How To Optimise Your Website For Global Reach
Global expansion offers significant opportunities for small businesses, including access to new markets. But entering new markets takes careful planning. One of the most important steps is to optimise your website to attract and keep the attention of your new target market.
Optimising your website for global reach involves several key considerations to ensure that your site is accessible, user-friendly, and culturally appropriate for a diverse audience.
In this article, our friends at xneelo share some tips for getting it right.
Global expansion offers significant opportunities for small businesses, including access to new markets. But entering new markets takes careful planning. One of the most important steps is to optimise your website to attract and keep the attention of your new target market.
Optimising your website for global reach involves several key considerations to ensure that your site is accessible, user-friendly, and culturally appropriate for a diverse audience.
In this article, our friends at xne xneelo share some tips for getting it right.
Adapt your content
Something as simple as spelling can make a huge difference in how visitors experience your website. For example, British and European websites typically use British English, while US websites use American English (tip: It's all in the ‘z’s). You can add multi-language support to your website to adapt your content to specific audiences.
If you’re targeting non-English speaking visitors, consider translating your content into multiple languages. While there are numerous online translation tools available, you might want to consider professional translation services to achieve 100% accuracy and cultural relevancy.
Employ international SEO
Optimising your website for search engines is called Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). This involves creating content based on what your target market is searching for to help them find your website more easily on search engines. Adapting your content for this new audience is key, but be sure to do some keyword research first to find out exactly what words and terms this new audience is using to find information related to your product or service.
You will also need to make some technical SEO changes, such as adapting your metadata and sitemaps for search engines and setting up international targeting in Google Search Console to specify the target country for each version of your website.
Invest in additional domains
Using domain extensions strategically can play a role in helping your small business expand internationally. Consider registering country-specific domain extensions for the countries you are targeting. For example, if you are expanding into the United Kingdom, register a ".uk" domain. Different top-level domain extensions can also tell search engines to include your website in international or regional search results.
Check your page load speed
Check your page loading times to ensure your website offers a favourable user experience. You can use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to identify and address performance issues. You can use a Content Delivery Network (CDN) to distribute your content globally and reduce latency. A CDN works by caching content closer to where your audience resides to deliver it faster.
Offer numerous payment and currency options
If your website has e-commerce functionality, make sure you are offering multiple payment options to accommodate various international preferences. Also, ensure you are displaying prices in the local currency to provide clarity and avoid confusion. Your chosen payment gateway might include this functionality.
Prioritise legal and regulatory compliance
Familiarise yourself with international privacy laws and regulations, such as the GDPR, and ensure your website is compliant with each. Make sure you communicate your privacy policy and terms of service to be transparent in how you use customer and visitor data.
Boost your customer support
One of the most important steps for global success is to ensure your customer support team is geared to assist customers from different regions. This can include hiring team members in other countries. On the website level, you can investigate international chatbot options and provide FAQs and documentation in various languages.
Remember that global optimisation is an ongoing process, and staying informed about international trends, technological advancements, and user preferences is crucial to maintaining a successful global online presence.
This advice was compiled by our friends at web hosting provider xneelo.
How To Create A Website For Your Accounting Business
Creating a website for your accounting business is essential in establishing an online presence and attracting clients. The good news is that you don’t need an expensive web designer or developer to do it as all the tools you need are within your grasp.
In this article, our friends at xneelo provide a four-step guide to help you get started.
Creating a website for your accounting business is essential in establishing an online presence and attracting clients. The good news is that you don’t need an expensive web designer or developer to do it as all the tools you need are within your grasp.
In this article, our friends at xneelo provide a four-step guide to help you get started.
Step 1: Choose a domain name
The first step you have to take when creating a website for your accounting business is to select a domain name that suits your business. Choose a name that relates directly to your business name and field. Like ClarkesAccounting.com, for example. You want potential clients to find you easily.
Your domain name is followed by an extension. The .com extension is the go-to choice of most businesses, but if you operate mostly in South Africa, consider using co.za or a city domain like .capetown or .joburg instead – the chances of your favourite domain name being available are better and these domain extensions could work out better on the budget.
Search for your domain name here.
Step 2: Select a Hosting provider
Choose a reliable web hosting provider to host your website on the Internet. A web host “rents” out space on their servers, and provides necessities like email accounts, disk space, and a traffic allowance for your website. A good hosting provider will also provide essential security features like an SSL certificate and DDoS protection and have round-the-clock support available should you need assistance.
If you prefer a more all-in-one solution, Managed WordPress Hosting provides hosting services and WordPress in one, as well as a range of Starter Sites that have been beautifully designed with demo pages and content to assist you with customisation. Another advantage is the WP101 training material and privacy mode that allows you to test and play before taking your final website live.
