70 000 unique visitors per month. However, realistically speaking, your small business website will never reach those numbers. Getting people to come to your website takes a lot of skill, resources, hard work and a lot of time.

A more realistic goal should be getting around 5 000 visitors per month, that would be an incredible milestone for your business. Imagine if you are running a catering company and over 5 000 people see your work every month, a lot of them are bound to become your clients. Here is a detailed guide on how to use your website effectively .

Open a website for your business and immediately invest in using it effectively, this alone can save your business from becoming part of the 90% businesses that fail within the first 2 years. A standard business website only costs R1 200 from Promta Web Services .

You will have to pay an SEO specialist/company to raise your website traffic. SEO services are expensive, I personally charge R5 000 for SEO services, some companies charge as much as R20 000. However, it depends on where you want your website traffic to come from, if you want your 5 000 visitors to come from all over the world then you might pay as high as R150 000. Contact me if you want to build traffic for your website.

9. Developing the product

If you are running a business that needs you to develop the actual product, e.g. a clothing brand, now is the time to do that. If you are building an app then now is the time to do so, most service businesses don’t need to develop any product, they only need equipment and resources. This is the time to get your equipment and resources in order if you run a service-based business.

10. Getting funding for your business in South Africa

Do you have money? If not, then how do you plan on making this whole thing work? I’m asking. It’s extremely difficult to push a business without funding, however, it’s completely possible. Funding doesn’t mean you should receive a 100 000 Rands from the bank or investors.

You should aim to have enough money to develop your product, buy equipment and cover all your start up costs. It’s also good to have some money saved up for marketing, you will also need to have money enough to cover the first 3 months of your operating expenses.

If you can’t raise that money by yourself then you might consider asking your family to invest in your business or seeking external investors. There are a lot of investors who are often willing to invest money into promising start-ups. The problem is that a lot of entrepreneurs don’t know where to find these investors.

You can also get finance from the government, there are lot of government programmes that fund SMMEs. Some of these programmes include Umsobovu Youth Fund, SEDA, NYDA and Khula. But if you are going to go with the government route then you will need to produce a business plan.

Venture Capital firms are not known for funding start-ups, a business usually goes to a VC when it wants to scale its business. VC’s only help with accelerating your growth, not getting you up from the ground. Don’t approach any Venture Capital firm when starting, it’s better to approach angel investors.

Angel investors are people who provide capital for business start-ups. There is no shortage of Angel investors in South Africa. The first round of investment is known as seed funding. Jozi Angels is one source where you can get funding for your business.

11. Client acquisition

How do you plan on getting clients? This is a part that most entrepreneurs overlook. They always make an assumption that they will get some clients, the initial number is usually 10. It’s easy for an entrepreneur to think “there is no way I won’t get 10 clients”.

Three months will go by without you getting any client with that kind of mentality. Some entrepreneurs come with a very great product to the market, and just because it’s great; they think it will market itself or people will readily pay for it. That’s not how things work, getting just 1 client is very difficult in the real world.

If you don’t invest in a client acquisition strategy then you will find yourself advertising your business to your WhatsApp friends and hunting for clients on Facebook forums. Frankly, none of those are sustainable, they only work when there is a hot new product on the market.

I would advise you to just skip hunting for clients on Facebook forums/groups. It just takes too much of your time, time that you could have used to improve other aspects of your business.

You will likely get one or 2 clients/customers when you are starting out, these are usually people who know you. After that, it’s an uphill battle, you might not get another client for several months. Don’t waste your time on Facebook forums, commenting under every post that needs your services, or posting your business in your timeline. It most often never works; you will get a few people who will ask you the price and complement you but never buy. Same goes for Twitter, Instagram. However, Pinterest can be a great source of getting clients/users/customers.

12. Getting clients, the right way

A good friend of mine from high school called me and said he needed my help. He had just gotten into the business of real estate, it sounded urgent so we quickly scheduled a meeting. He said to me “Khanya, I need your help, I need to get clients”, I asked him why he chose to come to me of all people, he said “because I know you know how these things work”.

I was impressed by the fact that he knew that all these other commonly hyped up tactics don’t work. A lot of people spend a lot of time advertising their business on WhatsApp status and spamming Facebook posts. It never works and it’s often difficult to get an ad into things like newspapers and magazines.

So, what’s the correct way to go about this? The answer is digitally. It is very likely that all your target market has daily access to the internet, unless you are in some rural area. Digital marketing has been gaining a lot of traction, SEO is also part of digital marketing.

The best sources for clients/users are Facebook and Google. There are over 2 Billion Facebook users globally and over 17 million people use Facebook in South Africa. There is a very high chance that your clients are hiding somewhere on Facebook.

Facebook allows marketers to advertise to their massive audience, I am pretty sure you have seen ads with the label “sponsored”. Those are businesses that are leveraging the power of Facebook’s reach. You can start running ads on Facebook with as little as R50. R50 will likely get your business advert seen by more than 900 people, that’s more than we can say for your WhatsApp status viewers.

However, if you want to see real returns on your Facebook campaign; you have to spend at least more than R1 000. R1 000 can bring over 2 000 people to your website, remember the golden average conversion rate? The average conversion rate is 3%, however, the average conversion rate from Facebook ads is 9%. This means that out of 2 000 people that go to your website through Facebook ads; over 180 are likely to be your clients. Even if you do poorly and convert only 1%, that’s still 20 clients.

Google runs an ad network similar to Facebook. Google ads are a bit more expensive compared to Facebook and have a surprisingly lower conversion rate. There are over 5 billion searches on Google per day, that is a massive audience, and huge chunks of these searches are sales related.

You can run targeted ads to people who make these searches, these are searches like “accounting firms in Vanderbijlpark”. Most often, people who make these searches have an intent to buy. My sister went to Google and typed “Huawei p40” and clicked on the first advert that appeared and bought the phone right then and there.

Google ads tend to be a bit more expensive when compared to other types of ads, you can expect to pay more than R13 per link click, this means with a budget of R1 000, you can expect to get 77 people to your website. But remember, these are people who have an intent to buy, no one logs in on Facebook with a credit card on their hand.

Sometimes link clicks can cost as low as R3 and as high as R500, it all depends on which keywords you are targeting. Keywords that are very popular will cost you more as you are basically competing with more advertisers for the same keywords. Keywords related to legal and insurance businesses often cost between R150 and R500 per link click. Contrast this with Facebook, that only charges between R0.50 and R3 for link clicks.

There are a lot of different ways to get clients, it’s also important to choose a strategy that works best for your business. A spaza shop won’t really see the benefits of digital marketing, while an eCommerce store won’t go far without it. Here is a more detailed guide on how to market your business .

13. Customer retention

How do you win in a capitalistic society? You create value. If your clients get value from you then they will keep coming back. This is not hard; all you have to do is give them excellent customer service and value for their money.

Happy clients/users/customers are likely to introduce their friends and family to your business. This is where the power of word of mouth comes in, word of mouth is extremely powerful in growing a business. This is because you will get clients/customers you didn’t pay a cent to advertise to. Your happy clients/customers will do the job for you.

Why do you think a lot of people find it hard to switch from Google to other search engines like DuckDuckGo? It’s because they don’t find the same quality of results from other search engines. However, search engines like DuckDuckGo have exploded in popularity recently because of their value proposition. DuckDuckGo is a search engine that is privacy focused, it doesn’t track you and follow you with ads. This is something that some people appreciate, these people have switched to DuckDuckGo.

It’s because DDG is giving them value that they don’t find when using other search engines. I searched for “SMEG kettles” the other day on Google and now I get SMEG kettle ads everywhere I go on the internet.

14. Growing your business in South Africa

 A lot of entrepreneurs make the mistake of calculating growth based on the amount of money they have made. Not on the percentage of growth they have made. For example, an entrepreneur starts a business with R100 and makes a profit of R1 000 by the end of the first year. Instead of looking at it as only making R1 000 in a year, look at it as a growth of 1000%. If this growth rate persists year over year then your business will be making millions soon enough.

You will never find a return of 1000% from any bank or financial institution, you are lucky to get a return of 8%, but you as an entrepreneur have done something remarkable, you have grown your business by more than 1000%. That’s how you should look at growth.

15. Don’t scale too fast

74% of tech companies fail after raising millions in funding because they scaled too fast. Scaling too fast has advantages as well as disadvantages. You will be required to scale if you get an investment from the government, or angel investors.

Let’s say you apply for funding of 1 million rands, the government will tell you that in order for you to get this fund you must hire a certain number of people immediately after receiving funding. Let’s say you decide to hire 2 permanent software developers, pay each of them R18 000 per month, then you decide to hire other people like receptionists. These 2 software developers will cost you R432 000 in salaries per year, add another R80 000 for other staff members and now you have R512 000 in yearly expenses; only on salaries.

We haven’t taken into account the money you will be paying to lease operating premises on a monthly basis and all the other operating costs. Operating premises may cost you R132 000 per year, add that to the R512 000, now you R644 000 in yearly expenses.

See how dangerous this is? This means your business should figure out a way to earn close to R700 000 per year in less than 24 months. If your business can’t earn that much money then it will be bankrupt. It’s unlikely that you will reach those numbers in less than 24 months. This will put you under immense pressure to seek another round of funding, what happens when you don’t get it? Your business fails and shuts down.

Companies that have scaled too fast include companies like Uber, Uber has never turned a profit despite being valued at over 80 billion USD. In fact, they are operating at a loss, if their cash runs out and for some reason, they can’t raise another round of funding then they would have failed.

This was a guide on how to start a business in South Africa. Starting a business is not easy and it requires a lot of hard work. You will face a lot of challenges and obstacles but that’s the exciting part. Do you have any thoughts or questions? Comment below.

Please follow us on Telegram https://t.me/mysouthafrica for more awesome content

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This post has 8 comments.

I have a business Anni want to be helped growing it.

i have learnt something about business which gave me enough courage to start my own business…even though on some of the points i didn’t agree with you but you have helped me very much…you will soon find about my business.

Thanks Bongani, would love to hear about it.

Tshireletso

Wow this is great??

Thanks Tshireletso, I am so glad you liked it 🙂

I’m interested in how I could get a mentor, the information here is eye opening enough but I need more guidance, can you share ways for startups to get mentorship…Please. Thank you

Where can I visit you physically or follow you on social media ?

