 | BEE CHASES CHURN IN SA COMPANIES, SURVEY SHOWS |
| | - Sanchia Temkin, 25 Jul 2007 |
| | MORE than half of privately held businesses in SA (52%) expect a change in ownership over the next 10 years, according to a report released by Grant Thornton yesterday. This response ranks SA among the highest of 32 countries surveyed. |
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| TRANSPARENT MODEL ENSURES SUCCESS |
| | - Salala Lesela , 17 Jul 2007 |
| | THE aim of any empowerment process must be to create a leaner, more effective and profitable business that is globally competitive. The transformed business processes should also support and complement the objectives of the government, which is the nation’s largest single procurer of goods and services. |
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| PRIVATE COMPANIES FAVOUR EMPOWERING STAFF IN BEE DEALS — SURVEY |
| | - Real Business Reporter , 17 Jul 2007 |
| | PRIVATE companies are favouring employee equity deals in their empowerment restructuring, a recent PricewaterhouseCoopers survey says. |
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| SOCIAL INVESTMENT IS NOT JUST ABOUT FEELING GOOD |
| | - Real Business Reporter , 17 Jul 2007 |
| | CSI must provide long-term benefits for communities in need |
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| FRANCHISORS NEED TO SET THE TREND |
| | - Staff Writer, 17 Jul 2007 |
| | FRANCHISORS who are considering empowerment issues need to bear in mind three critical success factors, says Frank Orchard, head of the Specialist Support Unit at Standard Bank. |
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| BEE REPRIEVE FOR SMALL ENTITIES |
| | - Kim Marr , 26 Feb 2007 |
| | New codes of good practice are expected to allow a much wider range of options |
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| TAX AMNESTY COMPOUNDS CONFUSION |
| | - Mike Holmes , 26 Feb 2007 |
| | THE tax amnesty for small businesses is counting down to a May 31 deadline amid confusion and concerns, although the South African Revenue Service (SARS) has announced it is stepping up its awareness and education campaigns. |
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| STAY INFORMED EVEN IF EXEMPT |
| | - Paul Janisch , 26 Feb 2007 |
| | THE trade and industry department’s broad-based BEE codes of good practice, which were approved by Cabinet in December, were gazetted earlier this month. |
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| REVISED CODES ‘A FILLIP FOR SMALL BUSINESS’ |
| | - Abdul Milazi, 13 Feb 2007 |
| | SMALL and micro enterprises have come out the big winners in government’s black economic empowerment codes of good practice, gazetted last week. |
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| NOT ALL BEE RATINGS AGENCIES CREATED EQUAL, WARNS EXPERT |
| | - Sanchia Temkin, 13 Feb 2007 |
| | BUSINESS has been warned to exercise “caution and good judgment” when selecting a black economic empowerment rating agency when the final codes of good practice are gazetted. |
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| REVISED BEE CODES TO BENEFIT SMES |
| | - Sherilee Bridge, 12 Dec 2006 |
| | SMALL businesses make up about 96% of businesses in SA, and will be among the biggest beneficiaries of the revised Codes of Good Practice for Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment. |
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| REVISED BEE CODES OFFER RELIEF TO SMALL BUSINESS |
| | - Mathabo le Roux, 08 Dec 2006 |
| | BLACK economic empowerment (BEE) requirements for companies are finally ready to become law after the second phase of government’s codes of good practice was given the thumbs up by a cabinet meeting this week. |
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| COMPANIES ENGAGING IN BEE DO NOT HAVE TO GIVE AWAY ANYTHING |
| | - Paul Janisch , 22 Nov 2006 |
| | IF PREFERENTIAL procurement has no impact on your business, are you exempt from any form of black economic empowerment (BEE)? Are there any types of businesses that BEE will never affect? And if it has a significance, what is the starting point? |
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| WHAT EMPOWERMENT MEANS FOR YOUR BOTTOM LINE |
| | - Kim Marr , 22 Nov 2006 |
| | WHILE the countdown to the release of the final Codes of Good Practice continues, many businesses are eager to confirm what the BEE goalposts are and how these relate to their business. |
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| NEF LAUNCHES A FUND TO HELP COMPANIES EXECUTE CONTRACTS |
| | - Real Business Reporter , 22 Nov 2006 |
| | THE National Empowerment Fund (NEF) has launched a preferential procurement funding product for companies which need to boost their capacity to execute contracts or tenders to help implement broad-based BEE through the Codes of Good Practice. |
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| MODERN COMPANIES SHOULD TAKE STREETWISE ENTREPRENEURS ON BOARD |
| | - Sherilee Bridge , 18 Oct 2006 |