The end goal is to have a well-run website that you can count on, without worrying about security and technical issues.
Select a web hosting package here.
Step 3: Select a website platform
A website platform is the foundation on which your website is built.
There are several website-building platforms to choose from, each with its own set of features. Shopify and WordPress both have features that would suit an e-commerce store, for example.
WordPress is ideal for a professional accounting business as it is flexible and easy to use. The WordPress website contains a library of customisable themes which act as “plug and play” templates that can be adapted easily without any previous website-building experience necessary.
Step 4: Design your website
For an accounting firm, your design should be professional, clean, and user-friendly and include all the necessary information customers need in easy reach.
Ideally, your accounting website should include the following pages:
A Home Page: A brief introduction to your business.
An About Us Page: Information about your team and expertise.
Services: A detailed list of the accounting services you offer.
Testimonials: Positive feedback from satisfied clients.
Blog: Featuring articles related to accounting and finance to showcase your expertise.
Contact Information: This makes it easy for potential clients to reach you.
If you’re using themes or a Starter Site, you can simply customise existing demo pages to your own needs.
Bonus step: Nifty add-ons for your website
WordPress features a range of plugins that provide additional functionality to your website and improve your client experience.
Here are some we think will benefit an accounting business:
Anti-spam: No one likes to see spam comments. A plugin like Akismet Anti-Spam filters out spam comments, so they don’t appear under your posts.
Scheduling: Calendly is a great app for automating meeting scheduling and appointments with potential clients.
A cost calculator: Use a plugin like Cost Calculator Builder to create price estimation forms for website visitors.
A chatbot: Use a chatbot to capture contact information for potential sales leads or clients who want to be contacted personally. Popular chatbot providers include Intercom and Drift.
You now have the basics for a professional accounting website. But remember – building a website is an ongoing process. Regularly updating and optimising your website will help attract and retain clients for your accounting business.
This advice was compiled by our friends at web hosting provider xneelo.
Digital Advertising Basics For Startups
Digital advertising provides startups with a cost-effective way to reach a wide audience quickly – perfect for attracting new customers and potential investors. In this article, our friends at xneelo outline a few basics about using digital ads to promote your startup.
Digital advertising provides startups with a cost-effective way to reach a wide audience quickly – perfect for attracting new customers and potential investors.
In this article, our friends at xneelo outline a few basics about using digital ads to promote your startup.
The benefits of using ads for new businesses
Digital advertising is very effective at increasing traffic and sales. Another advantage is that it allows for precise audience targeting. You can define your audience based on demographics, interests, behaviour, and location to ensure your ads reach the right people.
Digital ads are also effective at increasing visibility and building brand awareness. Seeing your brand repeatedly can make potential customers more likely to remember and consider your products or services in the future. Not to mention potential investors.
Ad formats
Digital ads come in various formats, including text, image and video ads.
Here are some common digital ad formats you can utilise to promote your startup:
Display ads or banner ads: static or interactive ads typically displayed at the top, bottom, or sides of websites.
Video ads: video ads that play before, during, or after online video content. These can also be played over non-video content.
Search ads: these text-based ads appear on search engine results pages when users search for specific keywords.
Social media ads: you can pay for text, image or video ads or boost posts on social media platforms like Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and LinkedIn. Each platform will have its own character and size limitations.
Other formats include interactive ads, game ads, audio ads and mobile ads. Your choice should depend on factors such as your target audience, campaign goals, budget, and the platform where the ads will be displayed.
Best practices
Each platform will have its own rules and specifications for ads, such as exact character limits, prohibited terms and sizing requirements. Research each platform individually to determine exactly what is right for each.
Regardless of what format you decide on, there are a few best practices you can follow to ensure your ads perform at their best.
Set clear goals: decide what you want to achieve with your ads. For example, increasing web traffic and sales, or building brand awareness.
Define your audience: choose your target audience's demographics, interests, location, and online behaviour.
Create landing pages: campaign ads usually need to click through to a landing page to seal the deal. Use headlines, call-to-actions, and forms to show your visitors what they need to do next.
Use A/B testing: some ads will perform better than others. Switch them up and try different techniques to test which works best.
Monitor: review performance metrics like click-through rate (CTR), conversion rate, return on investment (ROI), and cost per click (CPC) to make data-driven adjustments to your ads.
Digital advertising can be an effective way to build brand awareness, drive website traffic, and promote your products or services online. As with any form of digital marketing, make sure your website is ready and performing at its best to wow all your new visitors. Browse our Web Hosting packages to give your new business the solid hosting foundation it needs.
This advice was compiled by our friends at web hosting provider xneelo.