Hi Thabang, you can follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/MySouthAfrica3 or Subscribe to our YouTube channel. We would greatly appreciate that.

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How to write a business plan

Writing a business plan will help nail down your idea and give you a blueprint for executing it.

What is a business plan?

A business plan describes your product or service, identifies who the customer is, explains why they need your product or service, and shows how you’ll make money from that opportunity.

Why write a business plan

How you write a business plan will depend on what you need it to do. There are a couple of key jobs a business plan can have. It can:

• explain a business idea
• convince lenders or investors to put money behind that business idea

It doesn’t take a book to do the first job. You can write a business plan that’s short, to the point, and easy to update. That may be all you ever need. But if you’re going for funding, your business plan will need to be a good deal longer and more comprehensive.

Why every business should start with a one-pager

Even if you will eventually write a long business plan, a one-pager is a great place to start. It could take as little as an hour to do your first draft and will make your idea stronger. Writing about customers, competitors, income and expenses will help develop your thinking.

How to write a one-page business plan

You’ll see in the example below that there are nine sections, or things to write about. So give yourself just a small space to write about each. Keeping it short will help you focus on what’s important.

Download a one-page business plan template.

When you need a longer business plan

The greater the risk you’re taking, the more comprehensive your plan should be. For instance, you’ll need to write a long-form business plan if you’re going to fund it with other people’s money. Banks and investors will expect it.

How to write a longer business plan

Long-form business plans touch on all the same things as a one-pager, but they go into more detail and contain fewer assumptions.

Back-of-the-napkin numbers are replaced by forecasts and budgets. And guesstimates for things like costs, market size, customer preferences, and competitor weaknesses need to be backed up with proof. It’s a good idea to involve an accountant or bookkeeper in developing the budgeting and finance sections.

Contents of a business plan:

• Executive summary: A short summary of the main points of your business plan. Write it last.
• Company overview: Identify your industry, what you’re selling, and how you’ll charge.
• Products or services: Include a description of the problem you’re solving for customers.
• Market analysis: Describe your target market, and examine the competition.
• Risk assessment: Flag potential hurdles (including assumptions that could be proved wrong).
• Marketing and sales plan: How will you find customers and make sales? How many sales will there be?
• Milestones: What needs to happen and when?
• Progress reporting: When and how will you report against the milestones?
• Team: Who will be involved in the business? Note their skills and responsibilities.
• Budget: Estimate your costs and income (and any debt that you plan to take on).
• Finance: Show how you’ll fund the business.

You can also add an appendix with any supporting or background documents.

Make a start by downloading our free business plan template.

How not to write a business plan

Avoid these common business planning mistakes:

• Underestimating how much money it will take to get started
• Failing to budget for the first few months of operation (before revenues start flowing)
• Expecting sales to ramp up too fast
• Relying too heavily on one or two customers (or suppliers)
• Not including contingencies for unexpected delays or costs

Xero does not provide accounting, tax, business or legal advice. This guide has been provided for information purposes only. You should consult your own professional advisors for advice directly relating to your business or before taking action in relation to any of the content provided.

How to start a business

Thousands of new businesses open every day. If all those people can do it, why not you? Here’s what to do, and when.

Your business idea is clearly inspired. But it helps to check you’re not the only one who thinks so.

It’s time to run some numbers on your business idea. Budgeting and forecasting help with that.

Your prices can influence the number of sales you make and the profit you earn on each transaction.

Your business structure can affect how much tax you pay, and how you're treated by the law.

If you’re starting a business, then you’ll need to get familiar with some accounting basics.

After all the excitement of deciding to start a business, you’ll have some paperwork to do.

Treat your website like an online version of a storefront. It’s the first impression for many customers and prospects.

Now that you’re in business, you want to stay there. Xero’s got resources and solutions to help.

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How to write a business plan in south africa [ free template].

It is never too early to start planning for your business! This blog post is all about writing a business plan in South Africa. 

We will discuss the various sections of the plan, and how to fill them out. There are also plenty of resources at the end that will help you get started on this important process.

Table of Contents

What is a business plan? 

A business plan is a written, formal strategy that outlines your goals and how to achieve them.

Even the smallest companies need some kind of plan for their future success. 

It is like prepping before you go on vacation: you are not guaranteed any problems will happen, but it helps if you know where all the closest gas stations are just in case there’s an issue with getting more fuel.

The same principle applies here: writing a business plan in South Africa gives you time to think through everything and make sure nothing slips between the cracks.

Why do you need a business plan? 

Business plans give you a chance to assess your company’s strengths and weaknesses. 

When it comes down to the nitty-gritty, business planning is all about making sure that you are prepared for anything in this unpredictable world of entrepreneurship.

What should I include? 

There isn’t one standard format for every company; however, most plans follow these general guidelines: 

• Executive Summary 
• Company Description 
• Mission & Goals Strategies 
• Financials Appendix 

If sounds intimidating or confusing don’t worry! We’ll go over each section in detail.

How To Write a Business Plan in South Africa

What is an executive summary .

The executive summary is a high-level overview of your business plan, and it’s one of the first things people will see when they are reading through your business plan in South Africa. 

This section needs to be short (about two or three pages) but comprehensive; that means you should include all the critical information here while still keeping it interesting for readers. 

It should do four important jobs: 

• Introduce yourself and your company 
• Give background on why you started this project 
• Describe what you want to accomplish with this document 
• Highlight any challenges ahead 

Remember, if someone were deciding whether or not to read further, would their decision change based on what they learned from the executive summary alone?

What goes in the company description? 

The company description is a little more detailed than an overview, but not quite as long or involved as the rest of your business plan in South Africa.

In this section, you will want to state what industry you are in and why it is important (how does this help customers?). 

You should also describe how big your market is , where your competition lies, and who will be buying from you.

What do I put in my mission statement? 

Your mission statement highlights your goals for expanding into new markets/products/services. 

It includes details on why exactly yours is a worthwhile venture. 

Think about the reason behind setting up shop: if someone approached you with funding tomorrow would that have anything to do with why you started doing whatever it is you do? 

If not, then your mission statement might need some work.

What are strategies and how should I use them? 

Strategies detail the steps you’re taking to accomplish your goals! 

These can range from building a team to developing new products. 

You don’t want to get too specific here; that is what the financial section is for–strategies are more about giving yourself time management tools so you know when milestones will be reached! 

It also helps if these plans have an element of flexibility in case something unexpected happens along the way.

How much does it cost? 

The final sections of your business plan in South Africa involve numbers: revenue projections, expenses, etc. 

There isn’t one standard format or formula but there are plenty of resources available on how to calculate them. 

Basically, you want your financial section to show how the business will make money and what it will cost to run it!

What else do I need? 

Your business plan in South Africa should also include a cover page (with all of these details on there as well) and an appendix for additional information such as market research or employee resumes. 

With so much involved in creating a successful business plan in South Africa, don’t be afraid if this stage takes a while–just remember that once you have got everything together you are really one step closer to making your dreams come true.

When do you need a business plan?

• You need a business plan if you are;
• Seeking funding, investments, or loans
• Searching for a new partner or co-founder
• Attracting, hiring, and retaining top talent
• Experiencing slow growth and need a change

Tips to write a business plan in South Africa that will stand out

A). easy to read.

Make sure your business plan is easy to read and the sections flow together. 

Showcase lots of visuals and charts – these will keep readers’ attention ! 

The goal here isn’t just about getting people interested in what you’re doing, it’s about convincing them that they should invest or buy into your idea too.

b). Keep it brief

Don’t go overboard with the length of your business plan! 

A page a day doesn’t seem like much but by month’s end, you’ll have a sixty-page document that will turn off all but the most dedicated readers. 

Just give enough information to paint a picture and then let it shine through the action

c). Be smart about what you include

The financial section is going to be one of, if not THE most important part of your business plan–don’t forget that! 

It needs concise explanations as well as relevant numbers; don’t just write down random expenses or revenue projections (unless this is how you actually work) because these things need context in order for someone reading this document now to understand them later on when they’re doing their own calculations.

Remember that a business plan in South Africa isn’t just about making your idea look great, it is also about getting you closer to achieving the goals YOU set out for yourself.

Be confident in what you’ve written and make sure any feedback from readers is constructive rather than telling them they should have done something differently if there wasn’t a reason why they did it this way instead.

d). Proofread!

Nothing is worse than typos or grammatical errors in a business plan–it makes you look unprofessional and careless. 

Make sure everything has been double-checked before submitting! 

Remember that this document should be your guiding light throughout the entire process so take care of it as best you can to ensure it’s always working for YOU rather than against you.

Business plan template in South Africa

Even if you don’t plan to seek investments, it is good to write a business plan. There are other reasons for this, use this business plan template in South Africa:

• Writing out your goals helps you see what you want to accomplish. You can make more of a plan for what to do next.
• It is a chance to better understand your market (e.g., demographics, behaviors)
• You can make sure that everyone on your team is doing their job. Set up the roles for each person and tell them how to do these jobs. Make sure you set goals for each person.
• Team members can also refer to the document to stay on track
• Catching errors before they happen is important. It helps you make sure financial projections are accurate.
• You’ll be able to see the problems that could come up in the future.

Final thoughts on how to write a business plan in South Africa

Writing a business plan can be tough, but it’s also one of the most important steps in starting your own company. 

Remember to take care of every aspect and don’t let anyone tell you that their way is the only way.

It doesn’t matter if this is your first time writing or your fiftieth–just make sure everything comes together as soon as possible so you can actually get started on building YOUR empire!

How can we help strengthen your business?

Ready to Start a Business in South Africa? Here are 8 Legal Requirements for Businesses in South Africa

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Humphrey T. K. Ng'ambi

Compliance requirements when starting a business in south africa.

Having a fantastic business idea is all well and good, but before that idea can become a reality and actually become an operational business, you will consider and comply with various regulations. Let’s dig in!

Selecting the Right Entity Type for Your Business

There are basically three entity type options to register your startup.  As an entrepreneur, you need to select the right one for your business idea. It’s important to understand the difference between each type of business entity, and to know that each has its own advantages and disadvantages.

Entity Type 1: A sole trader  

This is easily the simplest entity structure to launch and in South Africa, many small businesses are sole traders. Just as the name implies, a sole trader is a one-man operation. This entity type works great if  you’re the single person operating your business, which will trade under your personal name (e.g. Mxolisi Khoza). Because you are in effect the business itself when operating as a sole trader, there are some financial and other risks involved. Under this business structure, there is no separation between your business and yourself! 

