Category Archives: Business

A Guide to Accessing Funds That Can Help Your Small Business

“All company bosses want a policy on corporate social responsibility. The positive effect is hard [...]

Budget 2022: Your Share of Billions in Tax Relief and Business Support

“Now is not the time to increase taxes and put the recovery at risk! Accordingly, [...]

Financial Year End Reporting: Challenges to Manage, Opportunities for Benefit

“Any remedy is going to depend on having financial statements that are reliable” (Tom Foley) [...]

Six Tips for Creating a Distraction-Free Home Office

“Out of clutter, find simplicity. From discord, find harmony. In the middle of difficulty lies [...]

Small Businesses That Survived 2021 – How They Made It

“At the heart of the strategy is a strong belief…that systemic problems require systemic solutions” (MIT Sloan [...]

Interest Rate Hikes: How to Buffer Your Business in 2022 and Beyond

“The implied policy rate path of the Quarterly Projection Model indicates an increase of 25 [...]

Five Tips for Improving Your Workforce Management

“It is equally important to know if we have a happy and engaged workforce as [...]

SMEs – Why You Should Consider Employee Benefit Packages

“Human resources isn’t a thing we do, it’s the thing that runs our business” (American real estate developer, [...]

The Hybrid Workforce Debate: What SMEs Need to Know

“Success in a hybrid work environment requires employers to move beyond viewing remote or hybrid [...]

What To Do When Preparing to Sell Your Business

“As much as you might love running your business, you must have an end-goal in [...]

Boost Your Business Plan – Build an Effective Website with These 6 Tips

“Almost overnight the internet has gone from a technical wonder to a business must” (Bill [...]

Cloud Computing Offers Small Businesses New Age Solutions for Less

“Cloud is about how you do computing, not where you do computing” (Author and former [...]

Small Businesses: Reap the Benefits of Cashless Transactions

“Mobile devices, high-speed data communication, and online commerce are creating expectations that convenient, secure, real-time [...]

How to Build Your Business with Freelancers

“The gig economy is empowerment. This new business paradigm empowers individuals to better shape their [...]

Business Combinations: A Path to Exponential Growth and Profitability?

“If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself” (Henry Ford) Initiating, [...]

The Top 5 Leadership Skills Every Entrepreneur Needs

“The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts [...]

SMEs and Microinsurance: Benefits and Risks

“Do you know the difference between education and experience? Education is when you read the [...]

6 Tips on Surviving the Failure of a Big Client

“Generosity is a virtue, but unlimited generosity is a fast route to bankruptcy” (Bret Stephens) [...]

Alternative Funding for Your Small Business

“When looking for funding, don’t just look for cash. Look for the right people” (American [...]

How 67 Minutes on Mandela Day Can Change Our World and Benefit Your Business

“What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is [...]

4 Ways to Measure Your Company’s Performance, Beyond Profit

“Even if you are on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just [...]

How SMMEs Can Benefit Financially from the Fourth Industrial Revolution

“Digital is the main reason just over half of the companies on the Fortune 500 [...]

8 Tips for Marketing Your Business on Instagram

“You are what you share” (Charles Leadbeater, We Think: The Power of Mass Creativity) Instagram [...]

Uncertain, Costly Power Supply: How to Mitigate Your Risk

“The more that energy costs, the less economic activity there can be” (Robert Zubrin) It [...]

POPIA and Your Business: A Practical 5-Step Action Plan to Implement Now

“By failing to prepare you are preparing to fail” (Benjamin Franklin) The media is awash [...]

Where does Fairness Belong in Your Business and Why Should You Care?

Many decisions are made on the basis of careful research and considerations about a variety [...]

Raising Small Business Finance in 2021: 5 Common Mistakes with a High Impact

“Designing a presentation without an audience in mind is like writing a love letter and [...]

SMME Owners: Your Training and Education Will Boost Your Business

“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest,” (American politician and inventor, Benjamin Franklin) Most [...]

Employers: Compensation Fund Return of Earnings Deadline Extended

The Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act (COIDA) provides a statutory insurance policy for [...]