Using LinkedIn To Boost Your Business Website
As an entrepreneur, building your business’s brand often means leveraging your social media channels to spread the message. LinkedIn is a powerful business channel that can be maximised to boost your brand. Of the 200 million monthly active users on LinkedIn, approximately 11.6 million are South African. This makes it a powerful lead-generating and brand-building tool you don’t want to underutilise.
As an entrepreneur, building your business’s brand often means leveraging your social media channels to spread the message. LinkedIn is a powerful business channel that can be maximised to boost your brand. Of the 200 million monthly active users on LinkedIn, approximately 11.6 million are South African. This makes it a powerful lead-generating and brand-building tool you don’t want to underutilise.
In this article, our friends at xneelo outline how to use LinkedIn to draw attention and boost traffic to your business website.
LinkedIn was made for business
As social media platforms go, LinkedIn offers a unique combination of networking, branding, and business development opportunities that can significantly benefit entrepreneurs at various stages of their business journey. It can also be used as a drawcard for your website.
The platform was designed for professionals to connect, making it an ideal place to market your brand. In addition, a well-optimised LinkedIn profile can help you establish yourself as an expert in your field and enhance your business’s credibility.
How to showcase your website on LinkedIn
In order to encourage LinkedIn users to leave the platform and visit your website, you need to capture their attention and convince them to click on your links.
You can achieve this by regularly sharing high-quality, relevant content that aligns with your industry, such as articles, blog posts, videos, infographics, and podcasts. You can also use LinkedIn Ads to target specific audiences based on their pain points or needs with a link to your website.
Draw users to your profile (and ultimately your website) by engaging with your network on LinkedIn and participating in Groups. Participate in discussions, share insights, and occasionally share links to your website's relevant content without being overly self-promoting. These articles can showcase your expertise and drive traffic to your website. Just make sure your articles provide valuable insights or solutions that your target audience will find useful. And remember, Group members value genuine engagement and expertise.
It’s worth knowing that the LinkedIn algorithm was updated in 2023 to reward relevance and engagement. Take the time to consider and craft what you want to say. Lean into your expertise and experience.
Optimise your posts to increase reach
Sharing posts is a great start, but your content needs to be seen. You can optimise your LinkedIn content by researching about when LinkedIn users are most active and publish your posts then. Scheduling posts will save you time here.
Hashtags make it easier for anyone outside of your network to find your content, which increases your chances of finding new connections or opportunities. Aim to use no more than three per post as LinkedIn uses these to index your post.
Plus, there’s no harm in asking friends, family and staff to share your content on their profiles.
Optimise your LinkedIn profiles
If you run a business, having a company page on LinkedIn provides another opportunity for people to find you. Ensure you keep your business profile up to date. Business pages with complete information tend to get 30% more weekly views.
With close to 60 million companies on LinkedIn, you need to identify what differentiates you from your competition. Leverage your About Page to tell your brand story and Product Pages to show what your business offers. Make sure to speak to the value and benefits, rather than simply list what you offer.
Also, ensure that your personal profile is complete and professional, with a high-quality profile picture and a compelling headline. Craft a well-written summary that showcases your expertise and your professional background. Finally, make sure you add your website URL to your LinkedIn profile's contact information and encourage your team to do the same.
But to truly maximise the potential of LinkedIn, your website needs to be ready to handle the traffic and retain visitor interest.
Make sure your website is ready
If you want your website to attract and retain new visitors, you need to ensure your website looks professional and offers a good user experience.
Consider the following best-practice tips:
Your product or service should be clear from your Home page.
Your brand look and feel, tone, and personality should be consistent across all channels.
Your website should load quickly (Consider using a Content Delivery Network (CDN) to improve page speed).
Your content should be easy to find and navigate. Make sure a visitor can find what they’re looking for in as few clicks as possible.
From a web hosting perspective, make sure you have an adequate traffic allowance to handle the number of visitors you expect to receive (xneelo offers unlimited traffic).
Xneelo Managed WordPress Hosting offers entrepreneurs an easy and affordable way to create a professional business website with WordPress quickly, backed by trusted web hosting and a reliable, secure infrastructure. There are a variety of pre-designed Starter Sites to help you start sharing content immediately and ensure your website is ready and fully optimised to showcase on your social media channels.
This advice was compiled by our friends at web hosting provider xneelo.
Building A Website For Your App
When we talk about web and mobile apps, you’ll immediately think of the big, popular apps like Netflix, Spotify, TikTok and Instagram. But many of the apps you use on a daily basis were created by South Africans. Examples include Snapscan, Showmax, Checkers 60, SweepSouth and Luno.