As a sole trader, you have the freedom to run the business as you please. It’s relatively easier to start a business as a sole trader, and one benefit is that you as the only member of the business will get all the profits. Further, a sole trader can easily dissolve a business without much red tape and paperwork.

Sounds great, right? But beware!  Before you start your business as a sole trader, the risks mentioned above are well worth thinking about very seriously. 

Here are the risks of operating as a sole trader:

• As a sole trader and sole owner, you will have unlimited liability.  What does “unlimited liability” actually mean? Well, as the only owner of your business, you will be legally liable (on the hook) for all the debts of the business. That means that creditors and funders will have the ability to put a claim on your personal property and assets, should you fail to honour your obligations. Since there is no separation between your person (you) and your business, every contract you sign as a sole trader is signed under your own name. So, this risk should give any entrepreneur looking at starting a business as a sole trader some pause. 
• As a sole trader, your ability to  get funding for you business  (raise capital) is diminished.  Most businesses can’t get off the ground without some capital. More often than not, you will need to seek funding from lenders, lenders being either banks or other financial institutions (Read our brief article on  Raising Capital ). When you are operating your business as a sole trader, your ability to get business comes down to your personal ability to secure this funding. That, your personal credit worthiness will come into play. This can be quite a challenge for many entrepreneurs, either due to insufficient income to support a large monthly payment, or other issues such as poor credit history.Many sole traders fail due to lack of operating capital, and when your business goes through a rough patch, it means you are personally affected. This is yet another reason to rethink this entity type.
• As a sole trader, your personal skills and capabilities represent your company’s earning potential  As mentioned earlier, a sole trader is the only employee allowed under this business entity type. That means you will need to be the dish washer, head chef and also your own receptionist. You will need to wear as many hats as needed to run your business! This can be a challenge, but it’s also possible to retain companies like Kettle Consulting to handle your bookkeeping and compliance matters. The main disadvantage here is that your business will be limited only to those activities you’re personally good at and licensed (if needed) to perform.

Entity Type 2: A partnership

If you have a good friend, family member or colleague that you want to work with, you can operate under the partnership entity type. In fact, you’re allowed to have many partners under a partnership and the requirement is that each partner must contribute to the business. Having a partnership agreement in place is a great way to govern the way the business runs, and it’s worth hiring a lawyer or a professional firm like Kettle Consulting to help you structure this document.

Since the partnership is not registered as a standalone business for tax purposes, the tax liability will be split across each partner and each partner is taxed on their share of the profits in their personal capacity. This is essentially like a sole trader, except that the liability is shared equally among the partners.

Entity Type 3 – a private limited company

Often just known as a PTY, this a private limited company entity type separates the liability between the business owners and the business itself. Again, this entity type depends on the kind of business you plan to conduct, and it may be a good fit. The main differentiator here is that the business protects you as an owner from being personally liable and losing your personal assets in the event the business runs into financial trouble in the future. You can think of this as a truer opposite of the sole trader entity.

Getting Your Company Registered

Once you have settled on the right entity type for your business, it’ll be time to get the business registered! This is certainly an exciting moment for any entrepreneur, because it’s an early step toward making your business a reality. When selecting your business name  you want to choose a name that best represents your brand and vision. Of course, you’ll need to perform a name search to ensure that the business name is not already registered and in use by another company.

As a business just starting up in South Africa, you have access to various channels through which you can register your company. The first is to register online via the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (known as the CIPC) portal. The second is to use the CIPCs newer BizPortal, which has a bit more functionality than the legacy CIPC system. Also, your local bank may have the ability to help you register your business – ask about this when you visit your bank and speak to a business banker.

Lastly, companies like Kettle Consulting offer company registration services, among other key offerings. We can help you get your business started, from planning to registration, tax and other compliance, as well as management consulting and capital raise.

Compliance: Statutory Registrations for Businesses in South Africa

Now on to the various statutory requirements your business will need to comply with! The following are the two major arms of government you will interact with as a new business.

The Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC)

The CIPC is a governmental agency that is part of the Department of Trade and Industry of South Africa. The CIPC exists to provide businesses an efficient platform through which they can lodge various registrations related to business and intellectual property rights. Through the CIPC, companies can handle their proprietary designs, patent their inventions, copyright and do trademarks.

The South African Revenue Service (SARS)

Whether your business is large or small, you are required to register with the South African Revenue Service (SARS). SARS is South Africa’s tax authority, and staying on top of your taxes is critical to the launch, operation and growth of your business. Registering with SARS will make your business compliant in terms of various tax requirements. When you register your business as a private limited company through the CIPC, your company will be registered automatically with SARS. A tax registration letter will be emailed to you directly from SARS following your CIPC registration, which contains your income tax reference number. Your tax reference number is your unique tax identification number with SARS, which is attached to your tax paper profile with the authority. Further, if your turnover will be more than R1 million per year, then you will be required to register for Value Added Tax (VAT). This registration can also be done online via the SARS portal; you will need to submit form VAT101 for VAT registration.

All this can seem overwhelming, but you have support! At Kettle Consulting, we work with you to handle all of your tax registrations and other compliance matters.  

Stay on top of your tax and legal obligations

Starting and running a company comes with a significant level of responsibility. This is particularly applicable when you hire employees to work for your company. As an employer, you are required to register for Pay As You Earn (PAYE). This is applicable if any of your employees make more than R40 000 annually. And if your total payroll will be more than R500,000 over the coming 12-month period, you will need to register for the Skills Development Levy (SDL). The funds paid under the SDL are to be used to develop and improve skills of employees. The good news is all of these registrations can be done for you by a qualified firm like Kettle Consulting.

As a business owner, you will need to equip yourself with the knowledge that matters, and taxes are a key component of running a business. The SARS online portal is a great resource for some light reading on your tax obligations, or you can contact us and one of our tax advisors will walk you through your specific tax requirements. Staying on top of your taxes is critical so that your business does not suffer penalties in the future. With your taxes handled, you can focus on the important work of building, running and growing your business

Shielding Your Company with Business Insurance

Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs starting a business often overlook this critical part of running a business.  Protecting your company with business insurance is not something you should ignore! You want to have insurance in place to protect your business’ tangible or intangible assets against:

• Loss due to theft –  includes theft by your own employees – sadly, this happens!
• Loss of profits or revenues – as a result of various factors interrupting your business
• Legal liabilities –  if the actions or negligence of your business causes losses, harm or injury to another person or business (a third party), you may be required to compensate them. Your business insurance may cover different types of liability. 
• Losses and liability from cyber attacks –  if your business systems are breached by hackers and you or a third party incur losses, your business insurance may cover this.

Consult with your lawyer and insurer to know exactly what liabilities are covered under your business insurance policy.

Essentially, your business insurance will help protect you in case someone decides to sue you or your business for any reason. For even more protection, it’s smart to look into business insurance policies that also cover both product liability and public liability.

Opening a Business Bank Account

Businesses in South Africa need to have a business bank account. Banks typically require a set of documents for them to open your business account for you. Generally, the documents they need are as follows:

• A Valid Government-issued ID document for the business owner and all other signatories on the account
• Current proof of address for the company. This may be a utility bill, and if you’re a sole trader, this will be your residential lease or the deed for your home.
• Three months of business statements may be requested, but this is waived for brand new businesses.
• Proof of company registration obtained from the CIPC 

You are not alone on your business journey… you have help!

Starting your own business can be a daunting task, and as we’ve shown in the insights above, it is easy to miss something. But do not fret! You have support. Get in touch with us and one of our specialists will walk you through all the requirements from start to finish. We are able to handle all of the registrations outlined in this post, from company registration to SARS requirements. 

Beyond just handling your registrations and compliance matters, we can also help you draft or optimize your business plan and clarify your business goals and strategy. Further, we are able to assist you with the important task of raising capital to fund your business. At the very least, we will put all your options in front of you so that you can make informed decisions.

Set up a no-obligation phone or in-person appointment with us today so that we can answer any questions you may have about starting a business in South Africa. At Kettle Consulting, we have the experience and expertise to help you start, run and grow your business.

Starting a new business is certainly exciting for the passionate entrepreneur! The key to success is to be intentional about success from the very beginning, and that means taking care of the regulatory and administrative concerns from day one. Whether you are planning to launch your business as a sole trader, starting a partnership with a trusted colleague or friend,  or going with a private limited company, all of these entity structures have rules and regulations that you will need to adhere to.

Make sure to take full advantage of the insights in this guide to educate yourself about the finer details of starting a business. This will give you an excellent chance of success on your business journey. 

And remember, you have support. Get in touch with us today to discuss next steps for your business registration, business plan, capital raise, tax, compliance and any other concerns you may have.

To speak to an advisor, reach us via telephone 011 025 1446   or email us at [email protected] .

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How to start a business in South Africa

South Africa is the second richest country in Africa. It’s predicted that the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will cross the US$345 billion mark by the end of 2022.

Its economy is diversified with a growing and sizable middle class. south africa’s services and financial sectors have grown rapidly since apartheid..

• South Africa is placed at position 84 out of 190 in the ease of doing business ranking by the World Bank
• The South African government, through the online Bizportal platform, has made it easier to start a business in the country
• Bizportal platform, which was launched in 2019, is a one-stop shop for entrepreneurs to reserve a company name, register a new company, income tax, and withholding taxes

In 2020, South Africa was placed at position 84 out of 190 in the ease of doing business ranking by the World Bank. The country’s cities are working on reforms to improve the ease of doing business.

Government Communication Information System (GCIS) commissioner director-general Phumla Williams said they were working to ensure the country moves into the top 50 World Bank Ease of Doing Business Index.

“A lot has been said about the need for reform to improve South Africa’s ranking on the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index, and substantively improve South Africa’s business environment, along with the need to positively influence investor perception.

In order to ensure that we change South Africa’s ranking in the next Ease of Doing Business Index, we will all need to change. I am therefore extremely pleased that we have all agreed that we must become the change we want to see. We must push forward our agenda boldly and without reservation,” she said at a webinar.

The South African government through the online Bizportal platform has made it easier to start a business in the country. The Companies and Intellectual Properties Commission (CIPC) developed the platform. CIPC’s role is to register companies, co-operatives, and intellectual property rights (trademarks, patents, designs, and copyright).

