Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have been particularly challenged by the COVID pandemic, the climate crisis, war and political tensions including the fuel price crisis. Strategic responses to crisis including cost-cutting as retrenchment in the short run, debt financing to preserve the status quo and exit. However, perhaps the most…

South Africa is characterised by high unemployment levels, a low Total Early Stage Entrepreneurial Activity rate, and a high small business failure rate. Entrepreneurship and small business development is seen as a solution to end unemployment in South Africa. A study to understand how to improve small business support was conducted at the…

In surveys conducted in different countries over four years, the authors investigated why entrepreneurs in the same sector and during the same period were not equally successful. From the findings of this research they developed a new three-day training programme to address primarily skills and techniques relating to personal initiative, planning,…