SME Survey, the largest annual study of factors influencing the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises in South Africa, has scored an international coup. A paper based on the findings of the 2007 edition of the study has been selected for inclusion in the prestigious International Council for Small Business (ICSB) World Conference to be held in Canada in June.

The paper, entitled “The blueprint for a successful SME in South Africa”, is based on interviews with more than 5,000 decision-makers in small, medium and micro enterprises in South Africa.

“This is a great opportunity to showcase the resources used by competitive SMEs in a developing country such as South Africa,” says the study’s principal researcher, Arthur Goldstuck, who will present the paper at the conference. “SME Survey has always produced groundbreaking insights into issues affecting SMEs in South Africa. Having our 2007 findings presented at a high-level international conference is an indication that the findings have relevance for other developing countries too.”

This will be the 53rd ICSB World Conference and the theme of the conference is “Advancing Small Business and Entrepreneurship: From Research to Results”. A key aim of the conference is to bridge the gap between research and action.

All papers submitted for the conference are subjected to a peer-review process, with a selection panel scoring the submissions and selecting the highest-scoring papers for presentation at the conference. Researchers, educators, policy makers and business service providers from around the world will attend the event, to be held at the World Trade and Convention Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada from June 22-25 2008.

Scott Gilmour, Head of Customer Strategy for Personal and Business Banking at Standard Bank, says: “Standard Bank is thrilled to learn that local research will be shared at such a renowned platform. This provides a great opportunity for South African entrepreneurs to benchmark themselves against other developing countries, and facilitates an exchange of information that could help accelerate the development of small business in the country.”

Dumisani Mtoba, Portfolio Manager Services at Fujitsu Siemens Computers South Africa, adds: “Fujitsu Siemens Computers is delighted to be able to play a part in the SME Survey 2008. This year we will focus on communicating our proposition for SMEs which is: “Enterprise-class Solutions for Small Business.” This theme concentrates on our holistic offering which sees us complement our comprehensive platform portfolio with services. This enables us to ensure that customers have the added peace-of-mind of our broad range of IT Infrastructure Services, ensuring that they have the best possible solution for their business situation. It’s another way that we deliver on our ‘we make sure’ undertaking.”

The research for SME Survey 2008, presently under way, focuses on the infrastructure challenges faced by SMEs in South Africa. The 2007 research was made possible through the sponsorship of Standard Bank and Fujitsu Siemens Computers, who have also sponsored the SME Survey 2008 project.

Please visit www.smesurvey.co.za to get more information on the 2007 findings

Media contact:

• Debbie Whittaker: 083 273 5337

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), which allows Internet users to make phone calls to each other at no cost, is finally taking off among South African businesses, four years after it became legal to use it outside company networks.

This is the key finding of the VoIP in South Africa 2008 study, released today by World Wide Worx.

At the end of 2007, half of all corporations were making use of VoIP, and that usage level is expected to rise to 64% in 2008. Most of these companies are using it within the context of Least-cost Routing (LCR), which enables any phone call made from inside the company to be routed via the most cost-effective route.

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Are small to medium enterprises coping with power cuts and the prospect of erratic supply for the next half-decade? What about crime? Is South Africa’s infrastructure failing the SME?

These are among the crucial questions SME Survey 2008 raises as it gauges the competitiveness and profitability of small to medium enterprises which are frequently seen as the engine room of growth in South Africa. Sponsored by Standard Bank and Fujitsu Siemens Computers, the survey is in its 6th year and measures sentiment, confidence and the factors that contribute to the competitiveness of an SME.

Arthur Goldstuck, principal researcher for SME Survey, notes that the economic landscape in South Africa has changed dramatically in just six months. “From a buoyant economic climate and abundant availability of credit, from a relatively reliable and stable power supply and the assurance that the water from the tap is arguably the best in the world, companies today find themselves challenged in ways they had never expected,” he says.

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Delays in the award of licenses for providing the new WiMAX high-speed wireless broadband service to businesses and consumers and the limited roll-out of services that have been licensed has resulted in dampening of its potential impact.

This is the core conclusion of the first study on the impact of the technology in South Africa, conducted by World Wide Worx. The report, “WiMAX in SA 2008: Year Zero”, released today, shows that only those companies that have already deployed WiMAX have appreciated its impact.

These companies are all using Telkom’s scaled down version of WiMAX, which is provided only where its ADSL fixed line service is not available, and only at ADSL-type speeds. WiMAX can theoretically offer speeds of up to 70Mbps, as opposed to ADSL’s fastest option in South Africa of 4Mbps. Even at far lower speeds, however, the potential offered by WiMAX is not yet on the horizon, since no serious competition exists to spur its roll-out, says Arthur Goldstuck, MD of World Wide Worx.