Bizportal platform, which was launched in 2019, is a one-stop shop for entrepreneurs to reserve a company name, register a new company , income tax, and withholding taxes, including Pay as your Earn (PAYE), Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF), and Skills Development Levy (SDL).

Initially, it took about 40 days to register a company in South Africa. With the Bizportal platform, it now takes a day, according to the Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA).

SEDA indicated that registration costs R175 (US$10.36), which is made up of R50 (US$2.96) for name reservation and R125 (US$7.40) for company registration. Registration for domain names (website addresses) costs R51.75 (US$3.06). The government agency provides business development and support services for small enterprises.

Once a company is registered, the owner or shareholders must ensure that their staff are enrolled in social security in compliance with the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act 130 of 1993 for their health and safety rights while they are working.

During the period of employment, UIF will provide health cover for staff while PAYE will be deducted if an employee earns over R40,000 (US$2370) annually.

New businesses are required to have a bank account. Documents needed while opening an account include a valid identification document for the business owner and anyone else that will be a signatory on the account, a proof of address for the business, which can be a utility bill, or in the case of a sole proprietor, the owner’s address, three months of business statements and proof of CIPC registration.

Companies must also register with the South African Revenue Service (SARS), which administers the country’s tax system and customs service. Once a business owner registers with SARs, he/she will be issued an income tax reference number within 60 days of starting operations. Failure to register with SARS attracts fines and penalties.

A new entity can apply for loans to expand business through the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC). Application is made to the IDC office by submitting a well-researched business plan, stating a compelling case for funding. Funding can also be accessed through the Department of Trade and Industry’s Government Investment Incentives.

With a valid passport or a refugee document, a foreigner is allowed to start a business in South Africa. This is done by obtaining an independent financial permit.

The permit allows an applicant to remain in South Africa on a permanent basis. It is Ideal for high net worth individuals (HNWIs) of any age and nationality wishing to stay in South Africa permanently. Before the issuance of the permit, one must pay R120,000 (US$7106) and have a net worth of R12million (US$710606).

READ: Hello Pay targets South Africa SMEs with ‘affordable loans’

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Small Business Development

• Cooperatives Incentives Scheme

Black Business Supplier Development Programme

• Khula Enterprise Finance Ltd
• South African Micro-Finance Apex Fund

Technology for Sustainable Livelihoods

• Registering Your Business
• National Youth Service
• South African Women in Construction
• Technology for Women in Business

Gender and Women Empowerment Unit

Small enterprise development agency (seda).

Seda   supports the growth of small business. People can go to Seda for help to start a business or, if they already have a business, to make it stronger and more profitable. There is a Seda branch in each district municipality. These branches offer:

• information, advice and referrals
• tender information and advice
• import and export training
• trade information
• business assessments and business mentoring
• technical support
• market access
• business linkages

In addition to helping individuals in business, Seda has a special focus on co-operative enterprises , where a group of entrepreneurs share the profits and responsibility of a business.

Contact Seda :  012 441 1000 Business Information Centre :  0860 103 703 Website : www.seda.org.za

How to write a business plan

The first thing you need to do is state clearly and specifically what your business idea is. Very simply, you need to say what you intend doing, how you plan on doing it, when you plan to do it and why you believe you will succeed. In the process of doing that, you need to do some research into whether your idea and your plan will really work.  Your business plan should cover four main areas:

• Your strategic focus (your “niche”, or “core business”):  What exactly is it that your business will do? What makes it special? What won’t your business do?
• The marketing plan: How are you going to promote your product?  How are you going to price your product?  How do you plan on getting your product to your market?
• The operations plan: What staff will you have and what will they do?  Who will supply you with what you need?  How will you manage your business?
• The financial plan: What profits and losses will you make?  How much sales do you need to make to break even?  How much cash do you need to cover costs each month?  What is the source of your funds?  How will you use your funds?  If you need a loan, then what can you offer as security for that loan?

Important advice:

• Work out how big your market is (the total number of people who will buy your product).
• Is the market growing or not?  (Is there increasing demand for your product or is there an over-supply?)
• List all the factors about your business that will bring you success (e.g.  is it in a good place, is it cheap, is it very high quality?).

Look carefully at your situation and make a list of the following:

• your strengths and weaknesses in comparison with your competitors
• all the obvious market opportunities and threats
• the advantages you have over your competitors
• advantages that your competitors have over you
• ways of using your advantages to your benefit
• how you will deal with the disadvantages you face
• what must be done, when it must be done and how it be done.

Co-operatives Incentive Scheme (CIS)

Successful applicants are given cash grants so that their cooperative can obtain good quality services that will help them to grow their business. The Cooperative Incentive Scheme helps cooperatives from all industries: textiles, services, energy, agriculture, print, film, and video production, consumer and housing. For a cooperative to qualify for a grant, it needs to:

• be mainly black-owned
• be actively helping to create employment and overcome poverty
• be registered according to the Cooperatives Act, 14 of 2005
• have a simple Business Plan, which must be attached to applications forms
• provide quotations for the services for which it requires funding.

How to register a co-operative

To register your cooperative, you will need to fill in Form CR1 – Application for registration of primary/secondary/tertiary cooperative. You will then be notified of the other forms you will need to fill in, in the course of registering your cooperative.

Contact the Department of Trade and Industry: 012 394-1425/394-1608 Website: www.thedti.gov.za

This programme offers grants in a cost-sharing scheme to black-owned business for the purpose of business skills training. It offers support to black-owned enterprises by helping to improve their core competencies and management abilities, and enabling them to become more competitive. The scheme helps people with promotional marketing materials, software development and other activities such as quality improvement, processes and product improvement.

Companies that are majority black-owned (15% or more) and which have a significant representation of black managers on their management team quality for the grant. Companies should not earn more than R12 million per annum and must have been trading for at least a year. They need to be registered with CIPRO and with SARS. The maximum grant for which a single company can qualify is R100 000.

Application procedure : Obtain application guidelines and an application form.  Complete the application form. Obtain and attach a tax clearance certificate, and submit the application.

Contact the Department of Trade and Industry Customer Care Centre :  0861 843 384 Website : www.thedti.gov.za

Finance for Small Businesses

Khula enterprise finance ltd.

Khula helps SMMEs to get loans from banks. It does not lend money itself. Khula also provides mentorship to entrepreneurs, helping them to manage their businesses successfully. The mentorship programme includes the transfer of skills on a face-to-face basis, the development of viable business plans, and pre- and post-loan services.

Contact Khula :  012 394-5560/5900 or 0800 11 88 15 Website :  www.khula.org.za

South African Micro Finance Apex Fund (Samaf)

Samaf gives financial services to small-scale entrepreneurs living in rural and outer urban areas. Samaf does not lend money directly to the public. It uses existing institutions within communities to handle the funds and lend to qualifying entrepreneurs. Samaf has three products:  the Micro-Credit Fund (gives loans to entrepreneurs), the Capacity Building Fund (gives funds to be used for equipping the institutions with skills, system and equipment) and the Savings Mobilisation Fund (encourages savings).

Contact Samaf :  012 394-1805 Websites : www.samaf.org.za ; www.thedti.gov.za

This is a programme of the Department of Science and Technology (DST). It aims to create jobs for communities by helping to establish SMMEs. In particular, it makes use of technologies which can add value to SMMEs and makes them accessible to communities. At the same time, the programme helps to make these SMMEs successful by offering skills development and training.

The DST offers technological assistance in the following areas:

• Aquaculture : Communities are trained to farm indigenous fish as a business. They receive technology in terms of infrastructure (production cages) and training to manage a fish farm, including diseases and harvesting.
• Essential oils: These are valuable oils that are extracted from the leaves and flowers of plants. Communities benefit from skills development and training, and their businesses are linked to the local essential oils market.
• Indigenous medicinal plants :  Communities are taught to grow indigenous herbs commercially. These plants have special medicinal properties which have been scientifically proven. Communities receive training in farming methods and in how to start a commercial enterprise and their businesses are linked to local markets.

The DST does not support individuals, only communities and community groups. These communities are then helped to form a viable community business, in the form of a Section 21 Company or cooperative. In order to use these technologies and produce valuable crops in essential oils and indigenous medicinal plants, communities need to have access to suitable agricultural land.  Similarly, communities that want to benefit from fish farming must have access to irrigation dams.

Contact the DST Technology for Sustainable Livelihoods :   012 843-6421/18

Registering your business

When you start a business, it needs to be registered. To do so, fill in the relevant forms and submit them to the Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office (CIPRO).

Contact CIPRO :  0861 843 384

Support For Youth

The Umsobomvu Youth Fund helps youth set up, expand and develop their businesses by teaching them essential business skills. Umsobomvu has the following programmes:

• The Franchise Fund helps youth to start and maintain their businesses. Through loans and a voucher system, it helps young people to access business support.
• Entrepreneurship Education Training: This training is aimed at helping young people understand the concepts and principles of entrepreneurship and business.
• Cooperative Training: This is basic training for young people on setting up and running a youth cooperative business.
• Graduate Development Training: This is a training programme for unemployed graduates to enhance their life and professional skills.
• Business Consulting Services Voucher: These are services designed to help youth set up, expand or develop their businesses.

Umsobomvu youth Advisory Centres (YACs) are walk-in centres around the country where youth can receive information, training and referrals services – in fact, everything they need to find employment or start their own businesses. YACs provide outreach services to communities that are unable to get to the centres, by taking career information, skills development and entrepreneurial advice to local schools in Mobile YACs.

Contact Umsobomvu :  08600 YOUTH (96884) Contact Umsobomvu Business Partnership :  011 470-3111 Websites :  www.youthportal.org.za

National Youth Service (NYS)

The National Youth Services is about involving young people in the development of our country. It is an opportunity for young people to actively serve their communities. The National Youth Service Programme aims to create a culture of service. It develops the skills, knowledge and abilities of young people. It also improves youth employability by giving opportunities for work experience and skills development, and by providing further learning opportunities.

For more information on the NYS, turn to the Expanded Public Works Programme.

Support For Women

South african women in construction (sawic).

Sawic is a national association of women enterprises or professionals and technical staff in all areas of construction, from the skilled trades to business ownership, with international affiliation to the National association of Women in Construction (Nawic). Sawic administers, facilitates, advocates and lobbies all the Departments of Public Works for the empowerment of its members.

