SAPCC Newsletter Apr 2023

NEWS LETTER

SAPCC co-host multi-chamber of commerce speed networking event

See page 2

Networking - the essential skill for the Post-Covid Business world

By Tony de Gouveia

See page 5

Previstos 60 000 milhões de euros de investimento no setor energético até 2030

See page 8

Are Employers Liable for their Employees’ Wrongful Actions in terms of South African Law?

By Rui Marto

See page 11 Advertising

Desemprego desce para o 2. º valor mais baixo de sempre no mês de fevereiro

See page 15

Agreement signed between Portugal and UC Berkeley

See page 17

Empreendedorismo jovem pode ajudar a diversificar a economia portuguesa

See page 18

Starting again #2 – I have more than last time

By Allon Raiz

See page 20

Sapcc co-host multi-chamber of commerce speed networking event

It was all energy, buzz, excitement and lots of business at this year’s multi-chamber speed networking event, held on the 8 th March at the Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club. The Portuguese, Irish, Spanish, Italian, Nordic, Belgian, EU and French made up the record number of chambers of commerce and business associations participating in this year’s event.

SAPCC and Business Ireland SA were the main organisers of the event, well partnered by the other chambers. The chambers sought to create an event that would allow members from each Chamber to be

exposed to and network with the members of the other respective organizations to promote their businesses.

The event was extremely well attended with over 100 registered participants. Tony de Gouveia welcomed

The format of the event was fast-paced and structured to allow participants to interact with each other for 5 minutes on a rotation basis. This was tightly controlled by Tony, Mark and their bell. The event was fun, exciting and an effective way to make a lot of initial connections in a very different environment from the standard business networking meetings. After the initial 8 rounds, participants were given an opportunity to go back to speak to those they had met and wanted to develop further business opportunity.

second multi-chamber networking event on invitation from the SAPCC, and as always, it was hosted very professionally, where the room is filled with small, medium and large business contacts. We always get quality leads and contacts from these events and more, new friendships. I recommend these events highly."

The feedback from the participants was overwhelming and the organisers were encouraged to repeat the event in future. Rian van Jaarsveld, Director LOR Technologies, member of the SAPCC premium member, C2Group shared his opinion. "It was my

future sessions. This is definitely an excellent platform to accomplish what might take months if not years in terms of business development and networking. Thank you to SAPCC and partner chambers.”

Thank you to all the chambers that participated in this event. Thank you to Tony de Gouveia and Mark Peters for facilitating the event.

Networking - the essential skill for the post-covid Business world

By Tony de Gouveia*

also involving the Belgian, French, Italian, Nordic and Spanish Chambers of Commerce underlines the importance of Networking as a necessary business skill in these challenging times and is therefore deserving of closer scrutiny in this month’s article.

While the marketing gurus tell us were in the age of social media marketing, and some of the tools of the trade that many of you already use could be:

• Linkedin

• Facebook

• Twitter

• Instagram

• Website

"Networking is an investment in your business. It takes time and when done correctly can yield great results for years to come."

Diane Helbig

The

resounding success of the recent Multi-Chamber Networking event (co-hosted by the SAPCC and BISA) and held at the Royal Johannesburg Club,

Tony de Gouveia

Each of these channels have their own advantages and disadvantages but despite the above, most would agree that the ideal form of marketing or Networking is still interacting with real human beings in a live situation like a Networking event. One does notice a trend for people wanting to “get out”, after having been isolated during the Covid lockdowns.

If we were to define Networking, it is about a person’s ability to cultivate mutually beneficial business relationships. Mutually beneficial are the key words here. It should be based on a “What can I do for you” attitude and part of a Networking Plan. This should be very much linked to your branding efforts and raising your visibility in the marketplace.

We are all aware of the damage caused to business over the last 3 years- we can only estimate how much damage to the economy the Covid pandemic and lately the Eskom power outage has caused. And over and above this, according to estimates around 30% (or more) of your clients may have left you! This suggests that we need to have an ongoing strategic focus on marketing and networking initiatives to continuously replenish our customer base.