When we talk about web and mobile apps, you’ll immediately think of the big, popular apps like Netflix, Spotify, TikTok and Instagram. But many of the apps you use on a daily basis were created by South Africans. Examples include Snapscan, Showmax, Checkers Sixty60, SweepSouth and Luno.
If you’ve created an app, one of the first steps you’ll need to do to market it is to create a website. In this article, our friends at xneelo outline the steps for creating a website for your app and how these types of websites differ from standard website builds.
What is an app?
An app, short for "application," refers to a software program designed to perform specific functions or tasks on a computer, smartphone, or other device, such as providing a service (online shopping or booking service), offering entertainment (gaming or streaming), enhancing productivity (workforce management), or facilitating chat (social media).
The development process for apps typically involves designing and coding the user interface, implementing the desired functionality, testing for bugs, and deploying the app to an app store or platform. This happens separately to your website build. Often entrepreneurs will outsource the development of their apps to appropriately skilled developers.
What is the difference between a website for an app and a business website?
A website for an app differs from a normal website in several ways. The first difference is its purpose. A website for an app primarily serves to promote and provide information about the app itself. Its main goal is to generate interest, attract potential users, and encourage them to download or purchase the app. A normal website, on the other hand, can have various purposes, such as providing information about your business, selling products or services, or sharing content.
Most importantly, you need a link to where your app can be downloaded. These can be direct download links (Takealot includes “Download Our Apps" links on their website) or a link to the app store where your app is available.
What does a website for an app need to include?
Your website needs to be designed to provide information about your app and to encourage customers to use it.
We recommend including the following elements:
Relevant content
The content and images you choose need to highlight the key features and benefits of your app. Include specific content that is directly related to the app, such as in-app screenshots, videos, feature descriptions, pricing, user testimonials, and download links. These will help potential customers understand what the app offers and why they should use it.
Consistent branding
Create a visual design that aligns with your app's branding. Consider the layout, colour scheme, typography, and overall aesthetics.
A call-to-action
The primary call-to-action on a website for an app is typically centred around app-related actions, such as downloading the app, signing up, or making a purchase within the app. Examples include: View pricing, download now, and sign up
Company details
You want your customers to trust you and believe in what you do and why you do it, so include relevant information about your business including team bios, your location, vision, track record and awards.
How do I build the actual website?
There are multiple approaches to website development, depending on your technical expertise and requirements.
You can hire a web developer or use your own programming skills to build the website from scratch using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript or you can use a Content Management System (CMS) like WordPress, which is a lot simpler and allows you to use free themes and plugins. It's important to test, test, test to ensure everything functions properly.
xneelo’s Managed WordPress Hosting combines trusted web hosting with key WordPress features, to allow your business website to get up and running quickly – without costly development help. The product includes a variety of free Starter Sites, that like Themes, are fully designed templates that include all your website pages. Starter Sites are fully compatible with most WordPress plugins and integrations, allowing you to easily create a website for your app. Managed WordPress Hosting also includes a free staging environment for you to test that all download links and plugins work as they should.
Creating a website for your app is easier than it sounds. With the right tools and content, you’re on your way to being the next South African success story.
Start your online journey with a hosting partner that understands your business. Try Managed WordPress Hosting with our no-obligation 30-day free trial and see how it can help your business grow.
This advice was compiled by our friends at web hosting provider xneelo.
Incorporating User Experience Into Your Website
Creating a business website is an essential part of having an online presence. However, in today’s modern online marketplace, where traffic is dependent on factors like your search engine rankings, user reviews, and content quality, simply putting up an online business card isn’t going to score you a lot of new business.
Creating a business website is an essential part of having an online presence. However, in today’s modern online marketplace, where traffic is dependent on factors like your search engine rankings, user reviews, and content quality, simply putting up an online business card isn’t going to score you a lot of new business.
All of these factors are long-term strategies and we recommend you investigate all of them. But before you do anything, it’s important to understand the basics of user experience (UX), and how potential visitors and customers are going to experience your website.
In this article, our friends at web hosting provider xneelo outline some of the factors to consider when designing your website’s UX.
What is user experience?
User experience (UX) refers to the overall experience that users have when interacting with a product, service, or system. In this case, your website.
Done correctly, good UX can positively affect your:
Customer satisfaction levels.
Number of repeat customers.
Customer loyalty.
Competitive advantage.
Brand reputation.
Ideally, you want to create a seamless, positive experience for your website visitors. This involves structuring information in a way that is logical and intuitive for visitors to navigate.
What does a good user experience on a small business website look like?
Here are some steps you as a small business owner can take to enhance the user experience on your website:
Use clear and simple messaging that communicates your purpose, value proposition, and key offerings on your homepage.
Design a simple and intuitive navigation structure that allows visitors to find the information they are looking for easily.
