According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) report of 2007, entrepreneurship in low and middle income countries is mostly need driven, thus people are starting businesses despite little or no business experience. Only 3.6% of entrepreneurial businesses in South Africa show growth potential and most do not become employers, indicating that a low entrepreneurial success rate is a problem.

Adding to the problem of low entrepreneurial success rates in South Africa is the tendency of entrepreneurs to focus on their own skill and core service or product, often ignoring the “science” of business and operational management, bringing about a reactive management style. Systems development is neglected and the owner remains the main survival factor of the enterprise. During the life cycle of an entrepreneurial enterprise, the rapid growth phase is often followed by chaos, especially where there are no processes in place. The need for sound processes increases as the enterprise progresses to a rapid growth phase.

Entrepreneurship is a complex phenomenon with many variables impacting on the success thereof. Such factors include societal, strategic and entrepreneurial capabilities and the interaction of all the variables on each other. There is no simple recipe for entrepreneurial success. Successful entrepreneurs are able to adjust strategies according to their capabilities, the human capital available and the macro environment

Entrepreneurial success can also be defined as the extent to which the needs of the stakeholders are met. Success can be sustainable or short-lived. Sustainability is achieved when the resources of the organisation are not depleted in the quest to satisfy the needs of the stakeholders

Characteristics of successful entrepreneurs include alertness, vision, risk taking propensity, knowledgeable, creative, innovative, ambitious, decisive, determined, dedicated, with strong values, adaptable and rewarding. Such entrepreneurs also have sufficient capital and resources.

But more than anything, entrepreneurs need support and a variety of resources. It is not possible to possess all the resources needed. It is therefore important for entrepreneurs to form relationships and gain support from a variety of sources. Support can be provided from sources such as capital investors, employees, the supply chain and financiers.

According to Orrin Klopper, spokes person for the Entrepreneur Organisation, brandhouse™ Pitch and Polish is an initiative of the EO and they’re currently looking for entrepreneurs to render support to. While there will be cash prizes the bulk of the prizes will be in the form of training and education.

Entrepreneurial education is considered one of the most important variables impacting on business success. Two areas of education are to be considered; managerial training and entrepreneurial training will both influence the propensity to become self-employed.

Entrepreneurial ability without managerial ability would not be sustainable.

Management and entrepreneurial skill and experience are the most frequently used selection criteria of venture capitalists. Entrepreneurs who have invested in education are more likely to have a growth strategy and run profitable businesses. By developing capabilities through training and education barriers will be created to being intimidated by competitors. Superior educations will enable an entrepreneurial company to enjoy a sustainable competitive advantage.

A lack of entrepreneurial and organisational knowledge and experience, as well as a lack of preparedness will limit entrepreneurial success. A lack of financial knowledge will lead to failure to accurately estimate the cost of starting and running the business and a lack of technical knowledge will lead to the entrepreneur not gaining the competitive advantages provided by technology.

brandhouse™ Pitch and Polish programme is providing free workshops with expert training and tips by Allon Raiz in five towns around the country to provide entrepreneurs with the necessary training to make a success in business. More details can be found on the website www.pitchandpolish.com .

Alongside brandhouse™ Beverages (Pty) Ltd, other sponsorship partners for Pitch & Polish are MTN, City of Cape Town, RMB Private Bank and SA Tourism.

Details of the seminar are as below. Cost for the day is R1767 incl. VAT excluding any discounts.

A 10% discount is offered on groups of more than 3 delegates. Should you wish to register at the discounted rate please contact Marc Ashton on 082-561-1585 or e-mail marc@rival.co.za
WALKING THE LABOUR LAW TIGHTROPE

Implementing Labour Law Productively

Workshop date/time: Friday 23 July 2010 Registration: 08H45 Close: 16h30 

VENUE:   SA Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 24 Sturdee Avenue,
                             Rosebank, Johannesburg.

SEMINAR PURPOSE AND CONTENT
In South Africa the biggest challenge for employers is the balancing act of achieving a productive workforce without infringing upon the countless powerful labour laws protecting employees.

