So I’ve been getting it a lot of fanmail, people asking me why have I stopped writing the dear africa series. Unfortunately, I don’t always find time to jot down all the ideas that flood my head, life just seems to get in the way of my writing.
This evening I have a moment to spare, so here it goes.
Dear Africa
vol. 6
Why don’t you take yourself and your small business seriously?
Why don’t you register a proper domain for your business, it is less than R9 pm with some hosting providers. Then you’ll get a proper business email, like yourname@yourbusinessname.co.za and stop using the funky Gmail one you created when you first heard about email.
While you’re at it, also get a professional looking website done for you, if you can’t afford it, grab a free template on WordPress.
Get onto the social media bandwagon, create a Facebook page, twitter account and instagram. And use them to get your name out there. That’s free marketing and advertising, until you can afford that freeway billboard or proper radio/tv ad. Some of the biggest companies today don’t even use any of the traditional advertising methods, they exclusively do it online.
Why don’t you register your business with the dti, and SARS? Even if you sell tomatoes on a street corner, if you have hope of growing the business, you’re better off registered. Don’t be put off by paying tax, there’s great incentives for small businesses, with zero tax for low turnover brackets. If your business is not registered, you can’t get any funding or partners.
Open a proper business account, separate your personal banking from your business banking. That way you can track if your business is really making money or losing. If you need money from the business, pay yourself a salary. Don’t be a blesser with a business account, one day when you need to be audited, it will be very hard to explain why you bought icetropez or moet with the business account.
Take yourself seriously too, call yourself by the designated title. You’re a CEO, stop playing small.
dear.africa 