Starting a Business
Entrepreneurs starting a business today have ample opportunities to grow to become trailblazers in their industry. South Africa will not see its unemployment rate decrease if the unemployed merely hope for an economic upturn to deliver a flood of lucrative jobs. The path to economic growth is for people to evaluate their skills and talents, adopt a business mindset, and start-up a business – even if it’s at micro level at first, to “test the waters”. Even though South Africa is an emerging market with an abundant supply of natural resources and well-developed support sectors, unemployment remains high.
What’s your tycoon potential?
When starting a micro or small business you are faced at the very outset with a simple but crucial task: taking stock of your present situation. This means that you have to look at your personal situation, and your strengths and weaknesses. The ancient Greeks recorded a piece of good advice: Know thyself. While it is important to recognize your assets such as education, experience, technical skills, appearance, personality and degree of initiative, it is equally important to know your inabilities, so that you are aware of areas you need to develop. Self-employment carries huge responsibilities not only to yourself but also to your family, employees, suppliers, customers and even your community.
Some Business Categories
Agriculture
Business
Professional Services
Construction
Crafts
Creative
Cultural
Fast Food
Information Technology
Manufacturing
Green Business
Media & Marketing
Tourism
Transport & Logistics
Business Ideas
Marketing tips and techniques
Contact Theresa (ecottage@gmail.com) to create a Business Plan, Funding Proposal, Company Profile, Business Portfolio, Packaging or Training Manual.
Biz Culture is aimed at encouraging emerging and aspiring entrepreneurs to explore the different business categories to find their niche or download any of our self-study tutorials from our e-book library. Businesses, in particular start-ups, recognize the importance of managing their costs like never before, but when it comes to IT expenditure, most businesses spend large sums on staffing, PC hardware and software, Internet Service, and networking components. While most of these things are deemed necessary, some new technologies can save the business owner serious cash in the process; a new buzz term is called “zero cost computing”. Here are some ideas your business can think differently about IT and save money:
- Get freeware that works: Free solutions for word processing include photo editing, spreadsheet maker and presentation creator (Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint) Take a look at the productivity suite from OpenOffice.org.
- Use Skype for VOIP, instant messaging and video conferencing and calls: Skype is a great option for free person-to-person voice and video calls using a microphone or Webcam attached to your computer. Skype can also be used on the iPhone and Android smartphone platforms.
- Consider a cheaper ISP: Over the years, new Internet providers have popped up, and established players such as Imaginet are challenging the more established older ISPs.
- Go with shared hosting or a virtual private sector: If your website isn’t receiving over 50-thousand page views a month, it’s time to consider consumer-grade shared web hosting, which is a great, less expensive alternative to a physical dedicated server. Your ISP will be able to assist you with prices.
- Learn how to solve technical problems yourself: Save on unnecessary call-out charges! Learn how to eradicate viruses on your PC or upgrade your Notebook with an extra GB ram. Access Google and simply type in the problem. YouTube also offers extensive opportunities for self-learning.
- Use cloud-based software solutions for storage and sending large files: Small businesses use cloud computing to improve employee productivity and creativity using tools like Online Exchange and SharePoint to access documents and emails while away from the office.
- Set up a wireless network: For companies with less than 20 employees, a wireless network could be less costly than a wired network.
- Buy a networked laser printer: A high-quality single laser printer that connects to office networks and efficiently handles a high volume of printing can be less expensive than supplying a printer for every desk.
- Allow employees to use their own notebooks and smart phones: When you don’t have to provide a work PC for an employee, that’s one less machine (or mobile device) that you need to invest in.
