The continued growth of many economies throughout the world is dependent on the development of entrepreneurs and their ability to create sustainable small medium enterprises (SMEs). By ensuring entrepreneurs are exposed to technology, countries can further stimulate the growth of their SME sectors through the development of “technopreneurs“.

Bridgitte Backman, managing director of ChemCity (Sasol's business incubator) maintains that in spite of South Africa’s history, the country has many successful examples of entrepreneurship and technopreneurship to showcase. These should, however, be used far more proactively as a means of exposing the next generation of entrepreneurs and technopreneurs to SME opportunities – encouraging them to pursue these as exciting and viable career options.

Despite entrepreneurship being critical for the achievement of South Africa’s development objectives, the country’s approach to developing its current and future entrepreneurs remains less than desirable. Corporate South Africa for example, typically invests in the development of entrepreneurs in terms of their own supply chains. As such, existing businesses of medium size usually receive more support than entrepreneurs who are just starting out, thereby discouraging start-up entrepreneurship rather than enabling it.

This has fuelled a stigma against entrepreneurship in South Africa, with it still being seen as a survivalist option despite large organisations like the Rembrandt Group started by Anton Rupert, young innovative entrepreneurs like Mark Shuttleworth and well-known brands like Black Like Me started by Herman Mashaba being founded on the work of entrepreneurs. For the country to effectively challenge and change this stigma, it is thus critical that starting one’s own business is seen as being as desirable as any field of study at a tertiary institution. By identifying entrepreneurship as a viable “career” option (where the sky and one’s business objectives are the only limits), South Africa will encourage potential entrepreneurs to make the necessary psychological transition – and take the crucial next step. In this way, we will come to see entrepreneurs as cutting-edge thinkers who take risks, make an impact, and create wealth and jobs for our local economy. Fuelling this transition will, however, require that we change our personal definition of “goals” in many instances (challenging the perception that these have to be always linked to only high-level qualifications). It will also require more South Africans to start to embrace technological development.

A Sasol funded incubator for enterprise development in South Africa, ChemCity focuses on SMEs in the chemical and related industries. Technological development is thus pivotal in its work with entrepreneurs, with many ChemCity-assisted SMEs using technology to simplify processes and improve outputs. As such, ChemCity offers technologically advanced solutions based on the requirements of its assisted entrepreneurs and works to develop their technical skills. It additionally encourages the development of the necessary entrepreneurial mindset. (Both of these are enabled through ChemCity’s holistic business approach which includes help with feasibility studies; finance and modelling solutions; and implementation through which it provides both business and entrepreneur support.) The incubator’s involvement in housing technology (which uses polymer building materials instead of bricks) for example, has already seen the Gallo Manor police station extend its facilities using the material. Because structures made from the material are simple to assemble and quick to build, they could be viable, cost-efficient solutions to South Africa’s housing challenges. All that’s required? More entrepreneurs to champion the project.

While there can be no doubt that South Africans are naturally entrepreneurial, not enough of our local success stories are currently being showcased. Although many case studies exist, very few of them are made accessible to upcoming and potential entrepreneurs. As a result, many potential entrepreneurs remain unaware of the opportunities that are available to them – as well as regarding the support they can receive from local incubators. A formal means to showcase the successful entrepreneurs that South Africa has produced would thus stimulate positive sentiment and invigorate this sector. It would additionally create the necessary market support for these locally produced products and services, driving the success of these SMEs.

Showcasing and profiling successful SMEs would also foster a far better appreciation of entrepreneurship in our local context, and what is required for long-term sustainability. By driving a culture of entrepreneurship through our educational curriculum, we could additionally formulate a new definition of a “successful business person”, allowing youths to make informed career decisions by the time they reach matric, and thereby increasing the number of local entrepreneurs in the future.

For South Africa to develop as a country and as an economy, it is therefore critical that we acknowledge – and trumpet – our local SME success stories. In this way, we will change mindsets and expose opportunities such as those offered by ChemCity, encouraging the next generation of local entrepreneurs and technopreneurs to take up the torch, build their own businesses and drive our collective success.

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