Optimise your website for mobile devices (78.6% of South Africans accessed the internet via their mobile device last year).
Use clear call-to-actions (CTA) that guide visitors towards taking action, such as making a purchase, contacting you, or signing up for a newsletter.
Make it easy for visitors to contact you by prominently displaying your contact information, including phone number, email address, and social media links.
Showcase positive customer testimonials, reviews, or case studies to build trust and credibility.
Ask yourself:
Is it clear what products or services I provide from my home page?
How many clicks does it take for someone to find product information?
Is it easy to locate my contact details?
Common UX mistakes
Here are a few common mistakes to avoid when designing your user experience.
Confusing navigation which makes finding information difficult (Including cluttering your home page with videos, pop-ups and imagery).
Not optimising your design for mobile devices.
Not optimising your images for the web (too large they’ll slow down your website, too small and they’ll be pixellated and illegible).
By being aware of these common UX mistakes, you can proactively address them and create designs that prioritise your users’ needs and satisfaction.
What is xneelo’s approach to UX?
When creating our new Control Panel, we embraced the concept of Iterative Design, which involves constant feedback from our customers.
Instead of designing and delivering a completed control panel, we tested the usability of each feature, asking customers for feedback, and incorporating that feedback throughout the development process. We learned from this feedback, in order to create the best possible control panel for our customers. This was largely achieved through a volunteer user testing group.
You can employ Iterative Design for your website as well. Perform usability testing with friends, family and existing customers to make sure your website performs well and serves up information quickly.
Actively listening to users, gathering feedback, and incorporating it into design iterations can help enhance the user experience.
Creating a good user experience for a small business website is crucial for attracting and retaining customers. Considering its importance, businesses that prioritise and invest in creating exceptional user experiences are more likely to succeed in today's competitive market and build lasting customer relationships.
This advice was compiled by our friends at hosting provider xneelo.
Finding The Right Funding For Your Business
Our friends at web hosting provider xneelo outline some of the funding resources and options available to South African entrepreneurs.
Limited information and education around funding options can be a major challenge for many small businesses. And high inflation rates and limited support do little to alleviate the stress around finding the right funding.
Thankfully, small to medium business’s contribution to the economy and potential for job creation do not go unreconised and there are various funding models available suited to SMEs and entrepreneurs.
In this article, our friends at web hosting provider *xneelo outline some of the resources and options available to South African entrepreneurs.
Bank loans
Depending on how much capital you’ll need, the best place to start is with your bank. Most banks offer finance through business loans. These can be secured (requiring collateral) or unsecured (no collateral required.)
It’s easier to be approved for a business loan if your company is already operational. Having an existing purchase order is even better.
Government grants
Unlike a bank loan, you don’t need to repay a government grant. But this doesn’t mean you’re getting money for free – you’ll need to follow a very strict and lengthy process that may only result in partial financial funding.
When applying for a grant, it’s important to find and contact the best department for your business. You can find more information about the types of government grants available here.
Embedded finance
Rapid digital transformation during Covid saw a rise in the availability of embedded finance, a form of financial product offered by both financial and non-financial companies as a digital or in-app offering.
Embedded finance is a seamless way to apply for finance with little effort. This is because APIs and platforms like Plaid Exchange assist to verify identification and check credit history quickly. Standard Bank is one local financial institution innovating in this space.
Crowdfunding
With crowdfunding, small amounts of money can be collected from a large number of people to help fund a new business. Local business Steel Cut Spirits was able to successfully raise more than R1 million through crowdfunding.
There are a number of local crowdfunding platforms, such as BackaBuddy and Thundafund that can help you raise funds in exchange for rewards or equity in your business.
Venture capital
A venture capitalist is an equity investor, whose main focus is to make money. They usually look at businesses that are built for growth and will provide good returns on their initial investment. Typically, they want to sell their shares in around five years for 10 times what they initially paid.
You can find a list of venture capital firms here.
Angel investors
This type of investor isn’t financially motivated and is often a friend, family or mentor who gives a one-time investment to help get a business up and running. Angel investors usually get involved during the early stages of startups and their investment is in exchange for ownership equity.
Have a look at the Angel Investment Network, which makes it easier to connect with potential angel investors or entrepreneurs.
Business loans
Existing businesses that require additional cash flow have the option of approaching business loan providers such as Retail Capital. Certain loans don’t require collateral, but do require that your business meet certain criteria such as a minimum trading period and turnover.
Always read the terms and conditions and funding requirements first to ensure your business is applicable before applying.
Go in prepared
No matter which type of funding you are applying for, its important to be as prepared as possible, especially when it comes to government grants. Have a clear, concise and focused proposal that enables investors to quickly ascertain the risk and reward of what you are asking money for. They should be able to determine exactly how much money you need by looking at the project scope, its timelines and its deliverables.
