INNOVATION FOR FUTURE ENTREPRENEURS ZAREEF MINTY INNOVATION IS

INNOVATION FOR FUTURE ENTREPRENEURS ZAREEF MINTY

“INNOVATION IS THE ONLY WAY TO WIN” STEVE JOBS

ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN SA – IS IT ATTRACTIVE? CHALLENGE 1

CORPORATE SLAVE CULTURE = SUCCESS

OUR ECONOMY – THE TRUE SUCCESS The success of the South African economy lies in the hands of the entrepreneurs, the small businesses and the enterprises that support them. The small to medium enterprise (SME) is the lifeblood of the economy.

BRAZIL In Brazil, more than 16 million small to micro-enterprises make up around 20% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).

INDIA In India, 26 million SMEs make up around 8% of the country’s GDP.

GERMANY In Germany, the small to midsized business is not just the foundation of the country’s economic success, but the benchmark for global success stories.

WE PRODUCE LESS SME’S THAN BRAZIL South Africa has, according to the report ‘Small Businesses in India, Brazil and South Africa: Basic Characteristics’, far less red tape than Brazil and yet that country manages to produce SMEs at double the rate. This is a concern as the SME is critical to strengthening the foundations of the beleaguered economy.

LESS SUPPORT IN BOTH PRIVATE AND PUBLIC SECTORS IN SA Addressing this challenging landscape requires that South African organisations work together to ignite both entrepreneurial spirit and local SME growth. There is significantly less support for the South African SME from both the private and public sectors. This hinders growth and development for the SME, adding strain and introducing unnecessary stumbling blocks.

SUPPLIER DEVELOPMENT IS KEY TO GROWTH OF SMME’S

IOT AND SAAS ARE SOLUTIONS Io. T and Saa. S are particularly relevant to the South African market as both branches of technology allow for businesses and the economy to rapidly scale and ignite innovation to overcome technology challenges and costs.

STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS Ultimately, to truly enable the South African economy, every industry has to actively engage with the SME and entrepreneur to ensure long-term growth and success. SMEs are crucial to driving the economy and initiating the kind of change that South Africa needs to dominate the global stage and the African continent.

WEALTH SPACES Case Study: Business 1

WEALTH SPACES

WHAT IS WEALTH SPACES? Wealth Spaces is a community of pop-up coworking spaces, they have partnered with hotels, restaurants and cafes to provide affordable, convenient and inspiring co-working space solutions for entrepreneurs, freelances and remote workers.

UP-LIFT ME Case Study: Business 2

UPLIFT-ME

WHAT IS UPLIFT-ME? Uplift-Me is a crowdfunding platform targeted at assisting people with skills development and education. Social entrepreneurship with an amazing bottom line. The business model behind it looking at Back a Buddy.

SPORTSCENE SANDTON CITY Case Study: Business 3

RETAIL IS CHANGING With the massive drop in sales and traffic through physical retail channels, retail giants understand that the only way to keep traffic and sales at a constant rate is to add in the experience store model into their stores. Sportscene in Sandton City now has a half court basketball court, a in house sneaker cleaning service, personalization in store as well as a tattoo parlor all in store.

DRYVAR Case Study: Business 4

E-HAILING MARKET One stop shops and connecting ecosystems dominate here, Dryvar just like Uber has their own food delivery product attached to the normal service. South Africa has a lot of players in this sector, all competing for market share. What Dryvar offers meets the current affair needs of society. The ability to adapt is what makes a business extremely successful.

TOWNSHIP BRANDS Case Study: Business 5

PROUDLY SOUTH AFRICA MARA PHONES – PROUDLY AFRICA? This Township Brand concept works with mall management CSI budgets, where a mall would allocate a space for a pop up store or a normal store. Designers and entrepreneurs from around that current location will be able to showcase and sell their products, the roll out is 2300 township malls in 5 -7 years.

INNOVATION IS KEY TO THE SUCCESS OF THE BUSINESS INNOVATE

INNOVATION HELPS THE BUSINESS GROW Businesses that innovate are able to scale up their structure much more. You can do so many other things like adding more employees. Innovation helps you gain more customers and grab a bigger share of the market. Innovation also makes it easier to grow whatever may be the size and type of your business. You may have a small start up, but with innovation, there are so many more chances of growth in the business. The same applies to a company that is listed in the Fortune 500 as well. If a large company innovates, it can take on a larger market share.

INNOVATION KEEPS YOU COMPETITIVE The market is huge and it is filled with so many other individual business and companies that may be serving products in the same category as you. Bottomline is: you are far from alone! But among all this competition, you need to stand out in some way. This is where innovation can help you. With the help of the right innovation, you can actually offer something extremely unique to your customers. Another great idea is, you can take some existing product, add your own twist to it and give it a totally different shape, making it several times better than its original form. This is what makes brands stand out in the market and it naturally also means more revenue.

INNOVATION MEETS CUSTOMER NEEDS In a highly competitive market, the needs of customers are dynamic and are constantly evolving. What you are providing them with today may have a great response from their end. But you cannot be sure if tomorrow the situation is going to be the same. They might be demanding something else. Innovative business ideas actually have the power to anticipate market changes even before they actually happen and provide solutions to people even before they feel the need for them. This way your customers are satisfied most of the times. In fact, it’s tough to meet customer needs unless you bring in constant innovation in your business.

INNOVATION = GROWTH Innovation is a very important factor to ensure consistent growth for a business from a future point of view. It has a lot to do with adding newer business models and products that provide an impetus to the overall revenues in the future. Innovation that is sustainable also helps ensure that current products continue to meet the customer demands and also contribute to the revenue growth in the future. A business that is ready to innovate can stand firm even if the market experiences constant vagaries. Such a business is ready to face any challenges that future market changes can bring in.