Which brings us to the topic of speed-networking. As per the well-known motoring journalist Jeremy Clarkson, some say… it (speed-networking) is the business equivalent of speed-dating; others say… it’s about how to get hooked up in a bar; all we know… is that it is a quick and useful way to increase your business contacts, and our speed-networking events have consistently demonstrated this since 2017 when we started running them. What the Speed-networking process essentially involves is connecting with at least 7-8 new people over the course of a 90 – 120-minute Networking session

Just think about the last in-person networking event you attended. How did it go? For some, you “worked the room”, introduced yourself to new contacts and started conversations with those seated at your table. For others, it may have been none of the above, rather a negative, aversive experience due to your own levels of anxiety. Whatever your concerns or misgivings about Networking may be, we will try to address a couple of these now.

A few face-to-face Networking principles that you can start to practice (some taken from a recent article on Networking by Emma Gannon) are:

1. Firstly you need to listen when you exchange information: listening is an essential skill in all forms of communication and interaction, and we all need to be doing a lot more of that. You will need to remember names and details as far as possible. Dale Carnegie in his classic book “How to win friends and influence people” suggests that remembering a person’s name is extremely useful if not essential in this regard.

2. Another essential skill that good interviewers use is the art of asking good questions. One needs to ask questions that draw people out and get them to talk about their needs concerns and desires (indirect questions). Direct questions (requiring only a yes or no answer) can lead to an embarrassing silence and should be avoided. Also, you need to develop questions that help you quickly determine if the person you’re talking with is a good potential prospect/customer or not.

3. Business Cards- they may seem old fashioned, but people still use them, both the hard and soft copy. Nowadays a QR code on your Business card can take your potential client directly to your website or social media channel.

4. The handshake is less tricky now than in the post Covid-era, but you may have to settle for the Covid bump/fist pump. Cultural differences here should also be considered with respect to physical gestures/ contact.

5. Alcohol is another sensitive issue that needs to be managed. Abusing alcohol at a networking function is a no-no and can lead to reputational damage to yourself and the company you represent.

6. As always, you need to have your prepared elevator speech-in which you describe the essence of your business within 1 to 4 minutes depending on the duration of the interaction you are presented with. For an elevator speech to be effective the key word is (be) prepared.

7. Lastly Networking is like golf- it is the follow through that counts. So most importantly, you need to do whatever you promise you will do in terms of follow-up.

In conclusion, firstly, develop a Networking plan for 2023. Set networking goals- e.g. make 5- 10 new contacts per month which can provide markers for success. Secondly, manage your Networking time. Just like any other endeavour, it will require a commitment of time and resources for your Networking efforts develop to its full potential. Remember-It’s not what you know it’s who you know – (old adage).

Finally, the following quote sums it all up succinctly: “Be a good listener. Don’t lead with a sales pitch or be too quick to ask for the business. Give first, whether it’s a tip, a referral, or a recommendation of a resource. Relax and be your best self so others begin to get to know you and find common ground.”

Martin, GZ (2017) p34.

Acknowledgements

Mark Peters - Strategy consultant and BISA co-facilitator

Martin, G.Z.(2017) The Essential Social Media Marketing Handbook

*Tony de Gouveia is a Clinical Psychologist and Resilience Coach in Private Practice at the Akeso and Life Brackenview Clinics in Alberton. He is the founder of the Positive Psychology Group(PPG) in Johannesburg and has made numerous presentations on various topics in Psychology, Positive Psychology and Resilience in various forums Nationally and Internationally.

https://tonydeGouveiaPsychologist.webs.com.

p revistos 60 000 milhões de euros de investimento no setor energético até 2030

Ministro do Ambiente e da Ação Climática, Duarte Cordeiro, interveio na audição regimental da Comissão de Ambiente e Energia na Assembleia da República, Lisboa, 8 março 2023 (foto: João Bica)

O mecanismo ibérico gerou um benefício de 570 milhões de euros, desde a entrada em vigor até ao final de janeiro, permitindo uma redução do preço de mercado de 43,78 euros por megawatt-hora (MWh), disse o Ministro do Ambiente e da Ação Climática, Duarte Cordeiro.

de transição energética e de descarbonização do setor energético e corresponde, sobretudo, a investimento privado, de empresas nacionais e estrangeiras.

Para o cumprimento das metas do Plano Nacional de Energia e Clima 2030 (PNEC 2030) vai ser necessário aumentar a capacidade eólica em 3,4 gigawatts (GW), «o que representa um investimento entre 4000 e 4500 milhões de euros».

