Business is about making money. Central to this is managing the money coming into the business and the money flowing out. Manage this cash flow effectively and you have a prospering business. Get it wrong and you could find your company mired in debt. This fundamental principle of effective business management is addressed in the latest episode of the Business Coach, the Standard Bank-sponsored SABC3 series that examines the challenges facing small business owners and provides them with guidance on avoiding pitfalls when establishing or growing a small business. “One of the biggest challenges facing SMEs is cash flow,” says Clive Pintusewitz, Head of Small Enterprise and Enterprise Development at Standard Bank. “No matter how much you know about what your customers want, the art of managing money and ensuring that cash is available to purchase stock and pay business expenses and salaries is essential to success. The quicker that this art is mastered, the quicker the business will...

24 July 2012: In the current economic climate South African SMEs are increasingly cutting costs due to the sustained impacts of the global financial crisis. This is according to the recently released KPMG Business Leaders Survey, which found that a significant amount of local businesses were attempting to cut costs due to the uncertainty of the current global economic climate. According to Ben Bierman, the CFO of Business Partners Limited, SMEs should be wary when cutting business costs, as certain expenses should not necessarily be eliminated. He says that recent research has indicated that a majority of South African SMEs do not believe that that they are in danger of cyber attacks, while in reality they are increasingly becoming the targets and victims of online criminal activity. Bierman says that as businesses became more reliant on technology it is imperative that SMEs protect themselves against the potential dangers of cybercrime. He believes the global economic downturn has ...

Johannesburg, 30 July 2012 – Scooters Pizza recently acknowledged and rewarded their brand champions at their annual Operational Awards ceremony, held on 18 July 2012. The annual campaign, which ran from September 2011 to May 2012, focuses on evaluating various aspects and flagship qualities that make an award winning store. The campaign reaffirms Scooters Pizza’s [XX] nationwide stores’ commitment to uphold brand standards, foster franchise growth for the store and the franchise network, and to serve only the Hottest.Tastest.Fastest. pizzas and meals.  Scooters Pizza’s Managing Executive, Jeanne Geldenhuys says that several aspects are crucial in brand building. “Implementation of brand standards; exceptional customer service and hospitality; effective locality marketing which entrench a store into the local community; necessary leadership and hands-on management; and most importantly, quality meal offerings are just a few of the toppings that add to Scooters Pizza’s brand a...

The wait to satisfy your appetite and meet at Maxi’s Welkom is no longer, as the family restaurant recently fired up their legendary grills in Goldfields Mall. The community now has the chance to experience their first taste of the restaurant’s delicious and wholesome meal offerings. Maxi’s Welkom owner, Tieka van Rensburg notes that he has attainable aims for the restaurant. “I am extremely excited about the opportunity to open a Maxi’s restaurant in Welkom, and intend to ensure that it will rapidly become the best quick-service sit down restaurant in Welkom. “Customers entering our doors can expect the outstanding core values that Maxi’s has become renowned for, including exemplary service from management and staff, freshly prepared meals of the best quality in generous portions, and of course, value for their money.” Van Rensburg, who has firsthand customer service experience having worked in the cellular industry for over 15 years, says that he was motivated to open a Maxi’s ...

Chapter 2: Investigating the suspects - Monsieur Landlord Our poor unsuspecting victim moved quietly about his business, opening the doors, mopping the floors, working IN his business instead of ON his business, completely oblivious to the danger lurking inside his filing cabinet. For there, in a dusty folder alongside the liquor license application he had been meaning to submit, was his lease agreement! By Michael Said Well, the writing had been on the wall and the warning signs there for all to see. Over-trading, new centres opening daily, falling foot counts, rising input costs and an increasingly selective clientele, all coupled with a world recession, but why should this worry him? After all, people have to eat, don’t they? Yes, they do, but they don’t have to eat out, they don’t have to eat out as often and they certainly don’t have to eat out at YOU! Suddenly foot count plummeted by 30percent and the customers still eating out were spending 30 percent less. On top of which,...

Johannesburg 11 July 2012 - The meal options available for health conscious consumers who are looking for a fast yet delicious bite to eat are limited in today’s fast food market. Yes, salads and grilled options have become a necessity for brands wanting to target the healthier individual, but what about a selection of wholesome, mouth-watering meals which don’t leave consumers wondering how they will need to physically work the meal off. Sandwich Baron is revolutionising a healthy bread alternative by being the only food franchise in the country to stock and produce call-to-order sandwiches or pitas made from low carbohydrate products. This low carbohydrate bread decreases the usual negative health effects associated with highly refined carbohydrates, including spiked blood sugar. The product range is particularly suited for diabetics, individuals who want to follow a healthy lifestyle or are on a diet, and those on high protein and low carbohydrate eating plans. Sally J’Arlette-...

