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Welcome to The Forum SA.
Welcome to a website dedicated to the needs of South African business owners and managers. Here you will find like minded people trying to find the answers to some of the tricky problems doing business in South Africa can pose.
Now that you are here, why not spend a moment finding out a little about us, and how we help each other to help ourselves.
You are no longer alone.
Just consider for a moment... - Have you ever woken up one morning and realised your industry has changed?
Have you ever seen these changes coming and felt powerless to do something about it? Do you find the mass of regulations affecting your business confusing? Have you ever wondered how to improve your business? Have you ever felt there is nowhere to go for help without paying a fortune?
If you have felt any of these things, this site is for you!
Truth be told, most of us believe that when these things happen, it's because someone is looking after our industry - and that means they are looking after us. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Sure, each industry has its leaders, but be sure they are looking after themselves! And if you are a casualty along the way, well - you should have got involved and looked after yourself too.
South Africa is churning out new regulations like never before, and somehow business has to keep up. In fact, more often than not, we'll be paying for it too.
A common complaint is that when new regulations are introduced, we had no input into what this legislation means to us in practice. Even once introduced, we often struggle to really grasp what they mean - the impact on our business - the opportunities and challenges. Normally, we don't even see it coming until it is too late....
No More!!
Using the power of modern technology we can communicate like never before. It's just to know where to go...
And our goal is to make that place RIGHT HERE!
Membership is free so why not register now.
Message from a founder member:
After years of involvement with industry associations in South Africa and around the world, I've realised that the web holds the solution to a few challenges I have seen on a regular basis.
Here are the problems: - Small business is reluctant to become involved despite having the most to gain from the pool of knowledge in an industry association.
Big business dominates the agendas despite smaller businesses often making up the bulk of the membership. Big business dominates the leadership despite being in the numerical minority and very little direction comes from smaller businesses.
Bottom line - small business finds it difficult to make itself heard. Communication is coming from the top down. The little guys don't get much opportunity to ask the questions.
The lack of a real voice for small and medium sized business interests became all to clear when I attended the BEE consultation meeting for small business recently with the DTI. Despite the importance of the debate, there was only one other formal representative of small business - for the perfume industry! Where were all the big shots we keep seeing in the news saying they care so much for the little guy?
The low priority for small business interests on the lobbying front is due to a lack of participation by small business in industry organisations. But why don't small business owners get involved?
There are a number of reasons:
The small business owner's desire for independence
Our busy schedules that make it difficult to attend the meetings
We keep thinking someone else is dealing with our problems
It certainly isn't because of a lack of interest in the general affairs of the industry. After all, we know all to well that that state of our industry does affect us. So how can we solve this? How can we give small business a meaningful voice?
The answer - a forum. A rolling meeting of minds that you can attend when ever it suits you. Where you can meet people who face the same challenges you do, and people that have solved them too.
There are other benefits as well. All too often legislation is chucked out there for us to implement, but we have to develop an understanding of it on our own.
This seems crazy to me. As individuals we are interpreting the same document over and over again. How about if we worked together and found the answers together once.
Better still, how about if we asked the questions and the folks that developed the regulations gave us the answers.
And so this public forum is born.
Hopefully one day there will be enough of us here to start getting answers from those who impose all this stuff on us. I mean, surely they get tired of being asked the same questions over and over - having to carefully explain to person after person. Why not just answer it once and point people to the solution?
Simple really - well I think so. __________________
Strengthen small business interests in South Africa.
Membership is free so why not join now.
Why I joined The Forum SA:
I joined up here after spending some time working with Dave A on the BEE submission. For the first time I felt like I could actually make a difference, and that was a lot more empowering for me than sitting back and moaning (something that I've just heard too much of).
I'm excited to be a part of this. I believe that this forum can make a difference for small business owners - not just by providing information, but by giving them a voice.
I'm looking forward to being a part of building a community that will cause change.
__________________
Duncan Drennan - Engineer
Or Click here to enter the forum area and take a look around.
Some objectives of The Forum SA. A free-to-join site with mostly open-to-view content Relevant to business owners, executives and managers A source of information on the consequences and application of legislation affecting business in South Africa Combines article content and discussion forum, allowing structured presentation of information and interactive exploration of issues A tool for existing industry associations to facilitate communication with their membership, their industry and the public
Possibilities down the line include: Developing a lobbying capacity representing the interests of the members Providing a resource for consumers to make informed buying decisions Facilitation of a mentorship program
Some comments from our members:
"I think you are doing a great job and the forum is what is needed in this business world." - Marq
"Personally, I think that it is a great idea to have a place where one can get input from people that have the same/ similar objectives." - Mark Enslin
"My priority is to seek to be part of a strong collective force, resulting in the potential to influence Govt. on issues which are adversely affecting S.M.E. owners." - Yvonne Symons
"I've just joined and love the idea." - Askari
So what are you waiting for. Membership is free so why not join now.
Or Click here to enter the forum area and take a look around. |