Já relativamente à energia solar, será necessário aumentar a capacidade de produção em 6,4 GW, «o que representa um investimento entre 4.300 e 4.700 milhões de euros», detalhou o Ministro.

Quanto ao leilão de 10 GW para eólicas no mar (‘offshore’) - que será lançado depois da discussão pública que está em curso sobre as áreas marítimas onde podem ser instaladas - estima-se que o investimento se cifre entre 30 000 e 40 000 milhões de euros.

Foram ainda contabilizados os investimentos no hidrogénio, cuja Estratégia Nacional prevê um montante entre 7000 e 9000 milhões de euros em projetos de produção, bem como apoios ao investimento e à produção de 900 milhões, até 2030.

Juntam-se ainda 204 milhões de euros previstos para o corredor ‘verde’ de gasodutos, que vai atravessar a Península Ibérica, até Marselha, França.

O Ministro falava numa audição regimental, na Assembleia da República, onde referiu os resultados da intervenção do Governo no mercado energético, lembrando que, segundo o Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE), em fevereiro, «a inflação nos produtos energéticos foi de 1,96%, sendo a evolução destes preços um dos catalisadores da redução da inflação que se verifica pelo quarto mês consecutivo, ou seja, os preços da energia estão a puxar a inflação para baixo».

Recorde-se que o mecanismo temporário ibérico, em vigor desde meados de junho passado, prevê colocar limites ao preço médio do gás na produção de eletricidade e que, no caso de Portugal e Espanha, é de cerca de 60 euros por Megawatt-hora.

Previstos 60 000 milhões de euros de investimento no setor energético até 2030

Duarte Cordeiro estimou também que o setor energético mobilize, pelo menos, 60 000 milhões de euros de investimento, sobretudo privado, até 2030, de acordo com os planos de transição energética e descarbonização.

Segundo o Ministro, esta é uma avaliação «conservadora», que se baseia nos objetivos estabelecidos nos planos

Por fim, o Ministro referiu investimentos na Rede Nacional de Transporte, com montantes aprovados de 430 milhões de euros, até 2026, e ainda 760 milhões de euros do Programa Operacional Sustentabilidade e Eficiência no Uso de Recursos (POSEUR) e do Plano de Recuperação e Resiliência (PRR) que foram destinados a projetos de eficiência energética.

«O valor total destes investimentos que descrevi corresponde a cerca de 25% do PIB [Produto Interno Bruto] atual do nosso País», referiu Duarte Cordeiro.

Fonte: https://www.portugal.gov.pt/pt/gc23/comunicacao/ noticia?i=previstos-60-000-milhoes-de-euros-de-investimentono-setor-energetico-ate-2030

are Employers Liable for their Employees’ Wrongful actions in terms of South african Law?

By Rui Marto*

In terms of South African law, employers can be held liable for the actions of their employees under certain circumstances. This principle is known as vicarious liability, and it applies when an employee causes harm or loss to another person while acting within the scope of their employment. In this article, we will examine the conditions that must be met for vicarious liability to apply and explore some recent cases where employers were held accountable for their employees' actions.

Rui Marto

The LeGAL B A sis o F VicAR ious Li AB i L i T y i N s ou T h A FR icA

Vicarious liability in South African law is founded on the law of delict. It allows a victim to hold an employer responsible for the wrongful actions of an employee if certain conditions are met. These conditions include:

1. The wrongful act must have been committed by an employee.

2. The wrongful act must have been committed within the course and scope of the employee's employment.

3. There must be a close connection between the wrongful act and the employee's employment.

If all three conditions are satisfied, the employer can be held liable for the harm caused by their employee's actions.

cA se sT udy: Fuji T su s e RV ices c o R e (P T y)

Li M i T ed V s che N ke R s ou T h A FR icA (P T y) Li M i T ed

In a 2020 judgment of the High Court of South Africa, in the case of Fujitsu Services Core (Pty) Limited v Schenker South Africa (Pty) Limited, the High Court considered whether Schenker was liable to Fujitsu for Fujitsu's damages arising from the theft of its goods by a Schenker employee.

Fujitsu purchased and imported a consignment of laptops and accessories from Fujitsu-Germany to the value of US$516 877 and contracted Schenker to assist it as its freight forwarding agent pursuant to the commercial agreement between the parties. The employee in question was issued with the necessary documentation to collect the goods from the airport on behalf of Schenker and Fujitsu. However, upon collection of the goods, the employee disappeared

with the goods and the goods were never delivered to Fujitsu.

