Getting to grips with taxes, labour law compliance, cost management and so forth can easily get complicated for any fresh startup. At the end of the day — regardless of how clever your idea is — being a successful entrepreneur boils down to how successfully you can run your business.
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To establish this, local risk finance company for SMEs Business Partners Limited (BPL) recently announced the launch of Entrepreneurs Growth Centre that will provide free support and service assistance to entrepreneurs in South Africa.
While the Centre is based in Johannesburg, its services are available nationally via email, LinkedIn and its call centre. By contacting the centre, entrepreneurs will have access to trained business mentors who are equipped to provide educated information and advice.
Christo Botes, Executive Director of BPL, says that apart from having limited access to funding, support services is probably the biggest obstacle entrepreneurs have to face growing their businesses.
The first few years of operation can be a vulnerable time for entrepreneurs, as this is when the business is finding a space in the marketplace and establishing a name for itself. It is a known fact that businesses within the first few years of existence have a high failure rate in South Africa. Guidance at this stage is therefore vital as support plays a crucial role ensuring the sustainability of the business.
Before the inception of the centre, BPL did a survey to find out what exactly small businesses today are struggling with. More than two thirds required assistance with regards to conducting market research, BEE, tax, VAT and labour law compliance, to cash flow management and startup cost management.
“With the launch of the Entrepreneurs Growth Centre, Business Partners Limited intends to bridge this gap by bringing the information needed to run a successful business to the entrepreneur, addressing the challenges that entrepreneurs face, and ultimately promote and develop entrepreneurship in South Africa,” says Botes.
You can contact the Entrepreneurs Growth Centre on 0861 SMEFIN (0861 763 346) or email .
For more information visit the website.