Supporting economic growth and job creation by way of increased investment in small, medium and micro enterprises is one of Old Mutual’s very important medium-term priorities. It’s a crucial goal in the South African context, where much of the national economy is driven by SMEs.

As a large corporate, Old Mutual is uniquely positioned to enable that support by including SMEs in our value chains and by providing meaningful funding opportunities. But what should that investment look like, and where are the real needs?

The challenge for SMEs

It’s very clear from our research and our experience that funding is a key need for small businesses. Ironically, there’s a lot of funding out there; the challenge for SMEs lies in accessing the right kind of funding for their needs. Assets funding is very different to invoice discounting, for example – which in turn is different to purchase-order funding. The type of funding you provide will therefore be the real differentiator.

My small business, Burgundy Fly, operates in the fashion space. There you have local retail giants like Woolworths and The Foschini Group, as well as international incumbents like H&M and Zara – and there’s hardly anybody in the gap below them because it’s so unbelievably hard to crack that space.

It’s not hard because SMEs don’t know what they’re doing; it’s hard because they’re trying to jump from nothing to competing with major players.

As Old Mutual we know that funding is a pain point, and we know that there’s an empty gap between the big players and SMEs. We want to show up meaningfully to enable SMEs to climb that ladder. That’s why we’re developing a capability that will respond to that varied demand. We are designing a solution that will save time.

Time is money, even more so for SMEs

We appreciate the real-life challenges of running a business. I know from my own experience that time is an asset that SMEs don’t really have. We’re looking to solve that by providing small businesses with a tool that will help them run their operations, while accessing funding solutions that will help them throughout their business journey.

When you start a business, you don’t expect the volumes of admin work that come your way. All of a sudden you’re doing your own HR, IT, marketing and so on, because you can’t afford to hire people at that level. (For a while, I couldn’t even afford to pay myself!) There are so many things small-business owners have to take care of, which can take the focus away from running and growing the core business.

Old Mutual’s work also includes immediate support. When unrest broke out in KwaZulu-Natal in mid 2021, there were some desperate small-business owners out there. Before starting an online store, I ran a business in a physical store, and know that some small businesses would have been wiped out by the looting and will be gone forever.

Various parts of Old Mutual – including Old Mutual Corporate, the Old Mutual Foundation and Old Mutual Insure – actively sought out SMEs that had been displaced by the riots to help them to get back on their feet. We didn’t give them a grant or a loan. It was cash for rebuilding and restocking their stores or for paying salaries and wages. It was our way of saying, ‘We understand what you’re going through. We’re showing up to help.’

We believe that small-business support should be grounded in reality and in understanding what entrepreneurs really need. That’s why we’re working with SMEs to land our proposition and implement our strategy.

For example, our lending partner is a medium-sized South African business. Our digital partner, who is developing our SME platform solution, is a small business. Our commercialisation partner is a two-person band.

As a large corporate, we’re walking our talk when it comes to SME support. I’m proud of that. It means that we’re directing our funding, our partnership opportunities and our support towards the kinds of businesses we want to develop.

This article originally appeared in MiNDSPACE magazine, issue 2 2022. Read the full issue here.