3 Survival Tips for Your Small Business In 2021: Little Things with A High Impact

“If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today” (Thích [...]

The Department of Small Business Development’s Lifelines to Suffocating SMMEs

“It’s been said that government doesn’t create jobs, business does. For the most part, this [...]

Sales Reps Are the Lifeblood of Your Business – 10 Interview Questions To Ask

“Sales are contingent upon the attitude of the salesman – not the attitude of the [...]

How to Find and Secure Tenders for Your Small Business – 5 Expert Tips

“There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work and [...]

The Way Forward: More Virtual Meetings?

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic” (Arthur C. Clarke, English science writer and [...]

Leaving a Legacy: Ensure Your Business Survival with a Succession Plan

“A leader’s lasting value is measured by succession.” (John C. Maxwell)  Succession planning is preparing [...]

Six Tips for More Effective Online Meetings

“Meetings should be like salt – a spice sprinkled carefully to enhance a dish, not [...]

SMMEs: Preparing for the Second Wave

“Forewarned is forearmed” (Samuel Shellabarger, Prince of Foxes) The daily Covid-19 infection rate has decreased [...]

Employee Health and Wellbeing: A Strategic Priority for COVID-19 and Beyond

“It goes without saying that no company, small or large, can win over the long run [...]

Your SME and the Economy – Prepare for the Long Way Back

The South African economy could take as long as seven years to get back to [...]

How to Protect Yourself and Your Company after the Experian Data Leak

“Cyber-Security is much more than a matter of IT.” (Stéphane Nappo, 2018 Global Chief Information [...]

The Feasibility of a Freelancing Business in Uncertain Times

Business start-up planning has been extensively covered over the past twenty years and longer, and [...]

How Chaos Sparks Business Innovation

“All great changes are preceded by chaos. The disruption we see in the world is [...]

Tips and Ideas to Retain Your Best Staff and Skills During COVID-19

Small businesses across South Africa face the challenge of keeping their best staff and skills [...]

Six Important Business Lessons From The Coronavirus Pandemic

“Given the nature of the crisis, all hands should be on deck, all available tools [...]

Your Tax Deadlines for September 2020

1 September – Starting date for online filing 1 September – Branch filing – Taxpayers [...]

Protecting your Company’s Reputation When Staff Work from Home

“It takes a lifetime to build a good reputation, but you can lose it in [...]

POPIA (The Protection of Personal Information Act) is Now Law and the Clock is Ticking

Globally, governments are responding to the vast amounts of information flooding into the public domain [...]

Giving is Good – Just Know Who You are Giving To

There is usually an upsurge in giving when there is a severe crisis. COVID-19 is [...]

Who will Emerge as Winners and Losers in the Post Covid-19 Marketplace?

Many trends that emerged in the lockdown period will almost certainly continue post Covid-19. Technology, [...]

Technology, COVID-19 and How the World Will Change

“There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen” (Vladimir Lenin, [...]

Challenges faced by SMEs

At the start of this year, I wrote an article, Starting an SME isn’t easy [...]

Tips for Managing your Staff Working from Home

In this brave new world of COVID-19, many people are working from home. Even after [...]

How Different Will Our Landscape Be Post-Coronavirus?

“Prediction is very difficult, especially if it’s about the future” (Niels Bohr) Pandemics kill more [...]

COVID-19 Lockdown: Relief Programs for Businesses and SMMEs

The President, telling the nation that “We will prioritise the lives and livelihoods of our [...]

Businesses: How to Survive the Coronavirus Panic

“Never let a good crisis go to waste” (Winston Churchill) Globally, the COVID-19 coronavirus has [...]

Is Passwordless Authentication the Next Big Step?

Consider these facts: Over 80% of hacking is password related. In the first world the [...]

Budget 2020: Some Tax Relief!

Taxpayers were preparing for once again being squeezed in 2020, but we have been pleasantly [...]

Budget 2020: Will it Please Moody’s?

“Baby, baby, baby you’re out of time” (The Rolling Stones) Over the past several years [...]

