Gauteng’s young entrepreneurs say opportunities to create business relationships with government are there‚ but grumble about delayed payments.
Speaking at the Small‚ Medium and Micro-sized Enterprises Blunders and Bungles summit in Newtown on Thursday‚ Michael Maholobela - director of LeadProTec‚ which provides services such as development quality assurance and skills programmes - said the Gauteng Enterprise Propeller (GEP) is a great initiative.
However‚ problems with payment are the biggest challenge.
"Generally‚ as a young entrepreneur‚ I’ve seen GEP assisting young entrepreneurs‚ but somehow challenges are always there.
“Sometimes you get big projects and you don’t even get a cent from their side‚ but they expect you to do the job and‚ at the end of the day‚ you must be able to perform without funds and then you get paid at a later stage‚” said Maholobela‚ who hails from Alexandra.
The summit is being organised by GEP‚ which is an agency of the Gauteng Provincial Government‚ to establish directly from SMMEs what blunders and bungles can be attributed to their failures despite government's financial and non-financial interventions.
“It's very difficult for SMME's to start small and then go big without funds. My philosophy is that I don’t believe in applying for funds; I believe in starting my own business from a zero-based budget‚ because the moment you start applying for funds‚ you will still have to repay someone… it’s the slave of the system‚" said Maholobela.
The GEP claims to have assisted about 4700 SMME's since its inception in 2005.
Lebogang Maile‚ Gauteng MEC of Economic Development‚ Environment‚ Agriculture and Rural Development‚ whose department is responsible for the GEP‚ was expected to deliver the key note address later on Thursday.
– TMG Digital
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