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Setting up a business in South Africa |
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General Overview
For those returning South Africans, and /or their spouses not fortunate enough to have saved enough to come home and retire, possibly the most important question to resolve is, is what to do with themselves to generate income when they land back in South Africa.
Setting up your own business in South Africa is the aspiration of many a returnee. Whilst this is an exciting new phase for many people’s careers, it is also a time where great planning and consideration must take place.
South Africa offers a great many business opportunities to the budding entrepreneur and is well ranked in the table of countries for ease of doing business.
There are several key advantages to commencing a business in South Africa as opposed to a country like the UK:
- South Africa is still counted as a developing country. There are many gaps in the marketplace that still exist and opportunities to take advantage of. In the more established countries competition can be more intense and often you find "some one has got there first".
- Start up capital – For individuals thinking of commencing a business in a place like London the costs can soon spiral out of control. Merely paying rent on premises, recruiting and paying the right staff and advertising costs can soon add up and diminish that hard earned start up capital.
- South Africa offers much cheaper labour as well as an abundance of it. Whilst the cost saving is attractive, caution has to be exercised in certain skill areas where South Africa is experiencing a shortage of it.
- South Africa wants to open it's doors for business and offers a number of grants in the tourism and manufacturing sectors to encourage and aid investment into business.
- The weaker rand makes export of goods attractive to foreign buyers.
Whilst all the above sounds attractive, many businesses fail in their first few years, particularly in the hospitality industry – examples are restaurants and takeaways.
The old adage of failing to plan is the same as planning to fail is a familiar story but remains a true one.
Setting Up a Business - Professional Assistance
The above article was contributed by Nico Le Roux of the Incompass Group. Incompass provides a one stop service for returning South Africans that are considering setting up their own business. They are able to assist with Company formation, business plans, due diligence, marketing strategies and tax structures.
Incompass can be contacted here.
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