A NALysis

Two tests apply to the determination of vicarious liability. One applies when an employee commits the deed while going about the employer’s business. This is generally regarded as the “standard test”. The other test finds application where wrongdoing takes place outside the course and scope of employment. These are known as “deviation cases”. The court found that the employee was not acting in the course and scope of his employment and this is accordingly a ‘deviation case’.

In the post-constitutional era the law relating to vicarious liability in the context of “deviation cases” has evolved and has been developed so as to give further effect to the test which relates to the connection between the deviant conduct and the employment. The Constitutional Court, in 2005, in the case of k v Minister of s afety and s ecurity, expanded the enquiry (and thus the liability) as to whether there is a sufficient connection between the wrongful conduct and the employment or not.

The courts have held that an employer will not be liable where the employee commits the act while wholly about his own purposes, unless there is a sufficiently close link of the employee's act and the business of the employer. In evaluating whether there is a sufficiently close link the courts have adopted a criterion a court may use to determine whether the employer created the risk of the harm that eventuated.

When deciding whether an employer should be held liable for the intentional wrongful conduct of an employee, the court is likely to take the following factors into consideration:

• the opportunity that the nature of the employment afforded the employee to abuse his or her power;

• the extent to which the wrongful act may have furthered the employer’s aims (and hence be more likely to have been committed by the employee);

• the extent to which the wrongful act was related friction, confrontation or intimacy inherent in the employer’s enterprise;

• the extent of power conferred on the employee in relation to the victim;

• the vulnerability of potential victims to wrongful exercise of the employee’s power.

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The Court held that the employee’s actions were sufficiently and so closely related to the functions he was required to perform that vicariously liability should be visited on Schenker. Schenker created or enhanced the risk which makes Schenker vicariously liable for the damages arising from the theft.

eMPLoye R s’ e x P osu R e

The amplified enquiry and extended liability will surprise many. The employer was held liable for vicarious liability in the following “deviation cases”:

• In Greater johannesburg Transitional Metropolitan c ouncil v Absa Bank Ltd, the employer was found to be vicariously liable for fraud perpetrated by one of its employees. The employee improperly inserted one of the cheques that her husband had stolen amongst others to be cleared, so as to obtain the benefit of the proceeds of the cheque for herself;

• In k v Minister of safety and security, the Minister was found to be vicariously liable for the rape committed by three uniformed and on-duty policemen;

• In s tallion s ecurity (Pty) Limited v Van s taden, the Supreme Court of Appeal found Stallion Security vicariously liable to Mrs van Staden for loss of support after its employee, acting for his own interest and purpose, murdered Mrs van Staden’s husband;

• In Minister of Police v Rabie, the Minister was found to be vicariously liable for the unlawful assault and arrest committed by a plain-clothes, off-duty mechanic employed by the Minister of Police;

• In LM and others v The Mnquma Local Municipality, the employer was held liable when the employee fired three warning shots. Tragically, the third bullet

ricocheted and hit the plaintiffs’ five-year-old child in the head, causing a severe brain injury.

These cases demonstrate the significant impact an employee's wrongful and intentional conduct may have on an employer. The test for vicarious liability in deviation cases is such that it might be difficult to demonstrate that there is an insufficient link between the conduct and the business of the employer, particularly when the conduct amounts to theft. It essential for the employer to take precautionary measures.

h ow cAN e MPLoye R s M i N i M ise V icAR ious L i AB i L i T y?

Vicarious liability is an employer’s worst nightmare. It is difficult to see what employers could have done to curb liability in some of the above cases. Many argue that the courts have gone too far in expanding vicarious liability.

As an employer, it is crucial to understand the legal concept of vicarious liability and take whatever steps possible to avoid being held liable for the actions of its employees. Employers can take the following measures to avoid or limit vicarious liability.

1. i mplement sound recruitment and selection policies

Employers should implement sound recruitment and selection policies to ensure that they hire competent, trustworthy, and reliable employees. This includes conducting thorough background checks, verifying references, and assessing the skills, qualifications, and experience of potential candidates. By doing so, employers can minimize the risk of hiring employees who are likely to engage in wrongful conduct or behaviour that may expose the company to vicarious liability.