| | ENTREPRENEURS are tomorrow’s trailblazers. Natural leaders, entrepreneurs are the unsung heroes of transformation. |
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| BEE IS MORE THAN JUST HR’S DOMAIN |
| | - Paul Janisch , 18 Oct 2006 |
| | BLACK economic empowerment (BEE) is not purely a responsibility of human resources (HR), says Faritec deputy CEO Hasmukh Gajjar, recognising the trend to lump the implementation of BEE with the myriad other duties HR managers have. |
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| COMPANIES’ SOCIAL INVESTMENT STRATEGY REQUIRES CAREFUL THOUGHT |
| | - Kim Marr , 18 Oct 2006 |
| | CONSIDER a scenario where Company X has R40 000 (2% of earnings before tax, depreciation and amortisation) to spend in order to get its full 20 enterprise development points and R30 000 (2% of net profit after tax) to spend in order to get its 20 residual (social investment) points. |
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| INNOVATIVE THINKING ENSURES THAT EVERYONE IS A WINNER |
| | - Kevin Homann , 18 Oct 2006 |
| | More companies are exploring a new approach to black empowerment deals that offers an efficient, well-established leveraged buy-out structure |
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| CALL TO GIVE ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT MORE POINTS |
| | - Mike Holmes , 18 Oct 2006 |
| | Empowerment codes could go even further, argues economist |
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| LACK OF KNOWLEDGE HASTENS SMALL BUSINESS FAILURES |
| | - Mike Holmes, 18 Oct 2006 |
| | REAL ownership, says Paul Malherbe, Business Partners’ mentorship and consulting services chief operating officer, comes from knowledge. |
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| BEE CAN LEVEL THE WORLD CUP PLAYING FIELD |
| | - Sherilee Bridge , 20 Sep 2006 |
| | THE euphoria surrounding SA’s hosting of the 2010 Soccer World Cup is matched only by the gleam of gold in almost every South African’s eye. For many, the event is the pot at the end of the rainbow … a chance to cash in on opportunities that have never before come our way. |
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| GOING BEYOND CELEBRITY BLACK EMPOWERMENT |
| | - Darryl Horney , 20 Sep 2006 |
| | Is it better to conclude an empowerment deal with a business leader or employees? |
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| EMPOWERMENT SYNERGY CAN CREATE WIN-WIN SCENARIO |
| | - Sarah Babb, 20 Sep 2006 |
| | IT IS often beneficial to partner creatively with clients and suppliers to benefit from broad-based black economic empowerment, as well to grow your business. |
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| GET OUT OF THE STARTING BLOCKS AND FIND THE RIGHT SOCIAL INVESTMENT |
| | - Kim Marr , 20 Sep 2006 |
| | LIFE is made richer by the number of choices you have. It is frustrating, even somewhat disempowering, when after making the decision to spend your money on something, to have limited options available. |
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| CORPORATE SOCIAL INVESTMENTS MAKE GOOD BUSINESS SENSE |
| | - Paul Janisch , 20 Sep 2006 |
| | Growing the market and gaining marketing mileage are just two benefits |
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| HELPING SMALL ENTERPRISES CAN BOOST SCORECARD SUCCESS |
| | - Paul Janisch , 22 Aug 2006 |
| | A WHILE ago a client of mine pointed out that globally corporations and governments were shedding up to 25% of jobs annually. This suggests that the majority of South Africans will find employment in the SME sector or start their own businesses. |
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| ESKOM EXPO REACHES OUT TO SMES |
| | - Staff Writer, 22 Aug 2006 |
| | THE Eskom Small Business Development Expo takes place from September 7-10 at Gallagher Estate in Midrand, Gauteng and runs alongside the Franchise & Business Opportunities Expo. |
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| PLATFORM FOR SOWETO’S SMALL BUSINESSES |
| | - Real Business Reporter , 22 Aug 2006 |
| | THE Absa Soweto Festival 2006 will provide an invaluable platform for small businesses to showcase their products and services to the booming consumer market of Soweto as well as the growing number of companies aiming to broaden their supplier base to include black-owned businesses. |
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| DON’T JUMP THE RACIAL GUN |
| | - Jan Truter, 22 Aug 2006 |
| | DEPENDING on the context in which it is said, the remark, “’n boer maak ’n plan, but an Indian is born with a plan”, might evoke a chuckle, annoyance or even anger, but seldom indifference. In some cases it could cost someone their job. |
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| GOAL IS TO CUT UNEMPLOYMENT, FIGHT POVERTY |
| | - Mike Holmes, 22 Aug 2006 |
| | ABOUT 800-million people in 100 countries are members of co-operatives of various types, says the trade and industry department. |
