The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on small and big businesses will undoubtedly linger for months to come. And while the uncertainty is daunting, an opportunity emerges for businesses to rethink the way they operate. Saleem Sonday, head of group savings and investments, convened a webinar panel to help support small, medium and micro-sized enterprise (SMMEs) with practical strategies that can be implemented to bolster business survival.
There’s a new currency in the world of business and it’s called resilience and reinvention. These two concepts aren’t foreign to South Africans, but they are concepts that will become increasingly critical to the way businesses, big and small, function in a post-COVID-19 environment.
These were the overarching sentiments expressed by our panel of experts during our recent Surviving COVID-19 webinar discussion moderated by KhumaloCo founder and CEO, Andile Khumalo. The panel included: small business guru and Aurik Business Accelerator CEO Pavlo Phitidis, Business Partners Executive General Manager for Impact Investing David Morobe, award-winning entrepreneur and founder of Masana Hygiene Services Cynthia Mkhombo and PwC South Africa partner and chief economist Lullu Krugel.
The panel also discussed funding initiatives available to SMMEs, particularly the R1 billion Sukuma Relief Programme being administered by Business Partners. While this particular relief fund is now oversubscribed and closed to new applications, the fund is one of many that have been structured to serve as an evergreen facility to aide financially distressed formal sole proprietors, closed corporations, companies and trusts beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.
To gain insights into the five practical steps small businesses can action right now to avert collapse, and what SMME lenders consider before disbursing funds, watch the full webinar video below.
As an SMME, you can also visit https://smesouthafrica.co.za/the-small-business-covid-19-survival-guide-where-to-get-help/ for additional resources and information.