Small Business Spotlight

A collaboration between CapeTownMagazine.com and Lulalend, your friends in funding.

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Champion a small business you admire in your community

Nominate it for the Small Business Spotlight Initiative to help it grow

3 August 2021

Many of us work for one and know someone who started one. Small businesses have a direct impact on all our livelihoods; this past year (past few weeks) has made that blatantly clear.

These largely owner-led businesses face continued pressure at the best of times, yet display a never-say-die spirit of perseverance that sees them brave the most extraordinary times.

They seem like (unsung) heroes, but each one will tell you that they rarely ever win – can never win – doing it alone. Support one by nominating a small business you admire or business owner you respect in our Small Business Spotlight, in partnership with Lulalend.

NOMINATE YOUR FAVOURITE SMALL BUSINESS

Support the people in our lives who pay salaries, create livelihoods for families and uplift communities. Nominate a business you love today.

JOIN THE SMALL BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT INITIATIVE

We want to put the small businesses you know in the spotlight. For the next three months we’re calling on you to join us in spotlighting SMEs you admire. It’s open to any type of small business, no matter how “ordinary” it seems. From a small accounting business catering to freelancers or the entrepreneur roasting and selling your preferred coffee brand, and the business you feel makes your world better.

The Small Business Spotlight Initiative, open to SMEs anywhere in the country, is here to help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) shine and thrive.

Small business owners navigate major change all the time. Jerome Roberts, owner of SJR Printers, pivoted quickly into branding and promotions when he saw the decline of print in 2012. Image: Supplied

NOMINATE A BUSINESS HERE, TODAY

For 13 weeks until the end of October your nomination will help a business stand a chance to win an interest-free loan of up to R100 000 so it can grow. Six of the businesses and business owners nominated by you, CapeTownMagazine.com readers, will win editorial exposure to 622 000 people through being featured and activated on CapeTownMagazine.com’s platforms.

Plus: All nominated businesses that qualify can receive a business loan with the first two months being interest-free*.

Jerome Roberts with one of his employees at SJR Printers. Image: Supplied

KNOW SOMEONE BRAVING IT IN BUSINESS? NOMINATE

It’s the founder of your favourite locally manufactured clothing brand who employs, and in the process uplifts, whole communities. It’s the office that does your taxes and the recruitment team that got you the job that helps you sustain your family. Or simply, it is the employer who made sure your job was secure during the pandemic.

Many in Jennifer Classen's procurement and sourcing company, Ngaphaya Y2K10, were unemployed when she started it. “I want to uplift the community by employing more people.” Image: Supplied

KNOW ONE OR MORE SMALL BUSINESSESES? NOMINATE

Small business owners are payers-of-salaries, employing two to hundreds of people across South African cities and towns. You are likely an employee. Perhaps an entrepreneur is a member of your family or a friend.

“Watching my team grow, seeing them develop skills and confidence is the most rewarding thing,” says Dave Hutchison, founder of Sexy Socks. Image: Supplied

If community support is the most underrated aspect of business, then access to finance is the biggest game-changer in business growth. We are talking about fast, hassle-free access to business loans, not wading through the piles of paper and bureaucracy of traditional financing institutions.

JOIN US IN RALLYING AROUND SMALL BUSINESS

We’re proud to be partnering with Lulalend on the Small Business Spotlight Initiative. Lulalend provides fast and easy access to funding to SMEs: a business loan to take a business to the next phase, bridging finance to manage cash flow. Lulalend grants all customers who qualify two months interest free on their business loan. See how much you could qualify for by using Lulalend’s business funding calculator.

"Our vision for Sexy Socks from day one has always been to put a pair of school socks on the feet of every child in South Africa," says Dave. Image: Supplied

NOMINATE HERE, NOW. IT TAKES 2 MINUTES

Nominate a brave business, one that you really admire, in our Small Business Spotlight Initiative: www.capetownmagazine.com/spotlight. Or tag the business on our Facebook and Instagram pages, so they can nominate themselves. And learn more about how Lulalend lives their mission of growing small businesses in South Africa.

For three months we’re calling on you to nominate a small business you admire.