The informal business and seda Thami Bolani Senior Manager: Customer Relations and Information Management November 08, 2006

Who we are Seda was established in terms of Act No. 29 of 2004: The National Small Business Amendment Act, 2004 This resulted in the merger of three organizations: NTSIKA, NAMAC Trust and CPPP

Objectives Design and implement development support programs Promote a service delivery network that increases the contribution of small enterprises to the economy Strengthen the capacity of independent service providers to support small enterprises

Who is our target market? Formal enterprises (active) –Approx 426,000 (10% annual increase) Informal (mostly micro) –Approx 2,7million

How does seda work? seda provides its services to clients through three main channels: Website – National Information Centre – A national network of seda branches and Enterprise Information Centres (EIC) that offer uniform products and services

Website performance (July-Sept 2006) Total visits Unique visitors per month Total hits Average visits per day Average pages per day Average time per visit391 seconds Average pages per visit3.74

National Information Centre The top 10 business queries are: Financing the business Business plan General start-up information Finding suppliers Franchising Manufacturing Transport Financial institutions Tendering for contracts Most enquiries are by phone (80%) and (10%) Most callers are men (73%) Most callers (79%) are aged between 25 and 35 years Most callers are from Gauteng (56%) and Mpumalanga (15%)

Roll-out of the delivery network 2005/ / 2007 Planned 2007/8 & 2008/9 Target Achieved Target Provincial Offices Branches EICs ProvinceBranchesEICs Limpopo37 Mpumalanga311 Gauteng117 North West54 KZN610 Free State210 Eastern Cape319 Northern Cape 21 Western Cape 54 Total2787 Geographical spread of seda offices

SERVICE DELIVERY NETWORK SEDA NATIONAL HQ PROVINCIAL SEDA OFFICE (9 offices) SEDA BRANCH (59 branches) ENTERPRISE INFORMATION CENTRE Management and co-ordination, and support of entire network operations in the province to seda standards. Fund disbursement and administration to branches. Marketing and stakeholder relations across the province to ensure alignment with provincial government priorities. Service provider accreditation. Identification and implementation of strategic provincial initiatives. Funded by National SEDA Office and Provincial Government. Delivery of seda products and services. Implementation of programmes and projects. Identification of opportunities and business linkages for small enterprises. Accommodation of public and private sector partners in small enterprises. Development, management and support of enterprise information centres. Funded by national SEDA Office and District- or Metro Governments. Dissemination of information on what is available in the seda and partner network. Needs analysis and referral of SMMEs to branch or specialised service provider. Basic assistance on how to access seda products and services. Client Data capturing. Funded by National SEDA Office and Local Governments Management and co-ordination, and support of entire network operations in the province to seda standards. Fully funded by the dti. Service provider Service provider (minimum 294 EICs) CORE FUNCTIONS:

Information for informal business “I have a simple but strong belief: the most meaningful way to differentiate your company from your competition – the best way to put distance between yourself and the crowd – is to do an outstanding job with information. How to gather, manage and use information will determine whether you win or lose.” Bill Gates Chairperson, Microsoft the Speed of Thought

Information … Vuk’Uzenzele in 2005 – 06 (2.4 million listeners weekly) IKWEKWEZI FM ( listeners daily) Road shows Other media partnerships

Training Agreement with African Co-operative for Hawkers and Informal Businesses (ACHIB) Develop business skills program for hawkers Develop the ‘Train the Trainer’ program for ACHIB

Home Based Entrepreneurs HBE’s are significant contributors to local economy An estimated HBE’s are active and generate approximately R476m p/m There are three types of HBE’s: service, retail and production An untapped opportunity for many unemployed

Access to finance Develop business idea Prepare documentation, e.g. business plan and business profile Access to APEX Funds Aftercare

Registration of businesses Assessment tool to interrogate readiness to start formal business Register businesses as legal entities Handholding services Promotion of coops

Partnerships “Our success has really been based on partnerships from the very beginning.” Bill Gates Amajuba District

Thank You