Seminars offer entrepreneurs guidance on SMME development

Developed by Absa Group's Enterprise Development in partnership with the National Small Business Chamber (NSBC) in a concerted effort to encourage and promote entrepreneurship in a declining job market, the seminars will give entrepreneurs the fuel to start out and build small businesses that are sustainable.

Absa's Enterprise Development head, Sisa Ntshona, says "South Africa's unemployment rate is among the highest in the world. The lack of an entrepreneurial culture and education in South Africa need a boost. Otherwise, unemployment will remain the major threat to the country's economic prospects."

Decreased labour force

The recent Quarterly Labour Force Survey conducted by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) revealed that the labour force decreased by 235,000 persons between Q3: 2012 and Q4: 2012.

A decrease in employment was attributable to job losses experienced in the formal sector (down by 52,000) and private households (down by 8000), while employment in agriculture and in the informal sector increased by 24,000 (3.6%) and 8000 (0.4%) respectively.

The number of discouraged work-seekers increased by 87,000 between Q3: 2012 and Q4: 2012, while other not economically active persons increased by 259,000.

With high unemployment figures and job losses, Ntshona says that as a responsible organisation, the group has a clear sense of purpose, to help individuals, communities and businesses as a whole. "Our aim with these seminars is to get people to think beyond a job, and create their own. This will help in the growth and development of emerging enterprises and thus contribute to the country's response towards job creation and poverty alleviation."

He notes that there is a need for people to stop being reliant on getting jobs and being employed, but rather create their own jobs. "While it may be easy to say we need more businesses to employ more people, unfortunately there has been a consolidation of businesses (mergers and partnerships), while others have been forced to close down due to high operating costs and other economic pressures."

However, Mike Anderson CEO, NSBC says for most South Africans creating their own job or company is a daunting, almost impossible task. "A person's natural reaction is to immediately point out the negatives; it's almost as a knee jerk reaction in response to the possibility of failure.

"The ones that dare to fail are the ones that, in business, will most likely succeed in the end. The key is not to take failure personally. A successful person will take each failure as a lesson, a lesson that will stand them in good stead for chasing their dreams and achieving success in the long run."

For more, go to www.thinkbeyondajob.co.za.