Contact Sawic :  012 337-2400/2174

Technology for Women in Business (TWIB)

This programme aims to make science and technology more accessible to women in business, especially those in SMMEs.

Contact TWIB :  012 394-1644 Website :  www.twib.co.za

The Gender and Women Empowerment Unit of the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) manages the South African Women Entrepreneurs Network (SAWEN). SAWEN helps women overcome the obstacles that they still experience in business.

It compiles a database of women-owned enterprises, in order to help women help one another. It organises networking forums, facilitates capacity-building programmes, and lobbies and advocates for policies that support women entrepreneurs.

Contact the Department of Trade and Industry:  012 394-1606

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How To Draft A Business Plan In South Africa

When starting a business in South Africa, it is important to have a business plan. This document will outline your goals, strategies, and market analysis for your venture. There are many different ways to write a business plan, so it is important to find an approach that works for you. Some tips for drafting a business plan in South Africa include:

Starting with a clear, concise objective

Developing a business strategy

Identifying your market

Developing revenue and expense forecasts

Analyzing your business risks

Making necessary changes based on results

Table of Contents

How to write a business plan to start your own business | For funding | South Africa

Defining your business plan’s purpose.

The first step in writing a business plan is to understand why you are starting a business. What is your business about? What problem are you trying to solve? Once you have a good understanding of your business, you can develop a marketing strategy and determine the financial needs and resources required to succeed.

When writing a business plan, you should also consider the following:

• The market you are targeting.
• The competitive landscape.
• The financial resources you will need.
• The risks and challenges you will face.
• The timeline for your business.
• The key elements of your business.
• How you will measure success.

When outlining your business plan, it is important to keep in mind the following key points:

• Define your target market. Who is your target audience? What problems do they face? What do they want or need?
• Research the competition. What are their strategies? What are their products or services? What are their financial resources? What obstacles do they face?
• estimate your costs and resources. How much will it cost to start up? How much will it cost to maintain your business? How much will you need to produce your product or service? How will you track your progress?
• identify sources of funding. What public or private resources are available

Conducting market research

There are a few things you need to know to effectively target your market. Firstly, you need to know what they want. This can be done through market research or by simply asking people what they would like to see in a product or service. Secondly, you need to know what your competitors are doing. This will help you to understand what features your customers might want and what they might be afraid of. Lastly, you need to know your own strengths and weaknesses. Knowing where you can improve will help you to carve out a competitive advantage in the market.

Once you have identified your target market and what they want, you need to research your competition. This will give you an idea of what they are offering and what features might be important to your customers. It will also help you to understand what could be a potential threat to your business.

Once you have researched your competition and have a good understanding of what they are offering, you need to develop a marketing strategy. This will include things like target markets, pricing, and distribution. It will also include things like advertising and public relations. It is important to keep in mind that a good marketing strategy must be flexible and able to change as the market changes.

Once you have a marketing strategy and have implemented it, you need to

Outlining your business model

A business plan is a document that provides a strategic overview of a business and its objectives. It should include an overview of the company’s history, management and operations as well as a plan for expanding the business. The plan should also identify the company’s key markets and customer base, as well as the company’s competitive advantages.

There are a number of different formats for business plans, but most follow a similar structure. The first section of the plan is usually an executive summary, which provides a brief overview of the business and its key strategies. The second section is the business model, which outlines the company’s revenue and cost structures. The third section is the financial analysis, which details the company’s cash flow and balance sheet. The fourth section is the market analysis, which assesses the company’s competitive environment. The final section is the conclusion, which provides a summary of the business plan and provides a roadmap for future growth.

There is no one blueprint for a successful business plan, but there are a few key components that should always be included. First, a business plan should provide a clear overview of the company’s history, management and operations. This will help readers understand the company’s strengths and weaknesses and help them make an informed decision about investing in the business. Second, a business plan should identify the company’s key markets and customer base. This will help you identify areas of growth

Drafting your financial projections

Every business needs a financial plan, which is a document that spells out how much money your business will need to stay afloat for an extended period of time. This document can take many different forms, but all businesses need to know where their money is going and how they’re going to make it work.

When you’re drafting your financial plan, you need to first understand your business’s sector and how the market is evolving. Markets can change rapidly, so you don’t want to be caught off guard by any shifts. Once you know your sector, you need to determine how much money your business is currently making and what it could make in the future.

Next, you need to project how much money your business will need every year to stay afloat. This number will change depending on your business’s specific situation, but it’s important to have a solid estimate. You need to include everything from costs for products and services to taxes and employee wages.

Once you have your financial projections, you need to figure out how you’re going to make all the money you need. This means looking at your business’s revenue streams and figuring out where you can make the most money. You can also look at ways to reduce costs or find new revenue streams.

Finally, you need to create a timeline for your financial plan. This document should show how long it will take you to make the money you

Creating your management team

The best way to start your business in South Africa is by finding the right individuals to help you achieve your goals. You will need to appoint a CEO, CFO, marketing director, and administrative staff to run your business.

When choosing your top management team, it is important to consider your business’s goals and objectives. Who will be responsible for making sure that these are met? Do you want someone who is hands-on with the operation of the company, or would you rather have someone who can focus on long-term planning?

Once you have decided on your top management team, you will need to create a business plan. This will outline your company’s objectives, strategies, and tactics for reaching those objectives. The plan will also include a financial analysis and a timeline for reaching your goals.

Finally, you will need to recruit the best talent available to help you achieve your objectives. You will need someone with experience in the industry you are entering, as well as the skills necessary to carry out your business plan. Remember, your management team is the key to your success in South Africa!

Writing your executive summary

When it comes to writing your business plan for south africa, the executive summary is one of the most important sections. Your executive summary should provide a concise and easy-to-read overview of your company and its goals, with a focus on the unique selling points of your business.

The summary should be written in a clear and concise manner, and should be easy to follow. You should use clear, concise language and avoid long paragraphs and technical terms.

In order to make your executive summary stand out, you should focus on the key reasons why your business is different from the competition. You should also highlight the benefits of being affiliated with your business, and explain how your company can benefit customers and shareholders.

Finally, you should list your company’s key employees, and provide a brief biography of each individual. This will help potential customers to understand how your company operates, and will also give you a chance to promote your employees to potential investors.

When writing your executive summary, it is important to remember that you are not required to provide a full business plan. Instead, your executive summary should provide a concise overview of your company and its goals.

If you would like help writing your executive summary, or would like to discuss your business plan in more detail, please feel free to contact us. We would be happy to provide you with a free consultation, and to help you to create a winning business plan for south africa.

A business plan is a roadmap to success. In order to create a successful business plan, you must first have a clear idea of what you want to achieve. Next, you need to identify the key challenges and potential roadblocks that will need to be overcome. Finally, you need to create a detailed financial plan and a timeline for achieving your goals. By following these steps, you can create a successful business plan in South Africa.

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Download a Free Business Plan Template

What is a business plan.

The written plan of goals you want to achieve with your business, and how you want to achieve them, is called a business plan. It is a decision-making tool used when beginning or extending a venture.

Any new business requires a business plan to ensure that the business can make a profit. Fund-seeking entrepreneurs use a formal business plan to convince investors to contribute towards the capital of the business.

Existing businesses – looking to expand or change the business – also use business plans to prospect for new business, attract key employees or deal with suppliers. By revising their business plan regularly, existing companies can devise strategies to manage their companies better.

Most commonly, a business plan is used to apply for a bank loan to fund a business. To learn how to create a business plan for a bank in South Africa, see FNB and Standard Bank’s business plan guidelines. You can also download Standard Bank’s free business plan template in Word or PDF format.

A business plan consists of three primary parts:

• The business concept – details about the industry, the structure of the business, the product or service and the strategy for the success of the business.
• The marketplace section – an analytical description of potential customers and the strategy for achieving success against competitors.
• The financial section – the income and cash flow statement, balance sheet and other financial information.

The length of a business plan varies depending on the nature of the business and the purpose of the business plan. Typically, a business plan is 15 to 20 pages long. It usually details the goals for the business for the next three to five years.

An important part of compiling a business plan is in-depth research into the market and industry. Try to gain as much insight into the market you are targeting by talking to business owners, suppliers, potential customers, existing customers, staff members, business experts, etc. Also, research the industry online.

Business plan format

Although there are several types, the key components of all business plans are essentially the same. The format varies based on who the intended reader of the business plan is. Here is an example of a standard business plan format:

1. Table of Contents (1 page)

The table of contents page should include the correct page numbers of the sections of the business plan. Therefore, it is best to write this page last. In addition to the table of contents page, the plan must also have a cover and a title page.

2.  Executive Summary (2 pages)

The purpose of the executive summary of a business plan is to entice the reader to read the rest of the plan. The executive summary is an overview of the key aspects of the plan. It should be compelling but also concise.

The executive summary should include:

• the business concept (a description of the business, product, market and target market);
• key financial aspects (sales, profits, cash flows, investment returns and capital requirements); and
• a short company overview (type of company, date formed, owners and key personnel and achievements).

3. Company Overview (1 – 2 pages)

This section is a high-level overview of the company and the industry in which it operates. It is a description of the business, the product and the industry.

The following should be included in the company overview:

• The name of the company and the type of ownership and registration;
• Details about the business location (address, zoning, reason for choosing location, monthly rentals, etc.)
• Significant assets and financial contributions to the business;
• The mission statement of the business;
• Company objectives and goals;
• The main features of the industry in which the business will operate;
• The most important company strengths and core competencies;
• An explanation of the product, target market and profitability of the plan.

4. The Opportunity, Industry and Market Description (2 – 3 pages)

The research you conducted will come into play in this section. This section offers a detailed explanation of the market and industry and the business’ position therein.

They key is to determine who your target market is through a market analysis. Then clearly explain how your products/services will fulfil the needs of your target market. A market analysis also helps to determine pricing, distribution strategies and growth potential within the industry.

Describe the following:

• The opportunity – the gap in the market;
• The industry – the forces affecting the industry (i.e. obstacles to entry, customers, suppliers, substitute products and competition); and
• The market – insights into the target market (i.e. size, growth and trends).

5. Strategy (1-2 pages)

Detail your positioning strategy and how the business will compete in the chosen market. In other words, what is unique about your product/service and how will the target market benefit from what you have to offer.