It’s also important for your website to look professional and mirror what’s included in your funding proposal. Investors want to be able to see what you offer, what your values are, and read about your team. Managed WordPress Hosting is a great option for small businesses as you have all the tools you need, including ready-to-use Starter Sites, that allow you to create a professional website quickly without needing to hire expensive designer or developer expertise.
Most importantly, do your homework. Look for funding options that will work for you and your business. It’s your passion and time on the line, so make sure your financial partner is someone you can see yourself working with for a long time.
This advice was compiled by our friends at hosting provider xneelo. A version of this article previously appeared here.
*Please note that xneelo is not a financial service provider.
5 Ways Your Website Can Support Your Community
Every small business, no matter whether it's a corner shop or a website selling gourmet meal kits, got where it is without the support of its community.
No business was built by one person alone. Every small business, no matter whether it's a corner shop or a website selling gourmet meal kits, got where it is without the support of its community. According to the Heavy Chef e-commerce entrepreneur education report, created in partnership with xneelo, 72% of entrepreneurs believe their peers – fellow members of the small business community – have had the biggest positive impact on their business.
In this article, our friends at xneelo outline how you can use your business or e-commerce website to serve your community, and do your part to pay it forward.
Use your website to educate
62% of business owners interviewed for the entrepreneur education report consider their knowledge of running a business to be poor to average. Depending on the type of business you run and sector you operate in, you can draw on your own expertise to share valuable tips and advice for your community. Use your website to share educational resources, such as guides or tutorials, that can help local businesses and individuals improve their skills or knowledge.
If you run a marketing business, for example, you can share a series of tutorial videos on how to market a business, or offer tips for the best digital marketing tools to help small business owners overcome certain challenges.
Share your own journey
Starting a business and learning the ins and outs can be tough. Sharing your own challenges could be the inspiration someone needs to finally turn their side hustle into a fully-fledged business. Use your website's About page to share your story, or post a video where you talk about it in your own words. As a business owner you want to be transparent. Not only does this lend authenticity to your business, but it will also earn you the respect of your peers who are on the same journey.
Share success stories
Use your blog or news pages to highlight local businesses, charities, or individuals making a positive impact in your community. Xneelo is a web hosting company, but they use their Customer Stories blog to shine a light on the amazing small businesses that host their websites with them. A web page is a small piece of online real estate, but the brand awareness and marketing benefits can make a real difference.
Become part of a new community
Keep an eye open for community events you can join or consider creating your own. Your website is the perfect channel for creating awareness around community events, discussions and challenges. Make it easy for your visitors to communicate with each other and with you by adding forums and chat rooms to your website, as well as easy links out to your social media groups.
There are also numerous existing communities you can join. Did you know that anyone who uses WordPress is considered part of the WordPress community? Valuable knowledge sharing and networking opportunities happen at monthly Meetups that take place in most major cities, including South Africa.
Recommend other businesses
Word of mouth is just as effective online as it is offline. You can use your website to recommend another business in a variety of ways.
If your website offers culinary products, recipes or ingredients, for example, why not recommend local wines or condiments? Or if your website needs photography, choose a local attraction for the shoot or use local products in the styling. Another popular idea is to include a list of your preferred or recommended suppliers on your website to credit the businesses that helped you get where you are.
No matter which community you're a part of, whether it's your local community, the industry you operate in, or the small business community as a whole, you can leverage your website to help support and strengthen others.
This advice was compiled by our friends at hosting provider xneelo.
Future Entrepreneurs: How Is The Way That Entrepreneurs Learn Changing?
The learning needs of small business owners align in a very satisfying way with the virtues promised by Web3 technologies.
The first two versions of the web took us from being largely passive consumers of content to being active publishers of data.
Web3 gives us access to distributed solutions that allow us to own and control our data.
This mirrors and taps into the long-held attitudes and behaviours of entrepreneurs.
Future entrepreneurs will design and direct their own development destinies.
Our surveyed entrepreneurs rate “ease of access” highest among their learning data needs.
The internet continues to shape every sphere of human interaction. Each technological leap forward triggers a seismic shift in society and culture – including for entrepreneurship and entrepreneur education.
A Short History Of The Internet
Web1 was all about content. More information than we could possibly have dreamed of was suddenly at our fingertips, and society was largely happy to sit back and consume it. Our relationship with the internet was a static and simple one. We could choose from and interact with a handful of authoritative publishers.
Next up, Web2 turned every user into a potential publisher. Go forth and create, said the newly launched platforms and social networks. But Web2 didn’t quite live up to its billing as the democratisation of the flow of content. This narrative had plot holes, most notably the issue of centralised control of the data that we the consumers had created.