2. d evelop and implement effective policies and procedures

Employers should develop and implement effective policies and procedures that outline the company's

c ou RT d ecisio

expectations regarding employee conduct and behaviour. This includes policies on discrimination, harassment, bullying, and other forms of misconduct. Policies should be clear, concise, and readily accessible to all employees. Employers should also provide regular training to employees on these policies and procedures to ensure that they understand their obligations and responsibilities.

investigating any complaints or allegations of misconduct, taking disciplinary action where necessary, and providing support to any victims of harassment, discrimination, or other forms of misconduct.

3. Provide adequate supervision and training

Employers should provide adequate supervision and training to employees to ensure that they are competent, skilled, and knowledgeable in their job functions. This includes providing training on workplace safety, customer service, and compliance with applicable laws and regulations. Employers should also ensure that supervisors are trained to detect and address any potential misconduct or wrongful behaviour by employees.

5. o btain adequate insurance coverage

Employers should obtain adequate insurance coverage, including public liability insurance, to protect against potential claims of vicarious liability. Insurance coverage can provide financial protection in the event of a lawsuit or claim against the company.

c o N c Lusio N

In South African law, vicarious liability holds employers responsible for the wrongful actions of their employees under certain conditions. Employers may be held liable if the employee's actions were committed within the course and scope of their employment and there is a close connection between the wrongful act and the employee's employment.

Employers can take several steps to avoid vicarious liability under South African law. By implementing sound recruitment and selection policies, developing effective policies and procedures, providing adequate supervision and training, taking prompt and appropriate corrective action, and obtaining adequate insurance coverage, employers can minimize the risk of being held liable for the actions of their employees. It is crucial for employers to take proactive steps to prevent wrongful conduct and behaviour in the workplace and to ensure that they are complying with applicable laws and regulations.

4. Take prompt and appropriate corrective action

If an employee engages in wrongful conduct or behaviour, employers should take prompt and appropriate corrective action. This includes

*Rui Marto is a practising attorney, founder and director of attorneys Marto Lafitte & Assoc Inc, in Bedfordview specializing in commercial and property law. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree and Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Witwatersrand. He is also an executive director of the SA-Portuguese Chamber of Commerce and Chairman of the EU Chamber of Commerce. rui@martolafitte.co.za

Desemprego desce para o 2. º valor mais baixo de sempre no mês de fevereiro

O número de desempregados inscritos no IEFP, em fevereiro, foi o segundo mais baixo de sempre (315 645 pessoas), nos meses de fevereiro, registando uma diminuição de -8,3% (-28 619 pessoas) face ao mês homólogo. Neste mês, foi registada uma descida em cadeia de -6442 pessoas, representando um decréscimo de -2,0%.

O desemprego jovem registado, foi igualmente o segundo valor mais baixo, nesse mês, desde que há registo, com uma diminuição de -4,5% (-1660 jovens) face a fevereiro de 2022 e uma descida em cadeia de -1,5%. Em fevereiro havia 34 854 jovens em situação de desemprego e a percentagem do desemprego jovem face à do desemprego total foi de 11%.

O desemprego de longa duração foi de 120 873 pessoas, registando assim uma diminuição de -28,5%

face a fevereiro de 2022 (-48.150 pessoas) e uma descida em cadeia de -2,4% (-2.991 pessoas).

Em fevereiro, o desemprego registado diminuiu em cadeia em todas as regiões, com destaque para a redução de -9,5% na região do Algarve. Em termos homólogos, verificam-se descidas igualmente em todo o país (com destaque para a redução de -10,7% na região do Algarve e de -10,2% na região de Lisboa).

Em fevereiro, os sub-setores que mais estão a contribuir para a diminuição do desemprego, face a janeiro, são o alojamento, a restauração e similares (-5,4%) e as atividades financeiras e seguros (-4,8%).

As estatísticas mensais do mercado de emprego de fevereiro de 2023, estão disponíveis em: https://www.iefp.pt/estatisticas.

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Emerging New World (dis)Order: Local & Global risks of Systemic Disintegration, State Failure, State Collapse, and States of Violence

By: Dr Kingsley Makhubela & Dr Petrus de Kock

This eBook incorporates extensive analysis of the systemic stability outlook for South Africa, focuses on geopolitical, and global economic dynamics unfolding in the wake of the Russian Federation launching its special military operation in the Ukraine. A moment that will go down in history as the day postCold War era globalisation, and its supporting world order, died.

