Independent Retail Independents Day
According to the beard tuggers over at the Finscope SA small business survey, there are around 5.5million small business owners in South Africa, owning a similar number of small businesses. Of these, 78.7% are retailers, who buy products and sell them on, rather than providing services or adding value in any other way. Of these, 70% operate from home, and 67% simply provide support for their owners. However, 27% employ somewhere between one and four people. The implications of these numbers are quietly staggering – the implications are that there are over 11 million people employed informally in SA, which puts something of a dent in the jobless numbers. More importantly, it indicates where state money might best be spent in growing enterprise, growing the economy and growing employment.
Comment: And where suppliers might wish to dispose of a growing slice of their customer marketing spend…