Cue Web3, with its focus on solving the centralisation problem. Technologies like the blockchain, crypto and tokens offer a distributed solution that allows us to create, own and control our data.
Watch Ross Drakes’ recipe, Blockchain and Brands, here.
Welcome To Entrepreneur Education 3.0
The internet’s glow-up is reflected in that of entrepreneur education.
Not too long ago, entrepreneurs in the making had few options to educate themselves. You could head to the bookstore and pick up some how-to literature, enrol in an MBA, or just start a business and learn from your inevitable mistakes. The creators and keepers of entrepreneurial knowledge were predominantly institutions of learning, with significant barriers to entry.
As content-sharing platforms and social networks came online, each of us could, for the first time, share our ideas, methods, experiences and mistakes. The barriers to creating and distributing knowledge about entrepreneurship were removed. The resulting content tsunami offered plenty of opportunities to upskill, but the volume was nearly impossible to navigate effectively. You’d have to follow a clickbait title and hope for the best.
This is Entrepreneur Education 3.0. Today, entrepreneurs have shifted their expectations away from traditional institutions to a new kind of educational environment in which they can design and direct their own development destiny. Heavy Chef research reveals that future entrepreneurs want:
To have a single, cohesive view of their learning data.
To engage with that data when and where suits them.
To design their own learning journey and rewards along the way.
Watch Simon Dingle’s recipe, Creating NFTS, here.
Top 5 Learning Data Needs
When asked how entrepreneur education content can improve to fit their busy lifestyles better, small business owners highlight needs that align with the virtues promised by Web3 technologies.
For example, 44% say their top requirement is to access their content and other educational data such as records of qualifications as easily and simply as possible. This indicates a shift away from engaging with each institution of learning individually in order to access the things they learned and validation thereof.
Learn. Do. Share.
So, what actions can we take from these insights?
Entrepreneurs: How are you upskilling yourself to understand Web3 technologies?
Educators: What incentives are in place for you to adopt a Web3 mindset when engaging with entrepreneurs?
Brands: How can you help entrepreneurs play with and test Web3 within their businesses?
This research forms part of the Heavy Chef Report on Future Entrepreneurs. You can download the full report here.
Research: What Are SMMEs Looking For In A Hosting Solution?
Our partner xneelo offers insights into what South African SMEs are looking for when it comes to their web hosting.
The following research is brought to you by xneelo.
Heavy Chef is proud to partner with South Africa’s trusted web-hosting solution.
The e-commerce market in South Africa has grown rapidly since 2020, largely due to pressurised retailers fast-forwarding online growth to counter Covid-19 restrictions. Despite challenging post-pandemic economic times, especially in the tech industry, e-commerce consumer growth is expected to continue. We’re all familiar with the big players, who continue to invest heavily in this space. Industry stalwart (and long-time Heavy Chef friend) Arthur Goldstuck predicts that local online retail will grow by 25% this year.
The costs of existing in this crowded market can be high, especially when it comes to the tech requirements of running an e-commerce store. What do SMMEs need to know about web hosting in order to stay competitive?
Insight 1: Simplicity Is Key
Trends indicate that new start-ups increasingly require accessible hosting solutions to help them with their basic business needs. Larger e-commerce platforms and major cloud providers are often too complex and expensive for small businesses to leverage. This will drive the demand for a one-stop-shop website that allows you to advertise your products and process payments – providing an opportunity for small businesses to compete in the ultra-competitive e-commerce market.
Insight 2: Ignore Mobile At Your Peril
Mobile compatibility is key here as consumers expect the same experience on their phones as they do from websites.
Insight 3: SMMEs Prefer A Done-For-You Approach
The popularity of WordPress as an enabler for e-commerce websites is also growing rapidly, as is managed hosting. This is largely driven by the organisational need to maintain a website without relying on additional investment into IT infrastructure, services and personnel.
The global managed services market is expected to exceed $300bn by 2027, with managed hosting being one of the most popular of these services. By comparison, the managed hosting market was worth $60bn in 2018, which shows the remarkable growth being seen in this area. For SMMEs especially, this type of hosting provides a certain amount of peace of mind around maintenance, uptime, ease of use and, most importantly: security, which continues to be a major focus.
Research: How Can Start-Ups Help Fight Youth Unemployment?
There’s a synchronicity between the need to end youth unemployment, and the opportunities SMMEs in South Africa can provide.
With the right ingredients, start-ups of the future can become the preferred place of learning for unemployed youth.
The vast majority of SMMEs in South Africa are single-person businesses. These entrepreneurs have an appetite to employ youth but face significant risks in doing so.
