Mzansi Bizz is a free guide to starting SMME business

Joel Emmanuel, MD of the company, says, "Having started and failed many times in business, as a team, we know all too well that starting out is the biggest obstacle, especially if you haven't ticked all the right boxes. While there is much talk about the SMME sector delivering some 90% of the jobs needed in the country, we asked ourselves what active part we could play in breeding and nurturing a new generation of SMMEs in South Africa."

The enterprise and skills development consultancy believes that the National Development Plan is accurate in its estimation in the potential of the SMME sector, particularly as it relates to job creation and economic development in South Africa. In a country with one of the youngest populations in the world - average age of South Africans 24.9 years - poverty and inequality remain key issues, exacerbating the high unemployment rate in South Africa, particularly for youth.

While the company is in the process of adding Blackberry, the app can already be downloaded on IOS and Android platforms. At present, Blackberry and Windows Mobile users can access the mobi site: mobi.mzansibizz.co.za.

Free high school training

Responding to the need for entrepreneurship training at pre-tertiary level, the company has offered free training to high schools in Gauteng, presenting entrepreneurship as a viable career option.

"We cannot purport to have changed every school learner's perspective but we have certainly challenged the paradigm to the extent that we are encountering more and more learners who see themselves as future employers - job creators - rather than future employees," says Emmanuel.

Emmanuel says that one of the keys in encouraging entrepreneurship is minimising barriers to entry. Access to information about how to get started and knowing 'what to do next' was the knowledge gained from their high school engagements.

Eruditio marketing head, Garreth Adams says that from his experience with his imports and exports business, understanding the financial side of profitable operations would have gone a long way towards sustaining the business he started as a young entrepreneur.

Participate meaningfully

"We position ourselves as partners with both government and private sector to ensure that youth entrepreneurs do not disqualify themselves from the opportunity to participate more meaningfully in the country's economy. No one entity can achieve results on their own, it has to be through strategic partnerships that we grow the SMME sector," comments Adams.

Eruditio believes that its free mobile app, if partnered with hands-on business mentorship, will deliver a lasting impact on the country's SMME sector.

Over the past two years, Eruditio has busied itself with mentoring SMMEs to ensure that they have operation-ready enterprises that can be introduced to big corporate supply chains seamlessly and with all the right documentation in place.