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| SMALL BUSINESSES CAN EMBRACE BEE AS A WAY OF ADDING VALUE |
| | - Sherilee Bridge, 18 Jul 2006 |
| | Taking empowerment on board can differentiate SMEs from competitors |
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| TARGET ’SOFTER SIDE’ TO INCREASE YOUR POINTS |
| | - Real Business Reporter , 18 Jul 2006 |
| | BY CREATIVELY applying the “softer side” of the black economic empowerment (BEE) scorecard, true empowerment can be achieved for a broad base of BEE beneficiaries as well as for the contributing companies, says Germien du Plessis, associate at integrated equity and debt specialist Bravura. |
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| MAKING EMPOWERMENT A PROFITABLE EXERCISE FOR YOUR BUSINESS |
| | - Paul Janisch , 18 Jul 2006 |
| | I SPENT two weeks in June with Nedbank on their small business seminars presenting an overview of black economic empowerment (BEE) to their small business clients. The speaker before me was Bill Gibson, president of Knowledge Brokers International. Bill’s presentation concentrated on business opportunities, how to identify them and making the most of them. |
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| NUTS AND BOLTS OF EMPOWERMENT DEALS |
| | - Kevin Homann, 18 Jul 2006 |
| | BLACK economic empowerment (BEE) deals that work are clear from the outset — either because the parties know each other and know precisely what to expect, or because they have taken the time to set out key deliverables. |
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| GET A HEAD START WITH BEE RATINGS |
| | - Sherilee Bridge , 21 Jun 2006 |
| | Sources say the first accreditation may only come through at end of next month or in August |
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| BE AWARE OF TRAPS IN THESE EARLY DAYS OF BEE |
| | - Paul Janisch , 21 Jun 2006 |
| | NATALIE Clow-Wilson’s last article in Real Business, Pressure builds from procurement ratings, highlighted a very important point when it comes to the assessment of the BEE status of suppliers. The article observed that many companies have devised their own procurement questionnaires. |
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| A REAL CATALYST FOR BUSINESS |
| | - Real Business Reporter , 21 Jun 2006 |
| | BLACK economic empowerment legislation could potentially have a positive effect on stimulating entrepreneurial activity, says Nikki Kearns, director of business banking at Standard Bank. |
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| HARDER ROUTE SEEMS THE BEST ONE TO FOLLOW |
| | - Paul Janisch , 16 May 2006 |
| | Pragmatists take expedient path in fulfilling empowerment criteria, but how long-lasting is this solution? |
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| SPRUCING UP THE SME LANDSCAPE |
| | - Natalie Clow-Wilson , 25 Apr 2006 |
| | BEE is switching focus from start-up incentives to helping businesses to grow |
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| INS AND OUTS OF BEE CODES |
| | - Paul Janisch , 25 Apr 2006 |
| | BROAD-based black economic empowerment (BBBEE), like everything else in business, needs rules and guidelines. Acts of parliament are often not sufficiently detailed and may require additional rules and regulations to implement them. |
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| OUT4LIFE PLANS TO MAKE A LIFE BEYOND PRISON FOR OFFENDERS |
| | - Mike Holmes , 25 Apr 2006 |
| | MORE than 200000 former offenders and prison inmates awaiting release have little chance of finding employment. So a campaign called Out4Life, has been launched by the Job Centre Trust (JCT) to provide them with life skills and commercial know-how to start their own small businesses. |
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| GENERIC CODES’ OPPORTUNITIES FOR SMALL BUSINESS OVERLOOKED |
| | - Natalie Clow-Wilson , 22 Mar 2006 |
| | Large entities are encouraged to mentor fledglings and procure from them |
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| NEW FUND FOR ENTREPRENEURS WITH A GOOD PLAN |
| | - 22 Mar 2006 |
| | A NEW fund for black start-up businesses, capitalised at R150m, has been launched as a joint venture between Khula Enterprise Finance and Business Partners. |
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| CHANCES TO HELP — AND EARN POINTS |
| | - Paul Janisch , 22 Mar 2006 |
| | JOE Nkadimeng (not his real name) is a talented music student who managed to raise enough money to make it through his first year at university. |
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| SCORECARDS A MEANS OF FULFILLING SA’S NEEDS |
| | - Paul Janisch , 21 Feb 2006 |
| | THE trade and industry department finally released the remaining codes of good practice in December. |
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| DIVERSITY IS KEY TO UNLOCKING CREATIVITY IN CONNECTION ERA |
| | - Barrie Bramley , 21 Feb 2006 |