Via a comprehensive case study laden with practical learning points workshop delegates have fun while gaining crucial insights from the wrongdoings of a fictitious company called Mile High Airlines. They receive detailed input on how to balance labour law compliance with the effective management of the following functions:

MANPOWER PLANNING RECRUITMENT, SCREENING AND SELECTION
JOB DESCRIPTIONS AND PERSON SPECIFICATIONS
JOB ADVERTISEMENTS
REFERENCE CHECKING
INTERVIEWING
PRE-EMPLOYMENT TESTING
RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION LEGISLATION
PROBATION AND INDUCTION
ACTING APPOINTMENTS AND LEGAL PITFALLS
RETENTION OF KEY STAFF
TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION
CAREER PATHING AND SUCESSION PLANNING
EFFECTIVE SUPERVISION
PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT, MOTIVATION AND TEAMWORK
EMPLOYMENT EQUITY AND DISCRIMINATION
DISCIPLINE AND DISMISSAL
FAIRNESS AND THE CCMA

About the presenter:
Ivan Israelstam, CEO of Labour Law Management Consulting
Ivan Israelstam has 14 years experience as a litigator at CCMA and 4 years as a CCMA Commissioner. He writes numerous labour law columns in major publications and is the author of labour law books. Ivan chairs SACCI’s Labour Relations committee and gives conference, seminar, radio and TV talks.

The competition is organised by financial journalist and entrepreneur Marc Ashton and supported by highly respected marketer and author Scott Cundill from Majestic Interactive.

“Locally there has been a lot of focus on start-ups – particularly in the technology sector – but start-ups are initially low impact employing a handful of skilled people and run very high failure rates,” says Ashton.

“What about the businesses that have already done the legwork, made their mistakes and are now looking to scale up? That is where a competition like Punk Your SME comes in,” he adds.

Based on the “Pimp your ride” reality TV concept, the competition will every three months see the team giving away advertising, marketing material, technology to make small businesses run better as well as a round table mentoring and strategy session with top South African entrepreneurs to provide suggestions for scaling the business up.

The competition also provides an opportunity for the organisers to collect data toward their Entrepreneur Confidence Index which will provide relevant information on entrepreneurial activity in South Africa as well as try identify pains that the small business sector may be experiencing.

How to get involved:
Entrepreneurs looking to get involved with the competition can send an e-mail to marc@rival.co.za with the subject line: “I Want To Punky My SME”.

Alternatively entrepreneurs can join the “Punk Your SME” Facebook group to be kept up to date with industry happenings.

One of the key strategies for the organisers is to leverage the “social lending” spirit which is becoming increasingly prominent in South Africa. Those looking to contribute skills, services, mentoring, products or make cash donations which can be put toward each quarters’ prize can contact Marc Ashton on 082-561-1585 or e-mail to discuss further.

A new BASF online tool, the so-called Ecovio® Eco-Efficiency Compass (E³C), will make this decision much
easier in the future.  The software compiles all of the relevant data for the production and disposal of selected products – the findings of many exhaustive Eco-Efficiency Analyses – in a single user-friendly interface. Various parameters that are crucial for the ecological evaluation of a given product can be quickly checked, revealing their impact on the product’s eco-efficiency right away. The uncomplicated comparison of the ecological footprint of various approaches allows the user to quickly ascertain whether, in the final analysis, a biodegradable plastic is actually more environmentally friendly.

Biodegradable is not necessarily eco-efficient
It has been more than ten years since biodegradable plastics have entered the awareness of consumers and the industry, and they continue to enjoy a growing interest on the part of the market and the public at large. A number of BASF products have contributed to this  development, too. Ecovio® F Film is commonly found in compostable shopping bags. At the end of 2009, BASF’s Ecovio product line was expanded by two new types, namely, Ecovio FS Paper, which is suitable for the production of coated paper cups and cardboard boxes, and Ecovio FS Shrink Film, which was developed explicitly with an eye towards the manufacture of shrink films.

