South Africa’s government has called on the market to offer more assistance to small businesses to help them develop and sustain their operations. However, HR and payroll experts at Accsys advise that the relationship between small businesses and their larger counterparts can be turbulent and must be handled with care.
The 2014 Budget Speech presented earlier this year by the now former Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan emphasised proposed measures to encourage small enterprise development under its list of tax proposals going forward.
Measures include increased support and tax relief for entrepreneurs and small businesses, incentives for industry, as well as training and financial support towards the agricultural sector.
Executive leadership at Accsys believes that there are a number of mechanisms in place that can also be used to strengthen the foundation of support for small business development, including mentorship and learnership programmes as well as affiliation to industry bodies.
These mechanisms are designed to help businesses develop their skill sets, their resources and services, as well as their ability to compete.
Another avenue towards development open to small businesses is that of economic empowerment. If the relevant criteria is met and business profiles measure up, a business can benefit extensively from elevated empowerment status. Factors like improved cash flow and opportunity to tender for work are two key benefits.
At the same time, government has emphasised the supportive role organisations can play in helping small businesses and entrepreneurs enter the market and not only sustain their presence, but grow.
Investment in an entrepreneur who is building a small-to-medium sized business also affords the larger business an opportunity to co-develop a business, to expand their presence and secure a long-term partnership.
However, management at Accsys, a national supplier of people management software and hardware solutions within the HR, payroll and time & attendance space, warn that while enthusiasm is a good thing, it is best to take a cautious approach to any alliance between operators at opposite ends of the size spectrum.
“In some instances, a smaller operator may not welcome assistance from a larger counterpart and actually view input from a more established and larger business as unnecessary interference,” says Teryl Schroenn, CEO at Accsys.
“To avoid this scenario, it is always more desirable that an alliance of this nature be formed early in the development stage,” says Schroenn. “This gives each party the necessary space and framework to get to know each other and therefore any assistance is given from a place of genuine desire to help grow and reinforce an alliance.”