The DTI has a fund that can help black businesses when they need it most, writes Michael Williams

For Sakeena Bock, 44, the road to starting Smart Staging Solutions, her audiovisual and staging business, was a long one. With loans from traditional outlets hard to come by she had to look at alternative options for a helping hand.

Sakeena's company was registered in 2006, but only started trading in 2008 due to her extended battle to get a loan from a bank. Because her business specialises in technical services for the audiovisual industry, start-up costs were high.

• Mediocrity is not an option

"We looked at who we were going to be competing with and we realised that we couldn't be mediocre," Sakeena says.

These challenges spooked financiers, who, despite ostensibly approving of Sakeena's business plan, were unwilling to hand over money to someone they didn't know.

Sakeena believes that her gender also stood in the way of her being granted a loan.

"Most of the people I liaised with when I applied for loans were men, and I got my fair share of gender perceptions about the fact that I was going into a traditionally male-dominated market.

"I felt that if I were a man I wouldn't have got the kind of questions I got. There were a lot of barriers in terms of people understanding why I wanted to go into this field as a woman, and if I would be able to handle the heat."

Sakeena says that if she had taken to heart everything the banks said, her business would have died an early death.

But she persevered and used the time she had while looking for a loan to work on what she could, such as the business's website and branding.

• A fund that could help

Eventually help came - from alternative sources. After hearing about the Business Partners Women's Fund, Sakeena decided to explore further. This ultimately led to her getting the capital she needed from the fund. She started trading in early 2008. A further boost came soon afterwards from the Department of Trade and Industry's (DTI's) Black Business Supplier Development Programme, which Sakeena learnt about through her membership of the South African Women's Entrepreneurial Network.

"At one of these (network) meetings I heard about the programme. I thought, 'This sounds good, let me give it a shot'.

"I dealt with the formalities in terms of the compliancy that they want because, despite the fact that they help small businesses, they are very pedantic about how you run your business. You've got to be registered, you've got to have a VAT number, and you've got to be a legitimate trading business.

"I submitted my application in 2008. So it's not like I had been trading forever. I had registered, I had accounts to demonstrate that I had been trading for a while, and I complied with all their requirements."

The programme was a shot in the arm for Sakeena's fledgling business, allocating some much- needed funds towards training. Sakeena explains that in an industry where technologies are constantly changing and where training certificates go a long way in reassuring clients, training is a priority.

"Training is very expensive in this industry, because you've constantly got to be beyond the curve in terms of your knowledge of technology, software design and animation.

"Clients often give you the Spanish Inquisition on what you are trained in."

Sakeena was also able to get access to important software through the programme, as well as assistance in producing a slick corporate DVD. For small businesses in such a highly competitive environment, the costs of such tools can be prohibitive, she says.

Although Sakeena's business is still in its infancy, it has a bright future. Recent projects have included providing linkages for media filming cameras and erecting a stage on the pitch at Cape Town's Green Point Stadium, for the event held to mark 365 days before the World Cup.

• It's not easy for the small guys

Despite eventually getting a leg up when she needed it most, Sakeena believes that entrepreneurs face unfavourable odds. This is particularly true of those without any assets to offer as security for a loan.

"To secure my loan I had to offer my property as collateral. Now, my question is, what if you don't have collateral? I walked a very long road to get the finance. Every day I think 'How do the people who don't have the collateral or property or something to show make it?'"

But for Sakeena, at least, the first difficult steps have been taken. What remains is the small matter of getting work - an aspect of small business empowerment that she believes could do with more attention from the government.

"They can forget you. They've assisted you and raised your competitiveness, but if they really want to grow you to be a player in the economy, they should be supporting you and giving you business as well," she says.

• How the DTI can help

The DTI has introduced new guidelines for its Black Business Supplier Development Programme. The new guidelines will take effect in April.

The programme is a cost-sharing, cash grant incentive scheme that offers support to black-owned businesses. Gabriel Makhonxa, director of incentive administration: enterprise support at the department, says that the changes to the programme are primarily aimed at assisting SMEs to acquire technology.

"We are now assisting with tools, machinery and equipment. We weren't doing that before. We realised that applicants needed assistance with technology and the implementation of technology to leverage their competitiveness."

The new guidelines also extend the scope of the programme to include businesses with a turnover of up to R35-million, increased from the previous cap of R12-million. Other qualifying criteria for the programme - such as that the business is 51% black owned, at least a year old and complies with commercial regulatory requirements - will remain the same.

Gabriel says that under the revised programme, trained "network facilitators" will play a central role in recruiting participants. Once they have identified appropriate businesses and have had them vetted by the department, they will identify areas in the business that are in particular need of assistance.

"Say we have a client who qualifies under the new programme: we will go out and establish whether that person exists and qualifies and so on. And once we are satisfied, we apply a diagnostic tool to the company so that they can come up with evidence to say these are the interventions that the company needs," Gabriel says.

Gabriel says that the programme has grown almost 900% and benefited more than 6000 businesses since its inception in 2002.