Biodegradable plastics, however, do not automatically solve environmental problems simply because they can be composted. Their use only makes sense if they are more sustainable than nonbiodegradable materials at a performance level that is the same or even better. The biodegradability is supposed to create added value,
for instance, by allowing organic waste to be composted rather than incinerated. After all, organic waste consists primarily of water, which makes thermal utilization very inefficient. In contrast, if the film can be
composted along with its contents, this can have a positive effect on the environment.

Comprehensive life cycle assessments like the Eco-Efficiency Analysis developed by BASF have already been helping people for many years to make the right choice among different product and process alternatives. Towards this end, such analyses thoroughly and quantitatively investigate and evaluate the consumption of resources,
the environmental impact and the economic effects during the production, use and end-of-life phases of a material in a given application.

However, all of this makes these studies complex: a comprehensive Eco-Efficiency Analysis has to be performed by LCA experts and takes several months. Such individual studies do not lend themselves to being combined and specific scenarios must be prepared separately. This again affords the experts’ support. Thus it is not possible to make flexible and quick decisions from among several material alternatives.

User interface with clear layout
This is where the new Eco-Efficiency Compass springs into action. A web-based interface with an input mask is provided so that users can combine numerous parameters with each other that are of relevance for the ecological profile of their envisaged product such as, for instance, a shopping bag. These parameters include not only the selection of the packaging material – if necessary all the way down to the monomer level – but also the weight of the bag and the type of disposal technology.

Thus, the entire life cycle of the product is depicted, from the selection of the raw material all the way to disposal.
The software bases its calculations on several Eco-Efficiency Analyses and control parameters describing materials, applications and disposal scenarios. For the sake of clarity, however, they stay in the ackground. Moreover, some of the variables have been pre-set to ppropriate values.

Experience has shown, for example, that, when een over the entire life cycle of the product, the energy consumption
during the production of the film only has a relatively small impact on the eco-efficiency of a film bag.
Simple presentation of complex systems Users first receive the analysis results in the form of a radar and
portfolio diagram that clearly and logically shows the eco-efficiency of the approaches being compared. This already shows where a product variant has advantages or disadvantages, for example, in terms of its consumption of resources or its emissions.

If so desired, users can receive assistance from BASF experts who will provide them with individual diagrams showing valid and reproducible estimates of the energy and material streams involved in the production, transportation, use and final disposal. The environmentally relevant effects of the material selection and naturally also the costs of
the chosen approach are provided.

Example – shopping bag with double benefit
The calculational comparison between a shopping bag made of paper and one made of Ecovio, both of which offer double benefit since they can be used for shopping and for biowaste disposal, shows: under the boundaries chosen the Ecovio bag is more eco-efficient than the paper bag, because the latter has to be considerably thicker in order to
perform equally well. Generally speaking, this parameter plays a crucial  role. Together with trained BASF employees, users can experiment with these parameters.

Expandable concept
At the present time, the new Ecovio Eco-Efficiency Compass is still tailor-made for estimating the eco-efficiency of shopping bags and foam trays of the type found everywhere in the retail sector. Other product groups, however, can be added. Major developments on the market can be promptly incorporated; an example of this is polyethylene made
of “bio-ethanol”.

At the moment, experts are implementing models for paper coatings as well as for shrink films. These will help BASF customers to ascertain the eco-efficiency of paper cups and beverage packaging – and also to ensure that, in these sectors, biodegradable plastics are only employed where they are indeed more sustainable while performing at least
equally well.

Entrepreneurs’ Organisation Cape Town have partnered with brandhouse™  Beverages (Pty) Ltd, a leading premium alcohol beverage company in South Africa to assist in providing the platform for South African entrepreneurs.

Local entrepreneurs will be drawn from eleven South African towns where they will be given the opportunity to appear before an audience of fellow competitors and pitch their business ideas to a panel of judges. The panel will include the co-founder of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization South Africa and CEO of Raizcorp, Allon Raiz, along with fellow EO members from South Africa and a senior member of the local community.
Every entrant will get 3 minutes to deliver a pitch, 3 minutes for questions and answers, and 3 minutes of constructive feedback from the panel. The feedback is a critical component of the competition because its primary objective is to provide participants with a watch-and-learn experience and allow entrants to polish their business ideas.