| | THERE is no doubt that diversity is a critical factor in the world of business, and this operational imperative is under the spotlight in all sectors of commerce. |
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| THE COLOUR OF MARKETING |
| | - Ezra Ndwandwe, 21 Feb 2006 |
| | LIKE many other industries in SA, the advertising and marketing industry has for some time been predominantly white owned and controlled. |
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| PERIOD OF CONSOLIDATION ON THE CARDS |
| | - Staff Writer, 02 Feb 2006 |
| | DURING the early days of empowerment, many empowerment companies concluded a wide range of deals with diverse companies spread across many different sectors. |
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| BANK DID NOT EXPECT BLACK PARTNERS TO BRING IN BUSINESS |
| | - Staff Writer, 02 Feb 2006 |
| | STANDARD Bank has taken a broad approach to its empowerment objectives and has chosen to include strategic partners, staff and managers, small and medium businesses and the community as a whole. |
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| BEE SHOULD NO LONGER BE AN ISSUE IN 10 YEARS |
| | - Staff Writer, 02 Feb 2006 |
| | IN 10 years time the formal approach to black economic empowerment will no longer be necessary in SA if empowerment is really working. |
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| PROPERTY CHARTER WILL SPARK ACTIVITY |
| | - Staff Writer, 02 Feb 2006 |
| | LINKED unit companies can follow the example set by Growthpoint and utilise their status to fund empowerment deals effectively and efficiently. |
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| SUPPORT FOR LOCAL DEVELOPMENT PLANS |
| | - Staff Writer, 02 Feb 2006 |
| | VERIZON SA (previously UUNet SA) has achieved level three empowerment status according to empowerment-rating company Emex, and it has been identified as having 80,64% empowerment status. |
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| CODES CLARIFY OWNERSHIP ISSUES |
| | - Staff Writer, 02 Feb 2006 |
| | ONE of the new issues highlighted in the trade and industry department’s BEE codes released in December last year is the level of net equity interest that an empowerment partner achieves in an enterprise during the transaction. |
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| ‘HIGH-WATER MARK’ POSES PROBLEM |
| | - Staff Writer, 02 Feb 2006 |
| | SA’s empowerment drive faces a major challenge when deals reach their resolution point and companies may find their empowerment shareholdings declining. |
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| FINE PRINT PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ROLE |
| | - Staff Writer, 02 Feb 2006 |
| | ACHIEVING broad-based black economic empowerment has become a crucial objective in the present wave of empowerment transactions. |
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| COMPANIES MOVE TOWARDS BROAD-BASED OWNERSHIP |
| | - Staff Writer, 02 Feb 2006 |
| | CONCERNS have been raised that black economic empowerment deals have tended to focus on a select number of empowerment companies, thus limiting empowerment’s reach into the South African economy. |
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| CONCERN OVER GLOBAL FINANCIAL STANDARDS |
| | - Staff Writer, 02 Feb 2006 |
| | SA’s drive towards empowerment is causing concern in the international accounting world. |
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| DISAPPOINTMENT IN STORE FOR MULTINATIONALS |
| | - Staff Writer, 02 Feb 2006 |
| | IN DECEMBER 2005 the trade and industry department issued the draft of the second phase of the Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) codes for comment, and this includes pronouncements on a number of contentious issues, such as multinational companies. |
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| MOVE TO COMPANY-FACILITATED TRANSACTIONS IS PAYING OFF |
| | - Staff Writer, 02 Feb 2006 |
| | THERE is a growing trend in the black economic empowerment arena for companies seeking empowerment partners to fund all or part of the transactions. |
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| LESSONS FROM PAST PUT INTO PRACTICE |
| | - Staff Writer, 02 Feb 2006 |
| | A NUMBER of key trends have arisen in black economic empowerment transactions concluded over the past 12 months. |
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| BEE PLAYS A GENUINE ROLE IN BUSINESS |
| | - Staff Writer, 02 Feb 2006 |
| | THE number of small and medium-sized companies making genuine empowerment deals is increasing. |
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| SMALLER COMPANIES GET ON EMPOWERMENT BANDWAGON |
| | - Staff Writer, 02 Feb 2006 |
| | ALTHOUGH high-profile empowerment deals involving listed companies tends to dominate public awareness, there are also a lot of deals being made by small and medium-sized companies. |
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| CODES DOWNPLAY EQUITY OWNERSHIP |
| | - Natalie Clow-Wilson, 17 Jan 2006 |
