If you have been following me for a while you will know how much figures and data excites and ignites me. So imagine my delight when I got my hands on the “Understanding the Impact of COVID-19 on SMEs in South Africa: Part 2” released by Sasfin and sme.africa.
Results for Survey 2 in August 2020 was obtained for 1,735 participants and all respondents were categorised in 1 of 3 categories:
- Distressed – 49% – refers to severely impacted
- Coping – 41% – refers to a limited impact, or
- Thriving – 10%
For me a real concern is that almost half of the businesses now find itself in distress. The question is what level of distress and what is the possibility of recovery?
Annual turnover and number of employees again highlighted the impact SME’s have on the economy and why it is imperative to support SME’s :
- 80% of respondents confirmed an annual turnover below R5m made up as follows:
- Less than R1m – 54%
- R1m – R5m – 26%
- And 83% of the respondent s employed less than 10 people
For all the respondents managing cashflow was the biggest challenge followed by either stock / revenue / losing clients or managing team / morale.
My personal experience from dealing with entrepreneurs for the last 20 years has been that the biggest challenges has always been and remains to be cashflow. That is why I have dedicated the last number of years to educating SME’s on managing money in their businesses.
For more information you can view the full survey results infographic here
