The State of Small Business

The State of Small Business is a platform and a movement to change the mindsets of young people about entrepreneurship and how to start with what you have wherever you are and earn a LIVING! We live in a country where the latest unemployment statistics from Statistics South Africa suggest that the unemployment rate is at a staggering 32.9% South Africans. With two thirds of the population in South

Africa being the youth, the youth is mostly affected by unemployment. Youth unemployment has been high for many years in South Africa and is one of the country’s major socio-economic challenges. Cross-country comparisons regularly affirm that South Africa’s unemployment rates are among the highest in the world. Unemployed youth are characterised by their lack of employability resulting from a range of socio-economic factors. They often have low levels of education, have dropped out of school and invariably do not have the literacy, numeracy and communication skills needed in the labour market. They also have little work experience, which is a particularly undesirable characteristic for employers. I kindly request sponsorship so we can renew and rebuild the spirit of Entrepreneurship starting in Cosmo City, where I live, and we can speak to other businesses elsewhere who are keen. These unemployed youth are characterised by their lack of employability resulting from a range of socio-economic factors. These young people lack strong networks or social capital that allow them to source job opportunities and tend not to have sufficient financial resources to enable mobility to areas where there is demand for labour. Of those who do have resources available as a result of their family support or network, they often have unrealistically high reservation wages, thereby resulting in relatively long periods of unsuccessful searching. These socio-economic factors have resulted in a gap between productivity and entry-level wages for young workers, which is a constraint on job creation. My plan is to have it as a business movement to promote and strengthen entrepreneurship learning from each one of these small businesses and their journeys. I am happy to organise ALL the interventions that these small businesses would require, for example, how the tender documents are filled for any work being applied for. I am happy to arrange for SARS Compliance for our small entities, part of the social media pages would be to highlight the agencies that can offer assistance, be it financial or non-financial to our small businesses. The National Development Plan of South Africa has a target of creating 11 million jobs by 2030. The government is hoping that these 11 million jobs will be as a result of the promotion and fostering of a culture of entrepreneurship in young people in our communities. It is up to all the young people and learners in our schools to find the gaps and projects that will create the 11 million jobs by 2030, when they will be adults. Young people have the task to make our communities be great places to stay, places to prosper in business and as individual law-abiding citizens of our country. Young people have to make The National Development Plan of South Africa happen! If you need to profile, get your business out there, grow, activate and get a business plan for your business and or initiative, contact Mzukona M.