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Online retailers will have generated around R200-million by the time stores close for Christmas this year. And the most popular item on sale on the Internet? Satellite navigation systems for cars.

Research conducted separately by leading independent technology market researchers World Wide Worx and the shopping search site Jump Shopping confirms that this will be South Africa’s first “e-Christmas”, when people go shopping online for festive season gifts on a large scale.

“We expect the holiday season to contribute to at least 20% of the total R929-million expected to be spent online in 2007, with the proportion possible rising to as much as 25%” says World Wide Worx managing director Arthur Goldstuck.

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Online retail in South Africa has finally turned around. By the end of this year, online spending on retail goods in South Africa is expected to have grown by more than 35%, after 33% growth in 2006.The total spent on online retail goods in South Africa in 2007 is expected to be R929-million, up from R688-million in 2006, according to a new report from World Wide Worx, “Online Retail in South Africa 2007”.

These figures exclude the sale of air tickets online, which continue to dwarf the numbers for online retail. The five South African airlines selling tickets online, namely kulula.com, FlySAA.com, Mango, 1Time and Nationwide between them accounted for R2.3-billion in e-commerce in 2006, almost four times the size of conventional online retail. The figure is expected to rise above R3-billion in 2007.

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The number of South Africans with access to the Internet will grow by little more than 3% in 2007, despite massive growth in broadband connectivity.This is the key finding of the “Internet Access in SA 2007” study, announced today by World Wide Worx. The study shows that a total of 3.85-million people in South Africa – a mere 8% of the population, or 1 in 12 people – will have access to the Internet by the end of 2007.

“Despite the dramatic rise of broadband usage, this is the slowest growth we’ve seen in overall user numbers since the arrival of the Internet in South Africa,” says World Wide Worx managing director Arthur Goldstuck, who has been tracking the Internet market since 1993.

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SME Survey 2007 is halfway through their research of surveying 6,000 decision makers of SMEs in South Africa. So far, the research shows that there are common enablers which astute business owners take advantage of to improve the performance of their company.The Survey, backed by Standard Bank and Fujitsu Siemens Computers, sets out to identify the business and technology factors which successful SMEs use to sharpen their competitive edge.“

“Standard Bank continues to support this research initiative – this is our third consecutive year as primary sponsor of SME Survey, because we believe that the SME market plays a critical role in the growth of our economy,” says Melt van der Spuy, director, Business Support, Business and Private Banking, Standard Bank.

“Our involvement helps us gain a better understanding of the business segment so that we can provide enhanced solutions, and deliver better service that meets our clients’ needs,” he states.

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South Africa’s largest customer-carrying organisations are embracing self-service as a means of driving down customer support costs, reducing churn and increasing customer loyalty, according to a new survey released today.The survey, titled “Self-Service Strategies in South Africa 2007”, conducted by Arthur Goldstuck, managing director of World Wide Worx on behalf of self-service specialist Consology, is based on in-depth interviews with major South African companies that represent an aggregate base of nearly 50 million customers. Respondents to the research include many of the country’s largest banks, insurers, retailers and telecommunications firms.

“This report shows South African companies have realised that self-service is an imperative in a market where customers are looking for convenience and where customer support costs are spiralling out of control. Those businesses that embrace an integrated self-service strategy will outperform those that don’t,” says John Ziniades, CEO of Consology.

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With SME Survey 2007 research getting underway, principal researcher Arthur Goldstuck reveals that for the first time, the study will seek to provide answers to perhaps the most important question facing the nascent enterprise: What are the secrets of a successful business?Sponsored by Standard Bank and Fujitsu Siemens Computers, SME Survey is the definitive says Goldstuck. “SME Survey has previously focused on identifying those factors which influence competitiveness and enhance the potential for success for the emerging business. This year, we are shifting the focus from the enabling environment to the infrastructure, tools, information and communications technology and expertise which successful businesses use. We hope this research will provide something of a ‘best practice’ guideline to which emerging companies can refer to as crib notes which can influence their success.”

“2007 is our third consecutive year as primary sponsor of the SME Survey. We believe that the Small Medium Enterprise (SME) market plays a critical role in the continued growth of our economy, and therefore we expend great time and resources into supporting initiatives like this that accelerate the development of SMEs, “says Melt van der Spuy, Director, Business Support, Business and Private Banking, Standard Bank.

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