Business 101

Anyone who tells you that managing a business is easy has clearly never had to manage one! The marketplace is competitive, and it is only those businesses that show a strong grasp of the fundamentals that will survive – particularly in these tough economic times. Whether you are managing your own business or climbing the corporate ladder in the business you work for, it is important to realise that organisations the world over operate on the basis of a number of key principles. The better your understanding of these principles, the more success you will achieve in your business. If you pick up any business book, you will find tips on the do’s and don’ts of business.

 

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The SME Survival Game 

Small and medium enterprises are repeatedly hailed as the practical hope for economic development and employment creation in South Africa – they constitute an estimated 91% of formal business and contribute between 52% and 57% of the country’s gross domestic product. But this hope remains stifled owing to their high failure rate, demanding constant evaluation of what predicates business survival in modern times. Challenges commonly faced by small business owner–managers have generally been described as being related to environmental, marketing, financial and managerial factors, with financial difficulties being the most prevalent reason for business failure. The lack of managerial skill means that, even though SMEs are managed by highly motivated people, they still find it difficult to compete with larger firms.

 

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Live the Life You Love 

When she started feeling disenchanted with her job as a chemical researcher, Annah Lelimo knew it was time to pursue her dream of being a businesswoman and follow her passion for baking. Annah is a petite, seemingly serious woman, until she starts talking about her bakery. Then her face lights up and she becomes very animated about the bread, scones, cakes and doughnuts she and her team at Thabong Bakery, based in Thabong Township in Welkom, bake every day. “It was always my dream to start my own business one day, and succeed in it. So, when I started feeling disenchanted with my job as a researcher at a large Johannesburg-based chemical engineering firm, I knew the time had come to pursue my dream and to follow my passion. I used to bake a lot when growing up, so, instinctively, I knew I could run a very successful bakery,” explains the former chemical engineer.

 

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