Development finance and SMME support

Development finance and SMME support Sauce company finds the right funding recipe.

For small businesses to get bigger, they often need a little help. When Cape Town-based SMME Pesto Princess wanted to expand, it turned to the CDI Growth Fund.

A grant made it possible to expand and create 10 new jobs making sauces, pastes and soups and the company (pictured) intends to carry on growing, aiming for a factory four times bigger than its current facility and upwards of 250 new jobs as they expand.

The R12.8-million CDI Growth Fund is managed by CDI Capital, which was incorporated as a subsidiary of the Craft and Design

Institute (CDI) in 2016 to arrange funding for SMMEs. The funding has been enabled through contributions by the National Treasury’s Jobs

Fund, the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA), and the Western Cape

Department of Economic Development and Tourism (DEDAT).

Two of the Western Cape’s universities, Stellenbosch and Cape

Town, are the first collaborators with the University Technology Fund which aims to commercialise innovations and inventions coming out of tertiary institutions. Some universities already have their own commercialisation units, but the UTF will have considerable financial clout, as it is a part of the South African SME Fund, an offshoot of the

CEO Initiative which brought together 50 major corporations, the

Public Investment Corporation, the Unemployment Insurance Fund and the Compensation Commission. Sector Insight V&A Waterfront SMMEs achieved revenue of R329-million in 2018.

Among the businesses receiving support from the SA SME Fund are Masisizane, which helps black entrepreneurs buy petrol stations, and Hyrax, a company which emerged from research done at the University of the Western Cape into which HIV-positive people were resistant to certain drugs.

Another Cape institution supporting SMMEs is the V&A Waterfront where a study has shown that revenue earned by small enterprises in 2018 was

R329-million, up from R78-million in 2007. Workshop 17 offers free WiFi and co-working space to tech startups and the venue has attracted 110 firms. Another venue, the Watershed, showcases design and craft. More than 90% of stock sold out of the Watershed is made locally and some design companies, such as leather product makers Wolf and Maiden, have moved out and up into the more exclusive retail space elsewhere in the Waterfront.

The Long Street Kiosks is an attempt by the Provincial Government of the Western Cape to support SMMEs in the centre of the city. Subsidised space alongside the government’s building in one of Cape Town’s busiest tourist routes was allocated for traders. Mpho Mopai, of Tees and Gees, took advantage of the site and the support to such good effect in selling his T-shirts that he was one of the winners at the Western Cape Entrepreneurship Awards.

Silulo Ulutho Technologies, which runs IT stores and training centres in townships and rural communities, started out as a small internet café in Khayelitsha in 2004. The provincial government’s Enterprise Development Fund helped it grow to the point where it has created more than 200 jobs and trained thousands of people. The founder, Luvuyo Rani, was part of Team South Africa at Davos at the World Economic Forum.

Using the supply chain is a good way to create new businesses and retailers like Pick n Pay, Woolworths and Shoprite invest heavily in such programmes.

The Philippi Village Container Walk houses key-cutters, building material suppliers, hairdressers and clothes shops. With the backing of the IDC, the two-storey creations house retail shops on the bottom floor and offices on the top floor. Philippi Village is a joint venture between Business Activator and the Bertha Foundation, a global philanthropic foundation.

Cape Gateway, the website of the Western Cape government, lists 50 SMME support organisations in the province. These range from the provincial trade and investment promotion agency, Wesgro, to smaller community institutions and business initiatives.

The National Department of Small Business Development (DSBD) has several programmes to assist SMMEs and co-operatives. These include: • The Black Business Supplier Development Programme, a cost-sharing grant to promote competitiveness • The Co-operative Incentive Scheme, a 100% grant.

Online Resources

CDI Growth Fund: www.thecdi.org.za PERA: www.wcpremiersawards.co.za SA SME Fund: sasmefund.co.za Small Business Institute: www.smallbusinessinstitute.co.za Small Enterprise Development Agency: www.seda.co.za Small Enterprise Finance Agency: www.sefa.org.za

The Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda) is an agency of the DSBD and gives non-financial support to entrepreneurs through training, assistance with filling in forms, marketing and creating business plans. It helps small businesses draft applications for loan finance.

Seda has established a Rapid Incubator in partnership with the Centre for Entrepreneurship (CFE) at False Bay TVET College, Westlake Campus.

Intended to encourage TVET graduates to start their own businesses, the focus is on metal fabrication and furniture making. The Rapid Incubation Programme encourages innovative thinking and allows students, entrepreneurs and potential clients to interact. Learning how to commercialise products and services is a key element of the course.

The National Gazelles is a national SMME accelerator jointly funded by Seda and the DSBD. The aim is to identify and support small businesses with growth potential across priority sectors aligned with the National Development Plan and Seda’s SMME strategy. Businesses can receive up to R1-million for training, productivity advice, business skills development and the purchase of equipment.

The National Small Business Chamber (NSBC) has a base of over 125 000 SMEs and 50 big brands as partners. A memberbased organisation that offers benefits, the NSBC runs surveys and hosts expos, networking events and awards functions. ■

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