Good Business Basics: Execution is key

There has been renewed focus from provincial and national government in promoting and expanding business in the townships and rural areas.

These initiatives are laudable and, if well executed, will contribute to increased economic activity and increased employment opportunities for the masses in desperate need of gainful employment.

YOU MIGHT ALSO BE INTERESTED IN : Good Business Basics: Promote a foundation of ethical behaviour

The challenge, to my mind, is ensuring that the economic cake is actually enlarged, rather than just distributed in a different way.

By this I mean any expansion in township economies must not happen at the expense of existing city centre businesses and, indeed, informal and formal small enterprises in the townships.

A typical example is the development of shopping malls in townships, which research has shown tends to negatively affect smaller independent traders and informal traders, as well as established town based enterprises.

I would like to suggest that the best results will be achieved in targeting the services and non-retail sectors, which are usually saturated and highly competitive.

Home and vehicle maintenance are areas that could benefit from well executed existing programmes designed to upskill and capacitate operators in these fields, and attract new entrants into them.

There is a lot of activity in the home ownership sector, both in the private and public space, and the demand for services such as electrical maintenance and repairs, plumbing and home décor, such as blinds and curtains, is burgeoning.

Similarly, enhancing skills and infrastructure in the motor vehicle sector can be significantly beneficial to existing operators and attract new entrants.

The efforts of Toyota in this sphere must be recognised and applauded.

It is important to highlight though, that township and rural customers are becoming more demanding, and have high expectations in terms of price and service.

So, it is incumbent on local (township) based businesses to up their games in this respect, to grow sustainable enterprises.

A second opportunity is one that can be driven by local authorities around procurement of goods and services used in service delivery in the townships they serve.

YOU MIGHT ALSO BE INTERESTED IN : Good Business Basics: The onus is on YOU

Areas such as grass cutting and verge maintenance, road repairs, facilities management (stadiums, halls), IT services to community halls, libraries, and satellite government offices all have a huge potential to generate improved economic activity without damaging existing businesses.

However, the success of such initiatives lie squarely in concerted and targeted efforts by the procurement departments of municipalities.

There are many opportunities to significantly improve the scale and scope of township economies. All that is needed is a concerted and co-ordinated effort from all stakeholders.

After matriculating, Vijay Naidoo studied Economics in the UK. Upon his return, hejoined the family construction business as MD for 10 years.

He subsequently joined his sister in their furniture manufacturing business as director for quality assurance and operations. He was responsible for all quality aspects of their products, and led the project to the business achieving an ISO 9000 quality accreditation. As an export focused business, this was important for our international competitiveness.

Mr Naidoo has an abiding interest in quality management and productivity improvement, particularly in manufacturing.

More recently, he has focused a lot of his time on giving back to the community by way of mentorship of small businesses and sitting on the executive of the South Coast Chamber of Commerce. He also sits on the Board of the Ugu South Coast Development Agency.

HAVE YOUR SAY

Like our Facebook page, follow us on Twitter and Instagram

For news straight to your phone, add us on WhatsApp 082 421 6033