RiskRecon contends that the world order is shifting towards multilateralism. These changes are creating more than Cold War 2.0, but is delivering an integrated Eurasia turning its back on a unipolar Western dominated system. RiskRecon argues, especially for the AFRICAN and SOUTH AFRICAN environments, that increased global instability and major power rivalries, are also increasing localised national risks, in all regions of the planet, for the occurrence of state failure, state collapse, and state disintegration. Visit www.riskrecon.co.za for more.

agreement signed between portugal and U c Berkeley

A memorandum of understanding was signed for the first time between Portugal and the University of California, Berkeley, on behalf of the Science and Technology Foundation by the Consul-General of Portugal in San Francisco São Francisco, Pedro Pinto.

The aim of this new partnership between Portugal and the University of California is to grant doctoral scholarships to Portuguese and Luso-descendant students attending Berkley.

This agreement comes in the aftermath of the work done during the visit by the Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education Elvira Fortunato to California, United States, in February. During this visit, several memoranda were signed, namely the memorandum of understanding between the Science and Technology Foundation (FCT) and the new school at Stanford University, Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, a innovative school focused on researching solutions with a high impact on climate change on a world level, designed to drastically speed up the scientific, technological, and political solutions.

The collaboration with the Californian university is now formal and is based on the Pinto-Fialon Fund set up the Portuguese emigrant Arthur Ferreira Pinto and his wife Annette Fialon (they bequeathed 7.5 million dollars to the university) to support students with at least 25% of Portuguese origin. The fund grants scholarships to

Portuguese and Luso-descendent students at Berkeley, with the assistance of the Luso-American Foundation for Development.

The Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education notes that Portugal has great capabilities "in both the field of research and higher educaiton due to the work undertaken by Portuguese institutions, the preparedness the students taken with them to Berkeley".

These are the first agreements of the type between Portugal and these two US universities, where several Portuguese students and teachers have stood out and fostered the US universities’ openness to work with Portuguese academic institutions in exchanges of PhD students, researchers, and teaching staff.

Elvira Fortunato highlights the relevance of the agreements that "offer these universities assurance" as to investing in PhD students and teachers from Portugal.

These new partnerships fall under the strengthening of the Go Portugal – Global Science and Technology Partnerships initiative whose aim is to expand Portuguese science and technology research abroad, fostering the creation of qualified scientific jobs and encouraging the creation and growth of new science and tech-based firms, as well as driving the international mobility of students, teachers, researchers, and non-teaching staff.

Empreendedorismo jovem pode ajudar a diversificar a economia portuguesa

O Secretário de Estado da Economia, Pedro Cilínio, afirmou que o empreendedorismo jovem pode ajudar a diversificar a economia portuguesa, tornando-a menos dependente de setores tradicionais, como a agricultura e o turismo e, com isso, ajudar a reduzir a vulnerabilidade da economia a choques externos, como crises económicas globais.

Pedro Cilínio intervinha em Cascais, na conferência organizada pela ANJE (Associação Nacional de Jovens Empresários) sobre o projeto Erasmus EU Youth Dialogue, que tem como principal objetivo promover a inclusão de jovens no acesso às oportunidades no mercado de trabalho e formação profissional.

O Secretário de Estado salientou que programas como o Erasmus+ permitem aos jovens portugueses poder estudar e trabalhar em outros países da União Europeia (UE), aprendendo novas línguas e culturas e adquirindo novas competências e experiências, o que os ajuda a

preparem-se para um mercado de trabalho cada vez mais globalizado e competitivo.

Depois de lembrar a importância que o ambiente político e económico estável da UE tem na existência de um clima favorável para investimentos e negócios, Pedro Cilínio disse que os jovens adaptam-se mais facilmente às novas tecnologias e às mudanças no mercado e faz com que criem negócios que atendem às necessidades das pessoas de maneiras inovadoras e mais eficazes.

«Os jovens representam uma importante força laboral do país e fonte de ideias inovadoras e o empreendedorismo jovem em Portugal pode ajudar a criar empregos, a estimular o crescimento económico e a melhorar a qualidade de vida das pessoas», afirmou o Secretário de Estado.