6. Business Model Explanation (1 page)

The business model depicts how the business will make money/profit. A business model covers the following aspects:

• Sources of revenue;
• Costs involved in generating the revenue;
• The profitability of the business (revenue minus costs);
• The investment required to get the business up and running; and
• Success factors and assumptions for making the profit model work.

7. Management and Organisation (2 pages)

The biographies of the members of your management team and their roles in the business. Who will be responsible for running the business and why are they well-suited to the task?

This section should include:

• The founders of the company and their qualifications and experience;
• The day-to-day management team and their individual competencies and responsibilities;
• The type of support staff needed to run the business; and
• An organisational chart to show the management hierarchy.

8. Marketing Plan (2 – 3 pages)

The marketing plan is a comprehensive explanation of your marketing strategy. In other words, how will you sell your service/product to your target market?

Your marketing plan should include:

• The value of your product/service to customers;
• A detailed description of the target market;
• How you want your target market to perceive your product/service;
• The pricing strategy for the product/service;
• Sales and distribution channels that will be used to get the product/service to the customer; and
• The promotion strategy (budget, public relations activities, promotions, advertising, etc.).

9. Operational Plan (2 pages)

The operational plan is a description of how the business will function. Include a description of the following:

• The operating cycle – how the business will deliver the service or create and sell the product;
• How skills and materials will be sourced;
• Which tasks will be outsourced and how business relationships will be managed; and
• The cash payment cycle of the business.

10. Financial Plan (3 – 5 pages)

A very important part of any business plan is the financial plan. It is a reasonable projection of the company’s financial future.

A good financial plan will determine how much capital the business needs to launch and/or grow. This section is especially important to potential investors and banks – who will determine the odds for the continued survival of the company based on this information.

A financial plan should include:

• Start-up expenses and capital: What it would cost to start/grow the company and how the money will be generated.
• Profit and loss projections/income statement : Financial sales and expenses projections (i.e. income, cost of goods, gross profit margin, net profit, total expenses, etc.).
• Cash flow projection: Reflects how much cash will be needed to cover expenses and when it will be needed. The cash flow projection amounts to a profit or loss at the end of each month or year.
• A balance sheet: A summary of the business’ equity, assets and liabilities.
• A break-even calculation

Income statements and cash flow projections must be generated for every month of the first year, every quarter of the second year and annually for every year thereafter. The balance sheet is only generated on an annual basis.

Short summaries of the analyses of the income statement, cash flow projection and balance sheet must also be included. Do not include too much detail in this section. Additional projections, charts and calculations must be added to the Appendix.

11. Appendix

Additional reference documents are included in the appendix. This could include:

• Brochures and advertising materials;
• Industry studies and market research;
• Plans and blueprints;
• Photos and maps of location;
• Magazine or other articles;
• Detailed lists of equipment owned or to be purchased;
• Copies of leases and contracts;
• Letters of support from future customers;
• List of assets available as collateral for a loan; and/or
• Detailed financial calculations and projections.

Find more business plan examples and templates from Entrepreneur Magazine .

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Top 10 Business Ideas You Can Start in South Africa in 2024 with R100k or Less

Want to Start a Business, but Have no Ideas? Discover 10 Business Ideas for Under R100

South Africa, is home to hundreds and thousands of Entrepreneurs. The new year brings new opportunities, 2024 presents a great platform for those with a burning desire to start their own business in South Africa . Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need a massive investment or bank account to kickstart your entrepreneurial journey. If you’re looking to start a business that offers both profitability and practicality, you’ve come to the right place.

How to start 10 inexpensive businesses in SA (Key takeaways):

• 10 business ideas specifically for South Africa that require less than R100k to start.
• Actionable insights on how to initiate a business with minimal investment.
• Advantages and Disadvantages of each business idea.
• Realistic estimates of startup costs and potential monthly earnings.
• How expert guidance can streamline the daunting process of business registration in South Africa.

So let's get right into it.

1. mobile carwash service, start-up costs:, why start a car wash business in south africa.

What you need to get started in the car wash game?

Exploring the pros and cons of mobile car washes, factors influencing earnings:, looking to start a car wash business.

Start with a Free Consultation with a trusted Company Registration expert today!

2. Online Retail Store

Online store start-up costs:, why start an online store in south africa.

What you need to get started online?

E-commerce platform (like Shopify), product inventory (you would need to do some market research), professional website, and an effective digital marketing strategy.

Potential Monthly Earnings:

Exploring the pros and cons of online retail stores, 3. freelance writing or graphic design services, freelance start-up costs:, why freelance work online.

What you need to get started with Freelancing?

A good laptop, necessary software tools, a portfolio showcasing your work, and an online presence on freelancing platforms.

Volume of projects, pricing per project, and client base.

Exploring the Pros and Cons of Freelance Services

4. event planning and coordination, start-up costs of an event management company:.

Approximately R20,000 to R40,000. This can cover networking events and business cards, Basic office setup, Marketing materials and iInitial online presence launch.

Why start an Event Management Business?

What you need to get started for Event Management?

Networking skills, a basic office setup, an online presence, and initial investments in marketing materials. If you want to take the event planning a step further and start supplying party decor etc for hire, you would need to consider additional setup costs like stock and storage for your stock as well as delivery costs. Having a business plan can be helpful in this instance. The event planning and coordination is a good starting point from which you can expand on.

Exploring the Pros and Cons of Event Planning

5. fitness coaching or personal training, fitness coaching start-up costs:.

Approximately R15,000 to R30,000. This can cover Fitness certifications (If you don’t already have one) Basic fitness equipment and your online presence and marketing .

Why start a fitness business?

What you need to get started in Coaching?

Exploring the pros and cons of fitness coaching, 6. dropshipping business, start-up costs for dropshipping:, why start drop shipping as a business.

I think by now we’ve all heard about dropshipping. And there’s a reason why it’s still trending. Yes! Dropshipping is still worth the investment in 2024. As consumers increasingly turn to online shopping for convenience, Leverage the power of e-commerce without the hassle of having to handle any inventory. Start a dropshipping business, where you partner with suppliers to fulfil orders. The initial investment goes into creating a user-friendly website and marketing your products.

What you need to get started in Dropshipping?

Exploring the pros and cons of dropshipping, are you looking to start a business in 2024.

Company Partners is your one-stop shop for all your Company Registration needs in South Africa.

7. Mobile Food Truck

Start-up costs of a food truck:, why start a food truck.

What you need to get started?

Exploring the pros and cons of food truck, 8. social media management/content creation, social media management start-up costs:, why start a content creation business.

What you need to get started in Social Media?

Exploring the pros and cons of social media management, 9. language tutoring, tutoring start-up costs:, why start a language tutoring company.

Exploring the Pros and Cons of Language Tutoring

10. home renovation services, start-up costs of renovation services:, why start a renovation company.

What you need to get started to offer Renovation Services?

Exploring the pros and cons of home renovation services, what we learned from starting a business in south africa.

As you embark on the exciting journey of entrepreneurship, remember that the road to success is paved with dedication, creativity, and a commitment to delivering value to your customers. The exciting prospect of turning your business dreams into reality awaits in our South African economy, and the time to seize this opportunity is now.

However, we understand that with the thrill of starting a new business comes the inevitable red tape and legalities. The good news? You don’t have to navigate this complex terrain alone. Our team is here to be your guide through the intricacies of business registration, compliance, and even tax-saving strategies in South Africa. Let us handle the paperwork while you focus on what you do best – building and growing your business.

We’re not just about overcoming hurdles; we’re your partners in achieving entrepreneurial success. Simply start with a FREE consultation with one of our experienced business advisors. Call us now at 0800 007 269 (Toll-Free) and let’s kickstart your journey together. Don’t let the red tape hold you back – let’s make your business thrive!

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Starting Security Company in South Africa – Business Plan (PDF, Word & Excel)

Posted by BizBolts | All Articles , Business Ideas , Business Plans

As the security landscape continues to evolve in South Africa, the demand for professional and reliable security services has never been higher. In an era marked by uncertainty and a growing need for safety and protection, starting a security company in this dynamic environment is not only a viable venture but also a remarkably profitable one. With attractive profit margins and an ever-increasing demand for top-tier security solutions, the security industry in South Africa presents a unique opportunity for entrepreneurs looking to make a substantial impact and reap the rewards.

Due to the increasing crime rates and general insecurity of many people in South Africa there has been an increase in the demand for security products and services. Property related crimes, car hijacks, and other serious crime reports result in the increase the country’s insecurity especially in the major cities. As such, there is a need for more security service providers. In addition, the country’s police force is usually overwhelmed by the number of criminal activities that take place in the country, so the need for more security services cannot be understated. This article will outline how to start a security business in South Africa, and the security company business plan – PDF, Word and Excel.

MARKET RESEARCH

Market research is a crucial step when contemplating the establishment of a security company in South Africa. It forms the bedrock upon which a solid business strategy can be constructed, encompassing a comprehensive understanding of the local security industry, its current state, and its growth trends. In South Africa, this industry encompasses diverse services such as physical security, electronic surveillance, and cybersecurity. Additionally, it’s essential to identify your target market, the specific industries, and regions you aim to serve, as South Africa’s security needs can vary widely, from residential clients to government agencies and private institutions. Furthermore, a keen assessment of the competitive landscape is imperative. An analysis of existing security companies within your chosen niche, their offerings, pricing strategies, and customer feedback, will enable you to differentiate your venture and identify market gaps. Complying with the stringent regulatory requirements in South Africa is another key aspect. Understanding and adhering to the legalities and licensing processes is essential for operating within the bounds of the law and building trust with potential clients. In addition, staying attuned to market trends, emerging technologies, and the evolving preferences of your target audience is pivotal. Embracing the latest advancements in surveillance systems, access control, and alarm monitoring ensures your company remains competitive. A thorough understanding of your clients’ security needs and a well-structured pricing strategy are equally critical.

LOCATION & PREMISES

The location and premises of your security company is an important decision to make before you start your business. It’s also important that you choose the right location if you want to set up a successful security company business. Also, your offices should be close to your target market. In particular, it is important to consider who your potential customers are and how they can help drive your business. When selecting a location for your security services company there are many factors you need to keep in mind. For example, you should consider the demographics of the people and companies who you intend to serve as well as their communities. A slightly older or upscale population with a higher-than-average income  is more likely to make use of your security services. When locating your offices there are several possible locations, including shopping centres, malls, and the CBD. Setting up your office close to places that typically have potential for traffic will be ideal. It is important to be strategic about your neighbouring businesses as well because you are more than likely going to feed into each other instead of competing. If you set up your business in an overly saturated area, the likelihood that your business will succeed will be very low. Your security company business plan should include the costs of renting or leasing the premises.

PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

Your target niche will determine the kind of products and services you will offer. Also, these products and services will be determined by the type of security company you set up. As a new security services’ company it may be best to start by providing specialized services in one area that you know well to ensure that you can provide excellent services. From then on, you can build your reputation in one niche and then grow across other disciplines. You can start by providing VIP protection services to high profile clients, offer guarding services to schools, homes or you can offer CCTV installation and monitoring. Your security company business plan should outline the various security services and packages you can provide as well as the costs associated with them. Services offered by security companies in South Africa include security guards, mobile patrol, executive protection, K9 Security, armed escort services among others. Security companies in South Africa also offer a variety of products including security alarms, CCTV Systems, access control systems among others. If you offer security services, your business will have to be registered with the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority   (PSIRA) as this a legal requirement for security companies in South Africa.

PRIVATE SECURITY INDUSTRY REGULATORY AUTHORITY (PSIRA) REGISTRATION

Any entity or person/company wishing to provide security services or work as a security officer in South Africa must be registered with PSIRA. To register with the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSIRA) in South Africa, you will have to fill an application form, accompanied by several key requirements. These include submitting a comprehensive business plan outlining your security company’s operations and objectives and providing company registration documents. Each director of the company must also provide their ID document, CV, and a PSIRA registration certificate. Additionally, a tax clearance certificate demonstrating compliance with tax regulations is mandatory. Furthermore, having a physical office with basic equipment and a registered business phone number is necessary to ensure operational legitimacy and accountability. You must also pay PSIRA business registration fees of R7500.  Meeting these requirements is essential to obtain PSIRA registration and operate lawfully within the sector.

STAFF & MANAGEMENT

As a client-focused security services company it’s important that you hire employees that are competent and efficient. Your employees should be passionate about their jobs and taking care of your clients. If you want to hit the ground running it’s better to hire a team of people who already have experience in the security services business. Your employees should be able to provide quality services and serve customers efficiently on a regular basis.  Inexperienced staff members may need to go under extensive training before they can be given critical or high risk jobs. Dealing with crime and enforcing order can be dangerous. It is important to ensure that you take the proper precautions when hiring out potential staff members. Depending on the size of your business, the actual number of your staff will vary however, you will need a reasonable number of sales representatives, security officers, office staff, as well as management. Your security services business plan should cater for the salaries and day to day operational expenses of your business. The operations of your security business will depend on the specific services you choose to offer.

Some of the average day-to-day activities of a security company involve:

• Communicating with customers
• Guarding premises and controlling access,
• Inspecting the property and doing security checks at a given client location
• Managing Staff
• Marketing and advertising

When it comes to running a security company you should always remain aware and alert at all times. The security industry is a very sensitive field. Criminal activities are high in South Africa so you should ensure that your staff is well trained to avoid or reduce injuries or even death. Also, make sure you verify and do a background check for every person you hire. It is easy for your company to get infiltrated by the wrong crowd. Take extra care when assigning security officers for different jobs. Injuries or death on duty can be detrimental to your business. As a security company it is important to prioritise the safety of your workers as well as the safety of your clients. In addition, you must adhere to the industry related laws and safety regulations in order for your security business to succeed.

BUDGETING AND FINANCIAL PLANNING

Budgeting and financial planning are cornerstone elements in the successful launch and operation of a security company in South Africa. These financial strategies are pivotal for not only managing startup costs but also maintaining a healthy cash flow and ensuring long-term profitability. To begin, it’s imperative to meticulously identify the startup costs, encompassing licensing fees, legal expenses, equipment investments, vehicles, office space rentals, insurance, marketing expenditures, and initial employee salaries. This comprehensive list serves as a fundamental guide for estimating the initial financial requirements.

In tandem with startup costs, it’s essential to develop a detailed budget that encompasses ongoing operational expenses. These monthly outlays include rent, utilities, insurance premiums, employee payroll, marketing initiatives, and equipment maintenance. By meticulously forecasting these expenses, you can establish a clear understanding of your security company’s day-to-day financial obligations. Moreover, revenue projections are a key facet of financial planning. These forecasts are based on your target market, pricing strategies, contract sizes, client volume, and potential seasonal fluctuations in demand. Realistic revenue projections allow you to set achievable financial goals for your business.

Effective cash flow management is paramount to ensure your security company’s financial stability. It’s imperative to track incoming revenue and outgoing expenses through a comprehensive cash flow statement. This proactive approach aids in identifying potential cash flow gaps and implementing strategies to mitigate them. Additionally, you should consider funding sources, whether through personal savings, loans, investments, or external funding options. Careful evaluation of loan terms and interest rates is essential to align these financial resources with your business goals. Furthermore, budgeting for financial contingencies provides a safety net for unexpected expenses or disruptions, such as equipment breakdowns or economic downturns. Regular financial analysis, tax planning, profitability goals, and investments in growth round out the key components of a robust budgeting and financial planning strategy for your security company in South Africa.

MARKETING PLAN

Effective marketing strategies are pivotal to the success of your security company in South Africa. In a competitive industry where trust and credibility are paramount, it’s essential to create a strong presence and reach your target audience effectively. Networking is a vital part of marketing. Forge partnerships with complementary businesses like property management companies or event organizers, attend industry events, and join local business associations to expand your network and gain referrals. In a competitive industry like security, establishing a robust online presence is paramount. This begins with creating a professional website and maintaining active social media profiles, which serve as key platforms for showcasing your services, certifications, and client testimonials. Additionally, optimizing your website for search engines through effective Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques will ensure your company ranks well in relevant search results, driving organic traffic from individuals actively seeking security services. Online advertising through platforms like Google Ads and social media can rapidly increase your visibility. Targeting ads to specific demographics, locations, and interests ensures you reach a relevant audience.

Community involvement is another strategy to consider, as it shows your commitment to the local community and enhances your company’s reputation. Implement a referral program that rewards clients or partners who refer new business to your security company. Word-of-mouth referrals remain a potent marketing tool, and flyers can supplement these efforts by distributing them strategically in your target areas.  Approaching individuals and companies directly can be a highly personalized and effective marketing strategy. Attend local business networking events and security trade shows to meet potential clients and partners. Establishing face-to-face connections can help you build trust and credibility in the industry. Moreover, reach out to businesses and organizations directly, offering to provide security assessments and consultations. Demonstrating your expertise in person can lead to valuable business relationships and contracts. Site visits can further strengthen relationships with potential clients by providing an opportunity to showcase your services and establish a personal connection.

The need for security products and services is driven by insecurity and a high crime rate. Given that the incidence of crime is high in the country the demand for security services tends to be very high as well. There is a number of individuals, families and various other companies and organisations that are in need of security services. There are a lot of high profile people that require security services too. Also, there are plenty of public events, such as wedding ceremonies, festivals, parties, concerts and other intimate gatherings that will need security services. Thus, there will always be a need for security services.  A proper marketing strategy should be included in the security company business plan.

IS A SECURITY SERVICES BUSINESS A GOOD INVESTMENT?

The security industry is a competitive industry with a number of large and small companies dominating the market. However, it is still possible for you to own your own security services brand. Building your own brand from scratch can be rewarding if done well. Investing in a security company can be a profitable venture, but obviously, this will depend on many factors such as your target market, costs, as well as management. Apart from the obvious advantages of becoming financially independent and becoming your own boss, running a security company business can be a rewarding way of uplifting your community.

The South African market is one of the leading emerging economies on the African continent but the country is riddled with crime. However, the crime rate in the country presents various business opportunities when it comes to the security industry and there is also potential for high growth. Whether you are a young entrepreneur, a professional seeking to start your own business or someone who needs a retirement plan, investing in a security business is something worth considering. One thing that can set you apart before investing in any venture is developing a business plan. A well thought out security company business plan will help you in both the short and long term. Also, there are various risks associated with running a security business, like any other business venture, your security services business plan should clearly outline these risks and the different ways to minimise them. With a business plan you can determine whether or not your business concept is viable or not since it will force you to do thorough research.

KEYS TO PROFITABILITY

Ensuring profitability is paramount for the long-term success of your security company in South Africa. To achieve and sustain profitability, you must adopt a multifaceted approach that covers various aspects of your business operations. Effective cost management is the cornerstone, requiring a thorough examination of your expenses to identify areas where you can trim overhead costs without compromising the quality of your services. This might involve renegotiating supplier contracts, optimizing staffing levels, or making cost-effective technology investments. Pricing strategies are equally pivotal, as you need to strike a balance between competitiveness and profitability. It’s essential to evaluate market rates, monitor your competitors’ pricing, and factor in the unique value your company brings to clients. Additionally, maintaining strong client relationships is instrumental. Client retention is more cost-effective than client acquisition, making it imperative to consistently deliver exceptional service, address concerns promptly, and communicate regularly with your clients to foster loyalty.

Exploring opportunities for upselling and cross-selling additional services to your existing clients can significantly boost revenue. This can be achieved by identifying complementary offerings, such as cybersecurity services alongside physical security, and presenting them as value-added options. Efficiency in your operations is another crucial aspect. Streamlining your processes through training, scheduling optimization, and technology integration can reduce labor costs and enhance overall profitability. Marketing and branding efforts should never be underestimated, as effective promotion can lead to increased business opportunities. Consistently promote your security company through various channels, both online and offline, while enhancing your branding to convey professionalism and trustworthiness. Diversification is also a key strategy, as expanding into related areas like cybersecurity or alarm monitoring can open new revenue streams and make your business more resilient to market fluctuations. Quality assurance, financial analysis, adaptability, and investment in technology complete the arsenal of strategies needed to secure profitability for your security company in the dynamic South African market.

PRE-WRITTEN SECURITY COMPANY BUSINESS PLAN (PDF, WORD AND EXCEL): COMPREHENSIVE VERSION, SHORT FUNDING/BANK LOAN VERSION AND AUTOMATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

For an in-depth analysis of the security company business in South Africa, purchase our security company business plan. We decided to introduce the business plans after noting that many South Africans were venturing into the security company business without a full understanding of the industry, market, how to run the business, the risks involved, profitability of the business and the costs involved, leading to a high failure rate of their businesses.

