MORE than 42 percent of emerging South African entrepreneurs did not know how to set up an online shop, according to entrepreneur learning platform Heavy Chef.
To address this, online payment gateway PayFast has partnered with Heavy Chef’s entrepreneur education non-profit called the Heavy Chef Foundation to offer a 12-week development programme, designed to empower aspiring business owners with the skills needed to set up their own e-commerce stores.
PayFast Business Developer Manager Byron Clarence said e-commerce made entrepreneurship accessible to more people.
“You don’t need to rent out a brick-and-mortar storefront or set up a market stand to start a business anymore. All you really need is access to the internet, a solid idea, and a good understanding of what customers expect from online stores. With this mentorship programme, we hope to provide the basic ingredients for success,” Clarence said.
Three cohorts of 10 entrepreneurs each, will take part in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, and Elardus Park, Pretoria, as well as via virtual classes.
By the time participants graduate in August, each team will have created their own ‘Recipe Book’ on the subject of online shops. This will be developed during weekly workshop sessions, with the help of e-commerce experts, who will share their insights and act as programme mentors. Topics to be covered include choosing an e-commerce platform, making transactions, delivering products, managing customers, and more.
Heavy Chef Foundation chief executive Louis Janse van Rensburg said this learning model was tailored to the context of their programme attendees, enabling them to direct their own learning and empower each other as a group.
“After all, entrepreneurs teaching entrepreneurs–that’s where the impact is made,” Van Rensburg said.
Entrepreneurs will also have access to useful resources, including cash vouchers, equipment, data, access to co-working spaces, mental health support and Heavy Chef guidebooks.
“Just like any business, success is all about having access to the right tools. By providing both knowledge and resources, we're creating a sustainable approach to learning, and empowerment,” said Clarence, who is also participating as one of the programme mentors.
Van Rensburg said that they were incredibly proud to partner with an organisation like PayFast, which was renowned for their incredible support of the entrepreneurial ecosystem. “They’ve had the foresight to support a programme that aims to innovate and deliver learning, in a hyper contextual and personalised way, to ensure the next generation of business owners can make a success out of their ideas.”
Meanwhile, the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA), an entity of the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI), and the SAB Foundation have announced a partnership to promote social entrepreneurship development in South Africa. The SAB Foundation describes social entrepreneurship as business solutions to social problems.
The partnership will see TIA and SAB Foundation co-investing in a Social Innovation Fund, the Social Innovation and Disability Empowerment Awards, and a University Seed Fund.
TIA will invest R 5 million along with R23.6m from the SAB Foundation. TIA invests approximately R400 million annually to support technology innovation through various funds and programmes. The co-investment with the SAB Foundation is geared at accelerating impact and leveraging private sector support in the innovation value chain.
The funds will use a combination of grants and loans, with both technical and business development support to scale these entities and create jobs. These are unique ventures that are trying to address some of South Africa’s biggest social challenges, so the knock-on effect of helping them grow is exponential.
The intention is that following the support received from SAB Foundation and TIA, businesses will be ready to take on investment capital from venture capitalists and other impact investors.
BUSINESS REPORT