Fonte: https://www.portugal.gov.pt/pt/gc23/comunicacao/ noticia?i=empreendedorismo-jovem-pode-ajudar-a-diversificara-economia-portuguesa

ARTICLE Foto: Secretário de Estado da Economia, Pedro Cilínio, na conferência organizada pela ANJE, Cascais, 15 março 2023

Starting again #2 – I have more than last time

Many entrepreneurs will have no option but to close down their businesses. With the ravaging effects

Allon Raiz

COVID-19 has had on the economy, formal employment may not be an alternative for many. Starting again is the only choice available for

By Allon Raiz*

these entrepreneurs. In this series of articles, which SAPCC will be sharing, Allon Raiz draws on his more than 20 years of experience in business and in supporting over 13 000 entrepreneurial businesses to offer insights on the considerations and steps needed to start again and achieve the highest likelihood of success.

Over the past 20 years, I have worked with many entrepreneurs who have wanted to give up. They have been at various stages of their journeys – some just a few months in, others several years into the game. It

is a common feeling, and one that many go through. In fact, according to Dunn and Bradstreet, 90% of all companies that close their doors, do so voluntarily –they simply felt they could not carry on anymore.

Whether it is to encourage entrepreneurs to carry on or to start again, one of the approaches I use when dealing with those in a highly emotional and despondent state is to play a game called “Past-Me Co. versus Current-Me Co.” The game works like this: I tell the entrepreneur that I am their evil fairy godmother, I have waved my magic wand and have sent them back to the beginning, the first day they started their business (Past-Me Co.). Having set the scenario, the entrepreneur now needs to set up a competitor analysis between Past-Me Co. and Current-Me Co. (the current business they find themselves in). In this analysis, they need to list all the items and assets that each business (past and present) has in place. This includes physical assets, staff, brand assets, skills, reputation, relationships, contracts, past and present clients, industry associations, credit facilities, vendor listings, software, processes and anything else relevant.

I then ask, “Do you think that Past-Me Co. would be envious of and perhaps a little intimidated by all that needs to be built, acquired and put into place in order to compete with Current-Me Co?”

This thought experiment is incredibly effective in making entrepreneurs realise how much they really do have.

When you lose your business, there is a natural focus on everything that you don’t have, on everything that has been lost. It is hard to refocus the mind on everything that you do have. But the truth about any entrepreneur who starts again, whether in the same business or another, is that their new starting point is higher with more resources than their previous one.

For those of you who ever played arcade games such as Pac-Man, you’ll remember that, after a year or so of playing and gaining experience, you’d start a new game by getting through the first few levels almost automatically. You knew the best route, the sequences that resulted in the highest points, and all the pitfalls to avoid. And then, as you reached the higher levels, the ones you battled with in the past, you began to concentrate again. The same is true for starting a new business. You can move through the initial stages with a level of confidence and speed that you didn’t have the previous time round.

From my years of working with entrepreneurs, what I have witnessed as being the biggest impediment to starting again or perhaps even to fighting on is selfconfidence or rather the lack of it. Losing a business or

struggling for a long time to keep one alive takes a huge toll on one’s self-confidence. We internalise a failed business as us failing. And so, the most important thing in this depressed time is to protect your selfconfidence, and you do this by deliberately developing an academic relationship with your business (I covered this in the previous article of this series). If you don’t protect your self-confidence, you are less likely to be able to leverage your accumulated assets, skills, relationships, etc. for your rebirth.

The formula works something like this: self-confidence multiplied by perceived resources equals level of success. If your self-confidence is zero then zero times anything equals zero. By the same token, if you perceive or recognise few available resources to use in your new endeavour, your probability of success is much lower.

With the self-confidence of that Pac-Man player putting another coin in the slot and starting again – but now armed with more knowledge, more resources and more experience to take along to the next levels – so, too, must you start again. Brimming with a concoction of confidence mixed with some much-needed humility and deeply internalised knowledge that this time you have far more assets and far more in your favour to win this round, you must lift your head high, puff our your chest and say, “Oh well, that happened. Now, let’s try again!”

*About Allon Raiz

Allon Raiz is the CEO of Raizcorp. In 2008, Raiz was selected as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, and in 2011 he was appointed for the first time as a member of the Global Agenda Council on Fostering Entrepreneurship. Following a series of entrepreneurship master classes delivered at Oxford University in 2014, 2015 and 2016, Raiz has been recognised as the Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School. Follow Allon on Twitter: www.twitter.com/allonraiz.

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