Our business plan will make it easier for you to launch and run a security services business successfully, fully knowing what you are going into, and what’s needed to succeed in the business. It will be easier to plan and budget as the security company business plan will lay out all the costs involved in setting up and running the business. The business plan is designed specifically for the South African market.

USES OF THE SECURITY COMPANY BUSINESS PLAN (PDF, WORD AND EXCEL)

The security company business plan can be used for many purposes including:

• Raising capital from investors/friends/relatives
• Applying for a bank loan
• Start-up guide to launch your security company business
• As a security company project proposal
• Assessing profitability of the security services business
• Finding a business partner
• Assessing the initial start-up costs so that you know how much to save
• Manual for current business owners to help in business and strategy formulation

CONTENTS OF THE SECURITY COMPANY BUSINESS PLAN (PDF, WORD AND EXCEL)

The business plan includes, but not limited to:

• Market Analysis
• Industry Analysis
• 5 Year Automated Financial Statements [ Income statements, cash flow statements, balance sheets, monthly cash flow projections (3 years monthly cash flow projections, the remaining two years annually),break even analysis, payback period analysis, start-up costs, financial graphs, revenue and expenses, Bank Loan Amortisation]
• Marketing Strategy
• Risk Analysis
• SWOT & PEST Analysis
• Operational Requirements
• Operational Strategy
• Why some South Africans in the security business fail, so that you can avoid their mistakes
• Ways to raise capital to start your security services business in South Africa

The Security Company Business Plan package consist of 4 files

• Security Company Business Plan – PDF file (Comprehensive – 81 pages)
• Security Company Business Plan – Editable Word File (Comprehensive – 81 pages)
• Security Company Business Plan Funding Version – Editable Word File (Short version for applying for a loan – 46 pages)
• Security Company Business Plan Automated Financial Statements – (Editable Excel file)

Testimonial 5

The BizBolts poultry business plan led us down the path from start to finish. Contact details of suppliers of key requirements were included in the business plan. It helped us crystallize our strategy, and the business plan was well received by the bank.

Testimonial 7

Thank you BizBolts for the business plan. I received the business plan immediately after payment, it was money well spent ! I was able to easily edit the business plan. After using the BizBolts business plan, I can wholeheartedly recommend their products and skills.

Testimonial 1

Many thanks to the BizBolts team for putting together a fantastic business plan, I could not have done this business plan on my own. I managed to get funding from investors to start my butchery business using your business plan.

Testimonial 3

The business plan has a highly professional look and feel. The research really helps me look deep into the market that I am targeting, it’s well suited for the South African market. The business plan clearly outlined everything I need to start the business and the costs. It’s now easier to budget and plan. Thank you very much.

Testimonial 6

It is with excitement and pleasure to inform you that I have been successful in securing a loan from my bank. This would not have been possible if not for the BizBolts Business Plan. Thank you for your help, my dreams are now coming true.

Testimonial 2

I am extremely pleased with the business plan and financial statements. The business plan is very detailed & it meets my requirements. I feel better equipped with tools that can help me secure funding.  I would have no hesitation of recommending your business plans to other people.

Testimonial 4

The business plan was very helpful, you did a great job of taking ideas and putting them into words as well as pointing out other aspects of the business plan I wouldn’t have thought of. I got funding using your business plan and it’s now 4 months since I started my poultry business, and everything is going well.

GET THE SECURITY COMPANY BUSINESS PLAN (PDF, WORD AND EXCEL) - R500 Only.

We decided to make the business plan affordable to anyone who would want to start the business, and the price for the pre-written business plan is only 500 Rand.

We have several payment methods which you can use.

Payment Method 1 (Visa card, Mastercard, Credit card, Debit Card)

Click  Buy Now  below to purchase. After you have purchased, you will instantly see the download link for the business plan package on the screen. We will also email you the download link. Get instant access to the business plan now!

If you want to purchase multiple business plans at once using Visa Card/MasterCard then  click here: Business Plans Store

The business plan package is a zipped compressed file containing the PDF, Word and Excel documents. To open the package after downloading it, just right click, and select Extract All. If you have any problems in downloading and opening the files, email us on [email protected] and we will assist you.

Payment Method 2 (Instant EFT - FNB, Absa, Standard Bank, Nedbank, CapitecBank, Investec, TymeBank and African Bank. )

If you want to purchase multiple business plans at once using Instant EFT then  click here: Business Plans Store

Other Payment Methods

• Cash deposit into our FNB Company Bank Account
• EFT Transfer to our FNB Company Bank Account

Call/Whatsapp us on +27606334830 for the other payment methods. (Whatsapp us by clicking the link https://wa.me/27606334830 ). Email: [email protected] .

About The Author

BizBolts (Pty) Ltd is a business research company based in Johannesburg, South Africa. We sell prewritten business plans for various industries including livestock production, crop farming and retail businesses. BizBolts also publishes articles on business ideas, business news, business tips, personal finance, and entrepreneur profiles.

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How to Start a Real Estate Business in South Africa

Updated on 21 April 2023

Starting a real estate business in South Africa is an excellent idea for ambitious entrepreneurs. It’s one of the best ways to get into the property industry, and real estate businesses offer a lot of room for making money.

South Africa is a buyers’ market, and there are always opportunities for new real estate businesses. However, it’s also a competitive market, so you need to take the right steps to strategically set up your business.

In this guide, we cover the main steps and processes you need to follow to start a real estate business.

Qualify as a Real Estate Agent

Before you can start a real estate business in South Africa, you’ll need to qualify as a real estate agency principal. This is essential if you plan on selling property under your own company.

Here are the three main steps you’ll take to do this.

Complete Your Internship

All new estate agents need to obtain their Fidelity Fund Certificate (FFC), which can be obtained through 12 months of work experience with an existing real estate agency.

The main purpose of this internship is to build up a portfolio of evidence (PoE) which you will submit to the EAAB.

Not only is this a necessary step in qualifying as a real estate agent, but it also helps you to gain valuable industry experience and knowledge. This is essential if you want to start a successful real estate business.

Complete Your Studies

Once you receive your Fidelity Fund Certificate (FFC), you will need to complete the following within two years:

• National Qualification Forum Level 4 Real Estate (NQF4)
• EAAB Professional Designated Exam Level 4 (PDE4)

These qualifications let you work as a full-status real estate agent.

Qualify as an Estate Agency Principal

You need to be qualified as an estate agency principal if you want to run your own real estate business. To achieve this, you’ll need to gain at least two years of work experience in a management role, or running a real estate agency.

You will also need to complete your NQF 5 course, gain a certificate of competency from SSETA, and submit your PoE to the EAAB. Once you have qualified as a real estate agency principal, you can now start your own real estate business.

Create a Business Plan

As is the case with starting any kind of business, you’ll need to have a solid business plan in place before you get started. This should outline all the details of how you will establish and operate your business.

Importantly, this should cover:

• The area and market you plan to operate in
• The type of real estate business you plan to run

For example, you could specialise in a certain geographic location, focus on residential or commercial properties, specialise in leasing, focus on property development, and so on. Your business plan will also need to cover detailed market research, your financial plan, business goals, and any other relevant information that will help get your business up and running.

Register Your Company

When your business plan is ready, you’ll need to register your real estate company. You need to do this through the CIPC and gain your official registration documents. The type of company structure you choose should depend on how many people are involved in the business and how your business plans to operate.

Market Your Business and Develop Strategic Partnerships

Once you have established your real estate business, you’ll need to get clients. This is why having a good marketing plan is so important. Figure out how people will discover your business, how you will attract clients, and how your business will grow.

It’s also important for real estate businesses to develop the right strategic partnerships. This could include partnerships with law firms, property developers, and other types of property-related businesses. The right relationships and partnerships can play a big role in how much new business you generate.

Starting a real estate business can be done relatively easily. With the right commitment, anyone can become a registered estate agent. Compared to other business models, you can also start a real estate business with minimal upfront capital.

The opportunities are also enormous. As long as people are buying and selling property, there are great possibilities to make money. If you’re interested in working with property, then getting into real estate is one of the best ways to enter the industry.

SEE ALSO: HOW TO START A PROPERTY BUSINESS.

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• April 7, 2024 The Sunday Read: ‘What Deathbed Visions Teach Us About Living’
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The Sunday Read: ‘What Deathbed Visions Teach Us About Living’

Researchers are documenting a phenomenon that seems to help the dying, as well as those they leave behind..

By Phoebe Zerwick

Read by Samantha Desz

Produced by Jack D’Isidoro and Aaron Esposito

Narration produced by Anna Diamond and Emma Kehlbeck

Original music by Aaron Esposito

Engineered by Sophia Lanman and Sharon Kearney

Listen and follow The Daily Apple Podcasts | Spotify

Chris Kerr was 12 when he first observed a deathbed vision. His memory of that summer in 1974 is blurred, but not the sense of mystery he felt at the bedside of his dying father. Throughout Kerr’s childhood in Toronto, his father, a surgeon, was too busy to spend much time with his son, except for an annual fishing trip they took, just the two of them, to the Canadian wilderness. Gaunt and weakened by cancer at 42, his father reached for the buttons on Kerr’s shirt, fiddled with them and said something about getting ready to catch the plane to their cabin in the woods. “I knew intuitively, I knew wherever he was, must be a good place because we were going fishing,” Kerr told me.

Kerr now calls what he witnessed an end-of-life vision. His father wasn’t delusional, he believes. His mind was taking him to a time and place where he and his son could be together, in the wilds of northern Canada.

Kerr followed his father into medicine, and in the last 10 years he has hired a permanent research team that expanded studies on deathbed visions to include interviews with patients receiving hospice care at home and with their families, deepening researchers’ understanding of the variety and profundity of these visions.

There are a lot of ways to listen to ‘The Daily.’ Here’s how.

We want to hear from you. Tune in, and tell us what you think. Email us at [email protected] . Follow Michael Barbaro on X: @mikiebarb . And if you’re interested in advertising with The Daily, write to us at [email protected] .

Additional production for The Sunday Read was contributed by Isabella Anderson, Anna Diamond, Sarah Diamond, Elena Hecht, Emma Kehlbeck, Tanya Pérez and Krish Seenivasan.

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