December 12, 2004
By Laura du Preez
Think you could run your own business? Then look online for a mine of practical information and advice – and even quizzes – for would-be entrepreneurs.
Do you have a great idea that you believe you could turn into a lucrative small business? Or do you need to create your own employment and have visions of buying a franchise or some other well-run outfit that will bring in a tidy sum every month?
No more is it a matter of dreaming while thumbing through the "Start your own…" series at the bookstore. There is lots of self-help on the internet. Once you are logged on, you can do all sorts of things, from taking a test to see if you’ve got what it takes to run a business, to reading up on different business ownership structures and the process of buying an existing business. Ultimately, you can even work out your first year’s cashflow.
Start with the website of the Business Referral and Information Network (Brain) at www.brain.org.za Brain was initiated by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and is now managed by Namac Trust, a support agency within the DTI. Any individual or small business may call Brain’s national centre for assistance on a range of issues, from finance to manufacturing processes and patent infringements. The website has sections on business opportunities, starting a business, financing it, managing it and support for small business.
In the section on starting a business, for example, you will find an "Ideas" link. Follow this and you will find links to other useful sites if you are looking for a business, buying a business or inventing your own business idea. There are also links to articles on aptitude for running your own business, developing a business plan, legal issues and insurance, legal business structures, registration of close corporations, how to research competitiveness, and trading licences.
For inventors, there are articles on patents, designs, copyright and trademarks, including links to patent registers.
Site links are both local and the best from around the world, such as www.bizplans.com – a site with a number of tools for those who need to write business plans – and www.smetoolkit.org – which has articles, tools and forms to help you get started.
Like Brain, the Franchise Referral and Information Network (Frain) is managed by the Namac Trust. It’s website, www.frain.org.za, has a glossary of franchise terms, as well as articles on how franchising works, the advantages and disadvantages of franchising, what’s in a franchise agreement, what a franchise costs, what you should bear in mind when you select a franchise, the Franchise Association of Southern Africa’s code of ethics, how to raise finance, and so on.
You can also search for franchises by name and by province, town or suburb, by investment required or by a combination of these factors.
If you are looking for the contact details of or news about franchises, visit Franchise World at www.franchiseworld.co.za. This site has an interactive "Entrepreneurial insight quiz" that assesses your suitability to becoming your own boss. The results, which show you how you measure up in terms of several traits entrepreneurs should have, are returned to you instantly. Then you can mail them to yourself or print them and peruse your strengths and weaknesses at your leisure.
The Franchise World site also has an "Online bank applications" link, which takes you to a guide to how much you can afford to borrow. For example, if you have R100 000, you can borrow R250 000. And there is an "Ask the Experts" link inviting you to mail your small business questions to experts in the fields of law, branding, recruitment, property, tax, public relations, franchising and banking.
Businesses for sale
If you are looking for a business to buy, then you will probably be trawling the websites of various business brokers. One of them, Aldes (www.aldes.co.za), has some useful information for prospective buyers. Look under "General information" for the "How to buy and value a business" and the "Buying and selling a business" links. There you will find a number of chapters written by Aldes managing director Mike Hindle on subjects such as: where to start looking, how to turn your broker into a bloodhound, how to buy a business safely, the most common disadvantages of buying a going concern, evaluating business assets and what net profit really means.
Absa (www.absa.co.za) has a business toolbox on the business pages of its website. Follow the "Business" link to a page where you will find lots of information on Absa business banking products. Then look on the left-hand navigation bar for the "Small business toolbox" link.
The small business toolbox is made up of a number of very useful booklets covering a range of topics, including a checklist for buying a business, franchising, principles of finance, your business and your bank, the business plan, key issues in small business management, legal issues and tax.
You can also download a cashflow program and manual. This will help you determine reasonably accurately how much cash you are going to need to run your business, taking into account factors such as your expected turnover, your business expenses, how long before you have to pay your debtors, how long your creditors are going to take to pay you, and so on.
Nedbank (www.nedbank.co.za) also has a dedicated section for small-to-medium enterprises. From the "Corporate and business" menu on the home page, choose "Nedbank SME". This page has a "Management guide" link, which takes you to information on a number of issues such as writing business plans and managing your business.
To access all the bank’s calculators, follow the "Calculators and tools" link. Although none are specifically aimed at business owners, depending on the type of business you are considering, some calculators, such those for vehicle finance and bond repayments, may be useful if you need to buy vehicles or premises for your business.
Nedbank’s "Information centre" may be useful to would-be business owners who need currency news and forex rates. It also has business, economic and market news.
Entrepreneur (www.entrepreneur.co.za) has a start-ups centre with articles aimed at new and would-be business owners. Users are invited to mail questions to a start-up "expert", but there is no clue as to who the expert is, or evidence of his or her work in terms of answers to other people’s questions.
Business Partners (www.businesspartners.co.za) invests in formal small and medium enterprises, and provides mentorship, consulting, and property broking and management services to small and medium enterprises. Its website boasts a business plan writing tool, but it’s little more than an online article on how to write a business plan, although it does have examples of a cashflow statement, a balance sheet and an income statement.
Bizland (www.bizland.co.za) markets itself as the ultimate resource for the small and medium-sized business. It offers a payroll and human resources administration service. It also has an e-billing service if you want to publish invoices and statements via email, online or to mobile devices such as a cellphone. But if it’s traditional stationery you prefer, you may also be able to order this online, depending on where you live.
The "LabourSmart" section deals with common labour issues, while the BizFax service will convert your faxes to email and vice versa, allowing you to send and receive faxes wherever you are.
Through various partners, Bizland also offers other services, such as a comprehensive package for start-up businesses that includes registration of new or shelf (registered but dormant) companies and close corporations, web services and accounting packages.
Good reading
But if you are still in the planning stages, the "Useful articles" pages will probably be of most interest. The "Buying a business" category includes many of the articles on the Aldes site, but the "Budget and finance" category includes other interesting articles such as "160 to 1 against financial success"; "The little oke’s guide to collecting debts" and "Why all financial projections are wrong".
The "Franchising" section also has a quiz that will test whether you are an ideal franchisee and the "Start-up" category covers "Developing a marketing plan" and "Selling skills".
With all these resources, if you fail to convince your bank manager of the viability of your business plan, you are probably one of those whose quiz answers suggest you should not venture beyond the safety of a salaried job.
This article was first published in Personal Finance magazine, 3rd Quarter 2004.See what’s in our latest issue
  
 
|
© 1999 - 2010 Personal Finance & Independent Online (Pty) Ltd. All rights reserved.
