Getting Down To Business With Vivian Mokome
It has been an interesting time in South Africa for anyone who follows politics and, fundamentally, business and politics cannot be separated. The debate on state capture, and the independence of the judiciary, define 2021's key debates. Many political commentators predicted that the year was always going to be messy, and sadly it is the vulnerable that suffer. It is like the famous African proverb “when elephants fight, the grass gets trampled”.
With the current economic meltdown, business has been harshly affected and black businesses bearing the brunt the worst.. It's time for black business to find its voice. The silence of black business, in a time where small to medium-sized enterprise is suffering, is painful to see. By the end of the Covid-19 season, small business may be painstakingly annihilated.
With the limited and often "hands off" approach by government, in the fight to sustain small business in the era of Covid-19, history will judge us harshly.
For this reason, there's a need to calibrate a mechanism to keep small business alive. It may also be the season where accountants and consultants do Pro Bono work. It may very well be our season to borrow a page from the US policy on small business: "Keep them alive so they keep the economy alive".
We need subsidies from medical aids, less interest rates at banks, and a stay from the repossession of homes. Those adventures are reliant on the political will of government.
Covid-19 has been the ultimate disrupter to the global economy. Fortune 500 companies, and small start-ups alike, have felt the blow, but it's the small businesses that have suffered the most.
Small businesses are the backbone of the SA economy. Small businesses are responsible for employing nearly half of the private sector workforce. However, during these volatile times, where social distancing measures have been put in place and mandatory shut-downs have happened, many small businesses have not been able to survive.
Perhaps there is way to keep things afloat, while we forecast on better days. The antisocial nature of Covid-19 regulations might be the social breakthrough every business needs, doing business from social media platforms.
As a developmental agent, I believe businesses must go beyond the four walls of office space and touch down in areas of mass gathering, information exchange, and social unity. It is highly possible to do business on social media, and not limit it to posting creative content, but also interact with followers and potential clients or customers, create a “follow-back“ strategy to potential customers, and this can do wonders in building online relationships. Liking posts and responding to comments will further build the relationship. Validating your followers, by doing these simple steps, can turn them into potential customers or clients.
Although these things are easy to do, it's surprising how many small businesses and brands only post content on social media, but don't actually socialise with followers in return. Building relationships with customers through social media, is a “give and take”. As in any relationship, it cannot be one-sided.
If we attempt to be radical, we must call for foreign organisations, operating in South Africa, to pay foreign tax which, in turn, must be directed to small business, and the hundreds of empty and vandalised government buildings must become starter-offices and hubs for small business. Our very survival depends on it.
* Vivian Mokome is an academic and a businesswoman. She earned her wealth through a business model called network-marketing.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.
The Star