DTI - new regulations for Non-SA people setting up business in SA

Since change of head of DTI (Department of Trade & Industry) two or three months ago, the new director, Mr. Goosen, is no longer willing to accept any applications for reduction of the minimum investment amount of R 2.5 mio which fall below R 500.000. Such application is needed in order to obtain a so-called "Waiver Letter". For foreigners trying to establish a business in SA (South Africa) with less than R 2.5 mio it's still possible to apply for a reduction is certain industries, such as tourismn, automotive, IT etc..
This change in procedure has quite a huge impact on foreign entrepreneurs who intended to start their business with less than 2.5 mio and even less than R 500.000. Various business associations as well as e. g. the major immigration service providers already raised their concerns, but so far without success. Mr. Goosen insists on his new regulation, apart from the fact that it was him/his organization who took away the authority to sign off such "waiver letters" from WESGRO who issued these documents in the past.
More to come on this issue when it's more clear where the journey goes. At the current stage the majority of the immigration service providers recommend to hold back any re-vised/new applications for reduction of the investment amount, provided the amount will be less than R 500.000.

Marketing for your Business

A good place for SME and entrepreneurs to do some marketing for their business free of charge is http://www.myprofile.co.za/

Here you can list your company in the section of the business directory which suits most the services and products your company is offering. To upload your company logo is also possible.

Need immediately a business started?

Best opportunity to avoid the long way to get your own company registered is to buy one from shelf. Good point of contact would be the Shelf-Warehouse's branch office in Cape Town:
P 021 421 1551
F 021 421 1560
E ctn@pty-online.co.za
Address: Safmarine House, 22 Riebeek St, Cape Town

Trade Mark registration in South Africa

After going through this process in Europe, I did the same now in South Africa. The website www.cipro.co.za of "Company and Intellectual Property Registration Office" (CIPRO), a division of Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) was a great help. The direct link to the trade mark area is as follows www.cipro.co.za/products_services/trademarks.asp,
What is necessary is that you first get yourself / your company registered as a customer with CIPRO in order to obtain a so-called virtual account. This virtual account is conditional for receiving services not free of charge from CIPRO, such as the registration of your trade mark. Before you can use such services, you need to make a deposit into this virtual account. The amount of this deposit is completely up to you, i.e. what ever services you have in mind you would like to use, look up the price list, add them up and you know roughly what your first deposit should be.
The templates they provide are quite handy and user friendly. However, I have to admit that the instructions how to use those templates need a little bit improvement - but all this is manageable and gives you the right results.

Get your company's name out to the community

A convenient way for SMEs and start-ups in the advertising and marketing sector to use one more effective way to promote company name and offered services while considering your budget, make use of www.biz-community.com and get your company listed.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for Start-Ups

Ever thought about how to optimize the appearance of your website on search engines without stretching your budget to far? Have a look at www.statcounter.com or www.google.com/analytics/ - they are both for free and give you an excellent insight of your website's acceptance/performance.

Starting a business in South Africa - Which software to consider?

You started a business, must spend your funds wisely and need to decide on which accounting software you should go for? Just to let you know that myself has been to the research process for quite a while to find out which of the softwares currently out there would suit best to support a small company in the start-up phase. Well, comparing the two most commonly used ones, PASTEL and QUICKBOOKS, I decided to go with the later one. This decision is based on (a) testing both softwares, (b) advice of my accounting officer and last but not least (c) listening to the street out there. One more big advantage most definitely is, you can easily go from QB to PA, but not vice versa and also QB is much more flexible with regard to day-to-day routine work.

Good opportunity for SME

Have a look at www.sabusinesshub.co.za
This site gives you a great portfolio of supporting tools when it comes to Business Networking etc. for SMEs. Although registration costs an annually fee, still I believe it's worthwhile doing so.

Excellent Business Network to Europe

PR!ME Solution CC can provide an excellent business network for established corporates in the Western Cape region who are interested in expanding to Europe. At the same time, Europe based corporates planning to set up branches in the Western Cape region, are most welcome to contact us:

www.prime-solution.com / www.prime-solution.co.za / www.prime-solution.eu

New Portal for SMME

I can only recommend to have a look at following page:
www.majesticway.net
This is where small businesses come together to write their own news, network and send each other business.

Cape Town - PR!ME Solution, a newly founded consulting business

PR!ME Solution CC was founded in 06/2007 and is based in Cape Town. It's been established in particular to support small & medium sized enterprises (SME) mainly but not limited to the IT sector. The founder has almost 20yrs of international business experience, gained in top management positions at US-based and Europe-based companies in IT, Telco, FMCG and other industries.

PR!ME Solution CC has a pragmatic approach in order to support entrepreneurs who want to become key player with/in their businesses.

Have a look at www.prime-solution.com - Don't miss your gateway to success! If you have questions, simply use the contact form on the website.