The competition will culminate with finalists presenting their pitches to an audience of 320 international visiting entrepreneurs at the Entrepreneurs’ Organisation UCT conference to be held in Cape Town from 10-14 November 2010. The winner will possibly be linked with a company abroad and be awarded an all-expenses-paid trip for a week of mentorship with their host company. Prize money totalling around R90 000 is to be won throughout the competition.

brandhouse™ has come on board with a view of long-term support for Pitch & Polish because the concept aligns so well with their value and strategy of supporting the real needs of people.

brandhouse™ believes that this competition offers those entrepreneurs outside the mainstream economic centres an opportunity to gain exposure to and learn from international entrepreneurial thinking.

“Job creation and the growth of our economy will come from small business, many of them in the informal sector.  The future of South Africa lies in harnessing the informal sector and energy of South African entrepreneurs.  Many of these gems are struggling, undiscovered across South Africa in small towns and villages” says brandhouse™ CSR Manager, Phumza Rengqe.

“The aim of Pitch & Polish is to find these future business stars and help them unleash the power of their vision and ingenuity.”

Alongside brandhouse™ Beverages (Pty) Ltd, other sponsorship partners for Pitch & Polish are MTN, City of Cape Town, RMB Private Bank and SA Tourism.

Arbitrators very often find dismissal to be unfair and order the employer to pay the employee compensation. In such a case the employer could  take the matter on review to the Labour Court.

However, the employee does not have to wait for the review case to be heard before claiming his compensation payment. That is, the employee has the right to apply immediately for confirmation of the award and for a Writ of Execution. Through this writ the employee gets the Labour Court to instruct the Sheriff of the court to take possession of the employer’s property and sell it in order to make up the amount awarded and to then give the money to the employee.

This means that, as soon as the employer gets wind that the employee is applying for a writ of execution, it needs to put in another application to court. That is, in order to prevent the writ from being carried out and the employer’s property from being sold in execution, the employer needs to make a special application for the writ to be stayed.

If the Sheriff ignores the stay application then the employer needs to make an urgent application for the writ to be stayed.

In view of the uncertainty of the law, the complexities of the legal procedure and the fact that there is a lot at stake, employers and employees are advised not to enter into this terrain without substantial legal expertise at their fingertips.

For further information please contact Ivan Israelstam on (011)888-7944 or 0828522973 or on e-mail address: labourlaw@absamail.co.za or go to: www.labourlawadvice.co.za

This capital will be dedicated to equity investments into a suite of clean technology projects and enterprises including new energy and environment focussed technologies located in South Africa and across Southern African Development Community (“SADC”) countries.

Consensus Business Group the London-based advisor to a Family Trust, has played a leading role in establishing and advising the fund and, as founding cornerstone investor, has secured the involvement and participation of seven other leading international organisations.

Vincent Tchenguiz, Chairman of Consensus said: “We have extensive experience and a long track record in global clean technology investing and this has given our partners the confidence to join with us in setting up Evolution One in South Africa. We are delighted to have successfully achieved Final Closing of this ground breaking fund.”
Consensus is joined in the Evolution One partnership by IFC, a member of the World Bank Group; the Finnish Fund for Industrial Cooperation (“Finnfund”); the Swiss Investment Fund for Emerging Markets (“SIFEM”); Global Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Fund (“GEEREF”), a compartment of the European Investment Fund; the African Development Bank (“AfDB”); the Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries (“Norfund”); and the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa (“IDC”).

Evolution One’s investment strategy centres on long-term equity and equityrelated investment based on active management and post-investment value addition. The local South African fund advisor, Inspired Evolution Investment Management (“IEIM”), aims to support and guide target invested companies and provide long-term capital growth. Expansion capital investments are prioritised although the fund will consider earlier stage environmental infrastructure projects with clear evidence of early revenue streams and profitability.

The fund will also invest into proven technology or projects that are able to clearly demonstrate market adoption. The fund’s minimum investment size is ZAR10 million ($US1.4 million) and its maximum investment is ZAR100million ($US14 million) into any one project or technology.