| | LAST month the trade and industry department released phase two of the codes of good practice which contain detailed codes dedicated to the implementation of empowerment by small and medium enterprises. |
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| INDUSTRY GROUPS HAVE IMPORTANT ROLE TO PLAY |
| | - Paul Janisch , 17 Jan 2006 |
| | A RECENT article in Business Day reported that government has set aside a portion of its R300bn infrastructure expenditure over the next decade for small, medium and micro enterprises. |
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| PREFERENTIAL PROCUREMENT IS STILL A WORK IN PROGRESS |
| | - Paul Janisch , 13 Dec 2005 |
| | BLACK economic empowerment is one of the government’s plans to grow the South African economy by 6% a year by 2010. Its ultimate success hinges on the cascading effect of preferential procurement. There is no legal requirement on any nongovernment entity to implement any type of empowerment policy; preferential procurement provides the incentive to do so. |
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| LIGHTEN THE LOAD OF COMPLIANCE |
| | - Natalie Clow-Wilson , 13 Dec 2005 |
| | THE cost of regulatory compliance is a sensitive topic among small businesses — particularly since the introduction earlier this year of compulsory submissions of annual returns to the Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office. |
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| LOOK INSIDE AND OUT FOR EMPOWERMENT PARTNERS |
| | - Natalie Clow-Wilson , 22 Nov 2005 |
| | AS SMALL and medium enterprises (SMEs) with corporate or public-sector clients have increasingly been experiencing pressure with respect to their black economic empowerment credentials, more and more white-owned small businesses have taken steps to transform in the interests of client retention. |
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| WHAT YOU NEED TO PROVE YOUR SCORE |
| | - Paul Janisch , 22 Nov 2005 |
| | THE saying, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it”, is particularly apt when it comes to black economic empowerment. Almost every aspect requires some form of measurability, which has to be backed up with the correct documentation. Your scorecard must contain a true reflection of your status at the time of rating. The only objective method of proving this status is to furnish the requisite proof. This list should be your starting point. |
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| WHEN THE WEDDING PARTY IS OVER |
| | - Sada Gounder , 22 Nov 2005 |
| | AN EFFECTIVE black economic empowerment deal structure is one that is sustainable in the long term. Too often companies rush to do deals, focusing on the deal itself — the wedding — rather than the relationship with its partner — the marriage. |
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| DELIVERY IS SA’S NEW STRUGGLE |
| | - Jonathan Yudelowitz, 22 Nov 2005 |
| | JUST as economic downturns often sort wheat from chaff, so the backlash against nondelivery in the public sector and some parastatals has forced those in power to confront reality. |
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| CONFUSION CONTINUES AS BUSINESS AWAITS BEE CODES |
| | - Natalie Clow-Wilson , 18 Oct 2005 |
| | ONE of the greatest challenges facing small and medium-sized enterprises today with respect to empowerment is understanding what is expected — as well as understanding the benefits of compliance and the potential disadvantages of noncompliance. |
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| 'MOST DEALS' BROAD-BASED |
| | - Mike Holmes, 18 Oct 2005 |
| | THE transformation charters and codes of good practice have resulted in most black economic empowerment equity deals being broad based, says Trade and Industry Minister Mandisi Mpahlwa. |
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| GOVERNMENT SETS OUT UNIFORM TARGETS |
| | - Mike Holmes , 18 Oct 2005 |
| | GOVERNMENT’s guidelines and objectives for broad-based black economic empowerment over the next five to 10 years were outlined at a small and medium-sized enterprise conference in Midrand. |
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| WITH BLACK EMPOWERMENT COMES THE NEED TO MANAGE CHANGE |
| | - Staff Writer, 16 Sep 2005 |
| | MORE often than not, an empowerment transaction, if successful, requires a new way of doing business. This, to a large extent, is one of many reasons a lot of business owners and/or senior managers are anxious about empowerment transactions. |
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| CODES’ HIGH TARGETS COULD SHIFT FOCUS TO APPEARANCES |
| | - Real Business Reporter, 16 Sep 2005 |
| | THE much-anticipated revised drafts of the empowerment Codes of Good Practice are now so complex, many organisations will battle to understand and implement them in a meaningful way, says Kobus Gertenbach of integrated equity and debt company Bravura. |
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