Whilst Government has made numerous programmes available to help small businesses, there are some major information gaps in terms of where and how to access funding. Furthermore, there is a subset of entrepreneurs that doesn’t actually qualify for many of these programmes, leaving their businesses in real danger of going under.
Dr Tim London interviewed UCT students and researchers, Zaakir Essa and Georgina Borros from Phaphama, who performed a study on a particular group of small businesses facing real threats from the impacts of COVID-19. They interviewed over 230 entrepreneurs in six provinces, each with an average of around six employees, and found that 90% of those interviewed didn’t know where to access funding because the funding landscape is so confusing. Additionally, whilst many informal businesses do in fact qualify for government grants, 85% of these small businesses had not applied for government assistance, so had no other sources of income.
Ideas Exchange is the UCT GSB's digital thought leadership platform. The ‘Perspectives’ series offers unique and informative insights and commentary from our faculty and industry experts on business challenges in times of disruption.
