“This year, we want to build on the benchmarks established last year by determining the success rates of entrepreneurs in different environments such as urban, township and rural environments. We will also establish the sectors in which entrepreneurs operate, as well the markets in which they are building their businesses – business to business (B2B), business to consumer (B2C) or business to government (B2G). Finally, we will consider the success rates of local compared to foreign entrepreneurs participating in the SA ecosystem,” comments Donna Rachelson, CEO of Seed Academy.
The survey will take about five minutes to complete and is available here. It is aimed at startup entrepreneurs who have been in business for less than five years. Those that participate could win one of three business support packages valued at R30,000 each, one of two seats on an accelerator programme valued at R15,000 each and one of five places on an entrepreneur bootcamp valued at R5,000 each.
Rachelson says that there is not enough support for entrepreneurs in South Africa. “The National Development Plan (NDP) places a huge expectation on small business given that the plan expects small and expanding companies to deliver 90% of jobs by 2030. The results of the survey will provide valuable data for government to enhance the startup ecosystem in South Africa by outlining exactly what the status quo is and where the most urgent interventions are required,” she says.
Seed Academy is a training, incubation and funding ecosystem for entrepreneurs which initiated SA’s first startup survey. Its focus is on dramatically growing and scaling high growth potential businesses.