In search of a solution, SAB turned to packaging partner Nampak. The brief was “simple” – for Castle Lager, design innovative and high functioning packaging, with both tourist and local appeal, which has souvenir/novelty pack qualities and can also be used as a gift pack.

In the joint project with SAB, Nampak’s answer was to produce a custom designed, three aluminium bottle gift pack for Castle Lager. Due to the fact that this is South Africa’s first aluminium beer bottle (manufactured in SA), not to mention the uncanny colouring resemblance to a certain Marvel Comics superhero, the project was dubbed Project Ironman.

For Nampak, Project Ironman demonstrates the true essence of a total packaging solution, as the construction of the pack is a collaborative effort between three diverse Nampak divisions. The pack is also made up of three distinct packaging types, each with a specific function to perform.

At the beginning of it all is the aluminium bottle, which in itself is a first, as beer is now available in an entirely new substrate and is the first aluminium beverage bottle ever made in South Africa. The aluminium bottle boasts an exceptional print register which fares better than paper labels in the rigours of the cold supply chain. The aluminium bottle also offers a wide range of decorating options and finishes, including metallic base coats, over varnishes, shine (gloss), and matt. For packing, storing, protecting and transporting the inner cartons and bottles, a corrugated shipper box was produced. For convenience and shelf shout, there’s the lithographically printed display carton, which holds the aluminium bottles and displays them beautifully on shelf. The display carton also acts as an innovative and functional carry pack.

The aluminium bottles were produced by the Nampak Divfood plant in Durban, the corrugated boxes were supplied by Nampak Corrugated out of their Wadeville plant, and the gift pack cartons were produced by Nampak Cartons & Label’s Denver plant.

The customised tripartite packaging is an effective way to solidify brand loyalty, whilst the innovation creates visual and tactile interest amongst consumers. Globally hailed as a marketing innovation, which has brought a new substrate to beer, Project Ironman has given Castle Lager a fresh new look and is a dynamic solution for a brand that is highly active in the football space.

Successful trials were run with Dick Cotterell, perishables manager at Spar KZN DC, and consequently over 300 units have been ordered to replace the dry ice, resulting in significant cost savings for Spar.

The Eutectic Holding Plate is similar to a cooler box ice brick filled with a solution which freezes at a predetermined temperature (temperature can be set to customer requirements). Once frozen, the plate can hold the temperature for up to 24 hours.

Among the advantages of using the Eutectic Plates are that they are maintenance free, re-usable, eco-friendly resulting in a reduction in CO2 emissions, durable, easy to handle as you don’t need gloves and the solution can be set to a range of temperatures while dry ice offers only one set temperature.

Although there is an initial cost outlay, the Eutectic Holding Plate systems easily pays for itself in a matter of a few months as there is no consumable cost attached.

Xolani Sele of Spar inserts a chilled Eutectic plate into the holding plate system in the vehicle prior to loading stock for delivery.

It might sound funny but do we really need to clean the cleanroom after use? If yes does it mean that our machines are inadequate?

Short answer, no.

The particle concentration during a day varies. Depending on the different activities in the cleanroom, the air filters alone will not ensure that the room maintains its level of cleanliness.

Many factors influence the particle generation. It is important to understand that the contamination is a direct result of the activity which takes place inside in the cleanroom.

Example of activities:

• People moving in a cleanroom
• The equipment or tools moving during the process
• The vibration transmitted by the mechanical equipment through the walls and ceiling.

The sources of contamination resulted from the activities includes

a) People: from skin flakes and hair, clothing debris like lint and fibres, street dust from footwear, cosmetics and perfumes, coughing and sneezing.

b) Equipment and tools: Particulate from the surface friction as lubricants and oil used.

c) Facility: Particulate from walls, floors, ceilings, paint and coatings

d) Product and Material: Debris and particles.

As a result, it is crucial to define and implement the proper cleaning protocol in order to maintain the cleanliness of the cleanroom. Adequate behaviour can reduce the particle generation significantly.