Global unemployment could be alleviated if every small business employed one more person. Achieving that would certainly change our world in very positive ways.
This vision is the dream of the Entrepreneurs’ Network (EN), a Cape Town initiative to encourage entrepreneurship that was established through the work of founding partners, the Cape SA Jewish Board of Deputies; ORT Jet Cape Town; Over the Rainbow; the Silulo Foundation; and Entrepreneurs’ Organisation Accelerator.
“We in Cape Town and South Africa, have a huge opportunity to contribute to this dream,” comments Dawn Nathan-Jones, founder and Chair of the Entrepreneurs’ Network and CEO of Over the Rainbow, which provides support and guidance to small businesses. “Through our work to support and grow local entrepreneurial ventures into businesses that are sustainable and able to take advantage of market opportunities, we can generate more business success stories and, with each successful venture, comes the chance of more employment opportunities.”
A big part of the EN approach is to ignite entrepreneurial success through collaborative efforts. And so, it was in this spirit that EN recently launched a significant collaboration with Inospace, the hugely successful commercial property venture started by local entrepreneur, Rael Levitt.
Officially launched at the end of September at Inospace’s Powder Mill, the Entrepreneurs’ Networking Hub provides a dedicated space for EN’s large-scale events aimed at supporting local small businesses. In addition, Inospace has offered EN members access to meeting rooms across its parks for hosting their regular forum meetings,” explains Dawn.
Rael Levitt, founder of Inospace, describes the Entrepreneurs’ Networking Hub as “a vital initiative to support new industrialists in South Africa.” He explains, “Our country is filled with talented and driven people who need to be given a platform to create businesses that will expand the economy and improve lives. Inospace is fully committed to fostering a new generation of industrialists and entrepreneurs.”
Highlighting the significance of both the EN organisation and the new EN Hub is the fact that the Hub was officially opened by Alderman James Vos, the City of Cape Town’s Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Growth. Referring to the cutting of the ribbon to launch the new venture, Alderman Vos said, “More than just a snip…[of a pair of scissors]…, this is a big step for Cape Town’s innovators and job creators. Here’s to a future where small businesses thrive, and our city continues to lead in entrepreneurship! Through cutting-edge digital content and global outreach, we are putting Cape Town on the map as a place to live, invest, work, study and play.”
Access to Market: Empowering Small Businesses to Scale
The launch event was also an occasion on which the approximately 100 small business owners in attendance could hear more from a panel of successful entrepreneurs. Moderated by Dawn, the panel focused on the challenge of gaining access to new markets for small businesses. “With constant change in the business environment,” Dawn explains, “it’s difficult for small businesses to fully grasp the needs and preferences of customers, new competition in the market, and the overall market landscape.”
Those attending the event heard from panelists, Paul Raphaely of Nomu, Sindile Mavundla of Rook Cycles, and Matthew Leppan from Takealot. Some of the key takeaways from the panel include:
● Both e-commerce and brick-and-mortar have a place. Matthew explained that it is important to know when a product is ready for selling via an online platform – not all products may be suitable for online sales.
● Partnerships and collaboration can make a huge difference in the ability of a business to grow. This approach assisted Rook Cycles in entering new markets and thus expanding.
● Digital marketing and social media are useful tools when one is scaling and growing a business.
● In a highly competitive world, it is crucial to differentiate your product from those of competitors, to find the niche for that product, and to keep focused on these issues.
The point about differentiation of the product was raised by Paul Raphaely, whose business operates in the retail sector, but the same message was provided by Inospace’s Rael, whose success has been the result of a clearly differentiated offering in the corporate market, which is seeing increasing competition.
The support provided to small businesses by EN and others is crucial for the local economy and our society. The more businesses become sustainable, and the more they grow, the more chance there is of countering the many negative impacts of the high unemployment that plagues our country.
Entrepreneurs’ Network – 2024 statistics:
10 Forums (entrepreneurs work together in groups supporting each other through collaborative learning)
85 entrepreneurs make up the 10 Forums
64% of the 85 entrepreneurs are female
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