Your Selection of Budget 2020 Tax Calculators

How long will you work for the taxman today? Input your salary into the 2020 Tax [...]

Starting an SME is not easy – but keep at it

Starting an SME sounds attractive but is not easy.  The start of a New Year [...]

Take Advantage of the Venture Capital Company Allowance While You Can

“There are two systems of taxation in our country: one for the informed and one [...]

Small Businesses: How to Survive and Thrive

“Why do approximately 70% – 80% of small businesses fail within five years? Why are [...]

Budget 2020: Tips for Tito – Make Your Voice Count!

On 26 February 2020 the Minister of Finance, Tito Mboweni, will be making his annual [...]

What Will The Next Decade Bring Us?

“If we can win the Rugby World Cup three times, surely it is not asking [...]

How To Detect and Dodge Financial Scams

“If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is” (wise old adage) In [...]

Sometimes the Best Management Is To Take a Back Seat

“When the best leader’s work is done the people say‘We did it ourselves’” (Lao Tzu) [...]

How to Prepare Your Business Plan

“If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!” (Benjamin Franklin) Previously we discussed why a [...]

Important: SA’s Rankings on the Ease of Doing Business Index, and an Exciting New Business Registration Platform

In his recent State of the Nation Addresses, President Ramaphosa vowed to speed up economic [...]

Businesses: Think Strategically When Cost Cutting

We all know times are tough and many companies are embarking on cost cutting exercises. [...]

Cut Your Electricity Bills!

Electricity has become a bane in our lives – not only does it increase in [...]

5 Reasons To Never Overlook Your Business Plan

“How can I be so stupid?” (John Cleese recalling when he pitched the BBC to [...]

Businesses: Let’s All Practice Corporate Sustainability to Remain Competitive and Successful

“Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability [...]

Communicate with Candour – the “Oracle of Omaha” Speaks

“The CEO who misleads others in public may eventually mislead himself in private” (Warren Buffett) [...]

Spying On Employees Is Becoming A Big Industry

Note: As always, our employment laws being complex and the penalties for getting them wrong [...]

Don’t Let a Death or Disablement Destroy Your Business

The greatest need in many small businesses is for cash flow. Picture this scenario:  Three [...]

If Artificial Intelligence Is Not That Intelligent, Should We Be Worried About Our Jobs?

“Real stupidity beats artificial intelligence every time” (Terry Pratchett) Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being rolled [...]

Business Rescue Options: Going the Informal Route v the Companies Act Route

The business rescue provisions in the Companies Act are regarded as progressive and world class [...]

How You Can Detect Fraud in Your Business

Few things are as devastating to a business’ reputation as internal fraud – it undermines [...]

Worker Burnout: Too Much Work and Unclear Goals

“‘Burnout’, n. ‘Physical or mental collapse caused by overwork or stress’” (Oxford Dictionaries) Two issues [...]

Small Business Owners: Don’t Overlook Your New Compliance Requirements!

Small business has limited resources and optimising these resources is a balancing act. Part of [...]

Employers – Need Reducing Staff Conflict With Employee Rights?

The Companies Act gives directors wide powers to manage the organisation – the Act states [...]

Expat Tax: How Will The Changes Affect You?

“A fine is a tax for doing wrong. A tax is a fine for doing [...]

Companies: Don’t Inadvertently Encourage Unethical Behaviour

“So much of what we call management consists in making it difficult for people to [...]

Sugar Tax: Good for the Taxman, Bad for the Sugar Industry

“If governments tax products like sugary drinks, they can reduce suffering and save lives. They [...]

What does Budget 2019 mean for you?

The following proposed tax changes were announced  Income tax rates are left unchanged. The primary rebate [...]

Your Selection of Budget 2019 Tax Calculators

“People who complain about taxes can be divided into two classes: men and women” (Anon) [...]

Budget 2019: Credibility Restored?

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the [...]

How to Improve Risk Management in Your Business

Risk management has become increasingly popular in the past twenty years. It is also a [...]