"Traditionally, business competitions receive thousands of entries, but only end up benefiting the few who take home the top prizes," says Seda's CEO, Hlonela Lupuwana. "Our aim is to provide real value for the entire entrant base, all of whom will receive access to free specialised training, designed to strengthen their knowledge of sound business principles, which they can then apply to their business plans going forward."
The competition runs from 17 October until 11 April 2012, with a closing date for entries of 31 January 2012. It aims to drive sustainable venture creation by providing small business owners - who often struggle to survive after launching into business unprepared - with a more systematic approach to business planning.
The SA Institute for Entrepreneurship (SAIE), together with Traction, a specialist small business development consultancy, was awarded the tender by Seda to run the competition, which will identify 20 national business idea winners and 20 existing business winners.
"The completion offers over R4 million worth of prizes, including laptops and software for all winners and a R50 000 cash prize for the overall winner. However, it is this free, intensive and specially developed training, available at Seda branches across all nine provinces, that truly differentiates this competition from its predecessors," says Dr Robin Stead, CEO of SAIE.
"Whilst funding is certainly critical to the success of a start-up venture, the strength of the business plan will ultimately define the sustainability of a business model. This training is designed to ensure that all candidates are best equipped to devise realistic plans that can be successfully implemented with a long-term vision in mind."
Lupuwana says that the competition will help small business entrepreneurs to approach their planned or existing business in a more structured way. "Passion and business acumen are obviously important in any start-up, but too often businesses fail because they have not carefully thought through exactly how the business is going to operate and made inadequate preparations for potential pitfalls. They also frequently overestimate revenue and underestimate expenses. Our guided process will help to ensure that start-ups are much better prepared to enter the business world."
Entry to the competition takes place exclusively via the on-line competition system on the Seda website, thus protecting business plan confidentiality, and allowing entrants to work on their entries irrespective of their location.
Enter online at www.seda.org.za.
