Seda seeks women entrepreneurs

“The total impact of the intervention is in the hands of the entrepreneur.”

February 3, 2015

1 minute read

Women take part in the course that was held in KwaZulu-Natal recently.

SECUNDA – The Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda) will recruit, select, coach, mentor and train 28 women entrepreneurs who are in business for two years or longer, who employ more than five people and who have achieved a turnover of R500 000 yearly.

The course will last for seven months and Seda invites women to apply.

The target regions are Ermelo, Kinross, Bethal, Evander, Leandra, eMbalenhle, Secunda and Standerton.

Profile women entrepreneurs who have been selected to take part in the programme, must attend the graduation ceremony in August.

Seda has secured a partnership with the Flemish government and is using the SA Plato model based on a model used in Belgium.

It was adapted and improved to the South African context and some of the unique features of the mentorship and coaching intervention are linked to designing a strategy based on a problem analysis, scenario planning and addressing the holistic needs of the entrepreneur and the enterprise.

“We set up a blog on a social network website through which the entrepreneurs communicate,” said Ms Vani Moodley from Moodley and Associates who will be offering the course for Seda.

According to her, 22 entrepreneurs of a previous course achieved a 123 per cent growth in turnover and an increase in employment by 21 per cent, creating 53 new jobs.

A few of these entrepreneurs began trading with Africa and Europe as a direct result of the impact and a current analysis of the statistics indicated that their turnover has increased by 400 per cent.

“The total impact of the intervention is in the hands of the entrepreneur,” said Ms Moodley.

“The entrepreneur requires focus, commitment, hard work and the desire to take the enterprise to the next level.

“We have extended the due date for applications to 4pm on 12 February.”