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Money Matters

How to save money and safeguard your business

National Savings Month, which takes place in July every year, is an initiative created by The Savings Institute of South Africa (SASI). This calendar event focuses on financial literacy for all and aims to challenge consumers and business owners to work towards living within their means, while also reminding them of the many benefits of saving.

Most South Africans don’t have a safety net to protect themselves during periods of recession, climbing inflation, interest rate hikes, unexpected expenses, and the overall increase in day-to-day expenses. This is due to the fact that the country has one of the lowest savings rates in the world. Coupled with this, statistics show that 90% of South Africans do not have enough savings to retire, that the average South African spends 80% of their salary in just five days, and that 67% of their monthly income is used to pay off debt.

Get ready for tax season: Year-end guide for small businesses

Even though the tax-year end can be a daunting time for small businesses, it’s good to know you can have access to sound advice from reputable companies like Sage to help guide you through the process year after year.

The latest Sage ebook titled ‘Get ready for tax season: Year-end guide for small businesses,’ provides a range of topics to equip small businesses to navigate smoothly through tax seasons.

Absa unveils next generation of ATMs

Absa now offers convenient tap-and-go ATMS. This is great news for customers who've had their bank cards swallowed during electrical blackouts or who face deliberate card jamming by criminals.

SA’s fourth-largest lender by market value aims to roll out 900 tap-and-go ATMs this year. These will be primarily focused in Gauteng and the Western Cape.

The ATMs work when customers tap their cards on the ATMs' near-field communication-enabled card readers and then enter their pins.

The new system is expected to reduce transaction times at Absa ATMs by up to 12 seconds on average.

Good business: tools to being more financially fit

Article written by Brent Lindeque (Good Things Guy)

In South Africa, Experian, a global financial data company, has joined forces with the National Small Business Chamber to launch the “How To Be Financially Fit” campaign.

Good Things Guy and #SAINC have partnered to bring you another exciting season of good business stories.

That’s right! It’s season four of the incredible series and we’re still telling good business stories… together.

#SAINC is about changing conversations – from the dinner table to the shebeen, from dusty street corners to gym cafeterias. It’s about shaking off the doom and gloom and sharing the real news that doesn’t reach the headlines.

Deeds office delays got you down? Here’s how to expedite your business property registration

Lockdown restrictions and periodic office closures during the pandemic hampered the administrative capabilities of several key governmental departments, including the Deeds Office. Just as we were experiencing some improvements, the advent of stage 6 loadshedding has resulted in another backlog in the processing of property registrations, many of which involve commercial properties. With some careful planning and preparation, however, business owners can play a proactive role in expediting the process.

The 5 questions you need to ask a payment solution provider

With the ongoing decline in the popularity of cash, the vast majority of businesses in the modern era will need to be able to receive electronic payments of some kind or another. Whether through EFT credits, debit orders, card payments, these businesses will all require a "payment solutions provider" with access to the banks and can facilitate these payments. Unsurprisingly, who one partners with, in terms of the provision of payment solutions, can become an important decision affecting the business's day-to-day operations and impacting cash-flow and bottom-line profits. The business owner must understand who they are working with and make their decisions for a payment solution partnership from a position of knowledge.

Business Partners Limited launches new energy fund to address the pressing need for small businesses to invest in alternative energy solutions

According to data published by the South African Reserve Bank, the accumulative loss of stage 6 loadshedding amounts to between R204 million to R900 million per day. A proportion of these losses are incurred by the thousands of small businesses who simply do not have the resources to install back-up sources of energy to continue operations during power cuts. In a bid to provide business owners with much-needed relief and finance to invest in viable alternatives, Business Partners Limited launched a R400 million Energy Fund for small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) on 20 April 2023.

Learning to pitch better: the value of feedback from investors and financiers

Article written by Allon Raiz

When I am asked whether entrepreneurs are born or made, I respond that the evidence shows that it is neither. Entrepreneurs precipitate. One of the conditions that need to be present for an entrepreneur to precipitate is their ability to learn and iterate, in other words, they need to be able to apply what they learn in their businesses - particularly in the early stages of business.

If I happen to be standing in front of a room full of entrepreneurs when I’m asked this question, I have a party trick to really underscore my answer. I ask all those entrepreneurs who are currently in a business to put up their hands and usually between 95 to 100% do so. Then I ask how many of them are running the exact same business with the same business model and the same products and services as when they started out. One hundred per cent of the hands go down. Not one hand to be seen.

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