Mentoring ‘micropreneurs’

I remember attending a talk given by Clem Sunter, the exceptional scenario planner, futurologist and author, during which he spoke about various scenarios facing South Africa.

One specific statement he made stuck with me. He said, and I paraphrase: “For South Africa to revive and strengthen its economy, a million entrepreneurs are needed to create the five million jobs that the politicians are talking about.”

Following the global pandemic, this statement is true, now more than ever.

Governments’ responses to Covid-19 hit economies around the world hard as whole industries (and countries) shut down and companies shed jobs. These job losses, however, sparked a new global trend, the growth of the ‘micropreneur’.

More out of necessity than choice, side hustles and embryonic ideas have transformed into fully fledged businesses as many have turned to entrepreneurship as their next career move.

In South Africa, and elsewhere around the globe, for those lucky enough to keep their jobs, many saw pay reductions or reduced working hours. To supplement their income, side hustles were born.

And while many South African small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) were forced to close their doors (the SMME quarterly update issued by SEDA in August 2021 showed a decline in the number of SMMEs year-on-year from 2.61 million to 2.33 million), those who managed to survive showed their tenacity in that they provided an additional 688 000 jobs over the period and maintained their share of total turnover at around 37.5%.

To empower these new and existing entrepreneurs, we need to develop a fresh new perspective to building this critical sector.

In 2019, South Africa ranked 49th out of 54 economies on the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor’s (GEM) National Entrepreneurship Context Index, ahead of only Croatia, Guatemala, Paraguay, Puerto Rico and Iran.

Sadly, according to its report, SA’s entrepreneurial ecosystem was one of the most challenging in the sample of participating economies in 2019, and has exhibited little sign of improvement over the past few years.

GEM cited a number of issues hampering entrepreneurship, ranging from access to markets and funding to restrictive policies to access to mentorship. Many entrepreneurs will espouse that only an entrepreneur can truly understand the needs and challenges of an entrepreneur.

To this point, Clem Sunter suggested at a recent University of Cape Town (UCT) Summer School lecture, that “President Cyril Ramaphosa establish an entrepreneurship council that consists of successful entrepreneurs who regularly advise him on how best to lift the economy from the brink of ruins.” I wholeheartedly agree.

Another critical aspect is access. We need to rethink how entrepreneurs attain certain key necessities. These include access to funding and infrastructure but extends to more non-traditional elements such as access to time, to the city and to mentorship.