Chapter One: Identifying the suspects By Michael Said Like all good crime writers, let me begin by introducing our lead character, the victim! The restaurant industry has always been a difficult industry, with a number of factors that unsuspecting entrants are often not aware of. For one thing it is a factory. You have to turn raw material into finished goods in little or no time at all. Secondly it is retail with a twist. Your clients sample the product in front of you and not once they have arrived home. Thirdly, customers are only expected to pay for their purchase after they have enjoyed it. Combine these factors with a few others like cash, alcohol and ego and you quickly realise why an owner’s visit to any table is fraught with danger. Despite these challenges, margins were acceptable to high if you managed your business properly and the restaurant industry remained an attractive and seemingly lucrative pursuit. Alas, all that has changed over the past three years. Restaurant...

By Francois Muscat As a franchise owner you benefit from a variety of franchise-related marketing aspects such as brand identification and customer loyalty, but how successful are you at marketing your own franchise? Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) refers to the practice of applying techniques to your website to up its rating in the “organic” or “natural” search results, and is a key strategy in directing people to your website, blog, product pages and other content. The power of ranking well in search engines When was the last time you whipped out "The Yellow Pages" to find a local service company? Search engines have replaced Yellow pages and calling your business "AAA Plumbers" so it would appear first on an alphabetical list is no longer a viable option. As most internet users will tell you, people rarely browse past page two of the search results to find information, so if your website is hard to find in the search engine results pages, you are not ...

An SME is not a corporate and cannot be treated like one. This makes the implementation of governance in SME’s uniquely challenging. By Carl Bates SME’s often have little or no history of formal governance in their business. As a result there is no governance culture in existence and no basis on which to build and develop the governance framework. This does not mean, however, that SME’s can avoid the key principles of King III and the basic elements of good governance. For example, many SME’s will state that because they are small, with a limited number of shareholders who are often all involved in the business, the requirement for independent non-executive directors is either less important or not necessary at all. In reality, this is not the case. The biggest challenge in implementing governance in SME’s is the emotional involvement of the shareholders, who are also the directors and managers. Effective implementation of governance in an SME requires that you create a framework ar...

The Consumer Protection Act (CPA), an awareness of the importance of estate agents’ Fidelity Fund Certificates (FFC), as well as the implementation of the NQF 4 or 5 qualifications for estate agents and principals, have lead to elevated professionalism in the real estate industry. By Jan Davel Consumer demand for better service, more information and better value for money in the real estate sector will continue to escalate as Joe Public grasps the impact of the CPA implemented in April last year. Legislation, regulation, consumer awareness, ever-improving technology and information systems means that ever-increasing levels of professionalism is demanded of all estate agents. Those who don’t pay attention to the rules, policies, procedures, codes of conduct, training requirements and skills intensities on a continuous basis, or who don’t become more efficient by embracing new business practices and technologies, will lose out. At RealNet we are proud of the fact that new franchi...

Johannesburg, 28 June 2012 - Scooters Pizza stores across Gauteng recently had onlookers wondering why a mini master class of young pizza connoisseurs was taking place in their favourite local pizza store. With a recipe of crafty hands and creative minds, flying dough, a variety of tasty toppings and smiles all around, over 200 children from various schools recently took part in Scooters Pizza’s annual Whizzkid Week. Whizzkid Week, which ran from 16 – 21 June, provided young fanatics with the opportunity to discover the unique art of pizza making first hand, including a tour of the Scooters Pizza store, learning about the importance of hygiene and food preparation in their kitchens, as well as the history behind delectable pizza making. Christo Calitz, CEO of Taste Holdings Food Division says that Scooters Pizza is passionate about giving back to the communities in which it operates and initiated the programme to encourage childhood development. “There is no better way than to cel...

In the world of business, it is the person with a sound plan that finishes ahead of the pack. So, taking the time to carefully consider a new venture and plotting your way ahead with a well-constructed business plan will pay dividends when the inevitable challenges come your way. This is one of the essential first steps in launching a business, but is often ignored and can be costly. This is the advice of Clive Pintusewitz, Director of Small Enterprise and Enterprise Development at Standard Bank. Standard Bank, in partnership with SABC3 is bringing The Business Coach programme to television screens every Sunday at 4pm. The programme provides South Africa’s small business owners with hands-on advice, and the recently aired first episode saw a bakery owner grappling with a lack of planning. “The benefits of a business plan become very obvious early on in the life of a small business,” says Mr Pintusewitz. “It is a tool that not only focuses the mind of the owner on what is important...

Not knowing exactly what money belongs to you personally and what belongs to your business leads to confusion, loss of control over cash flow, and can ultimately lead to the premature end of a small business. This warning was sounded on The Business Coach, the Standard Bank-sponsored series on SABC3 that was launched this month. The programme examines the challenges facing small business owners and provides guidance on how they can be avoided. “Most small businesses begin with a big idea backed by high levels of enthusiasm and personal ambition. Personal funds are set aside and the business is established. Unfortunately, in the rush to get the new business started, the first mistake has already been made because the business owner is using his own personal bank account for both personal and business use,” says Clive Pintusewitz, Director of Small Enterprise and Enterprise Development at Standard Bank. The first step must always be to open a separate business account and ensure th...