Web3 technologies can help to nullify these risks.
Globally, across cultures, youth are proactively taking the lead to fight unemployment.
Youth with entrepreneur ambitions are looking for jobs in entrepreneurial spaces that give them the opportunity to experiment while earning a living. With the right structures in place, start-ups can provide these spaces.
“Dr J” is passionate about guiding young innovators towards a prosperous future. Tuck into Dr J’s recipe for coaching entrepreneurs here.
Let’s talk about entrepreneurs and youth.
I’m a big fan of synchronicity or, simply put, meaningful coincidences.
One of the 10 insights revealed in the Heavy Chef Report on Future Entrepreneurs is titled The Youth.
“With a combination of the right ingredients,” it begins, “start-ups of the future can become the preferred place of learning for many unemployed youth – but it all starts with one person.”
The piece connects five crucial points:
That the vast majority of SMMEs in the country are in fact single-person businesses.
That these entrepreneurs have an appetite to employ youth but face significant risks in doing so.
That new Web3 technologies will help nullify many of those risks.
That when empowered and incentivised to employ, start-ups and micro-sized businesses will play a crucial role in fighting youth unemployment.
That start-ups are filled with raw and intense hands-on learning opportunities that are vital for upskilling future entrepreneurs.
Intriguing, yes?
Back to the synchronicity.
Since releasing the report, the themes within The Youth insight have been jumping out at me at many seemingly unrelated moments.
It started two weeks ago when I was pointed to a fascinating podcast that asked if future generations are yearning for a religious revival.
Soon after, a report on the future of entrepreneurship in Qatar dropped in my inbox.
That very same day, our good friends at Youth Capital shared with us fascinating insights into the role of social connections in solving youth unemployment.
Then yesterday, my passion project – a coming-of-age screenplay that explores coming to terms with your past, present and future self – received a funding offer and a feature in Rapport Newspaper.
Coincidences? I choose to think not.
Here are some of the statistical and thematic data related to this theme that you can find in our Future Entrepreneurs Report.
Insight 1
Globally, across cultures, youth are proactively taking the lead to fight unemployment.
Insight 2
Despite the risks associated with employing your first member of staff as a start-up, there is nevertheless an appetite and intent to do so.
Insight 3
Start-ups and micro-businesses do not have staff on their mind. It’s all about the drive for new business. But with an intent to employ in future, this skill gap will be critical to fill if we want to ensure small businesses become spaces for learning and growth for their employees.
Insight 4
Web3 technologies such as blockchain, decentralised networks and smart contracts show promise in helping small businesses onboard new people with reduced costs and risks.
Insight 5
Youth with entrepreneur ambitions are yearning to slot into environments that give them space to experiment and grow while earning a living – a gap exciting start-ups can fill given the right structures are in place.
Start-ups and micro-sized businesses are a fertile ground for employing and investing in the growth of young future entrepreneurs. The sentiment is there both from the business side as well as from the youth. However, there are many steps to take to remove barriers, costs and risks to do so. Web3 technologies look to address these gaps.
Learn. Do. Share.
So, what are the actions we can take from these insights?
For entrepreneurs: Have you started thinking about what learning environment you can create when you inevitably start building out your team?
For educators: How can you help technology companies align their work in Web3 with the needs of micro-sized businesses?
For brands: To what degree can you connect start-ups in your ecosystem with your internal learning, development and internship programmes?
This article was originally shared with our community in our Friday Research Mailer. Subscribe below to get it in your inbox, fresh every Friday!
Research: Why Should Entrepreneurs Focus On Serving Their Customers?
This week, we’re tapping into a service mindset.
American philosopher and political theorist James Burnham once posed this still relevant question: what if the answer to society’s ills is not capitalism vs socialism, but an entrepreneurial vs a managerial class?
Entrepreneurs lead by innovating and serving; managers lead via rules, regulations and believing in the public’s service to themselves.
Time and again, customer service proves to be the secret to a start-up’s success.
Nearly two thirds of customers surveyed by Zendesk indicated that they will defect from a business after a single bad experience.
As a scaling business, you need to balance the hiring of managers with prioritising customer service.
The co-founder of Dermastore is an advocate for putting customer service at the heart of any business – a winning strategy by all measures. Learn from Greg’s recipe for serving your customers here.
Let’s talk about entrepreneurs and customer service.
One of the most profound books I’ve ever read was James Burnham’s The Managerial Revolution. I’m in good company: George Orwell himself described it as “intellectually courageous”.
Published in 1941, this prophetic book has a very simple premise. It argues that the battle for the soul of a nation – or even global order – is not capitalism vs socialism or rich vs poor. Rather it is the entrepreneurial class vs the managerial class. Burnham deems the latter (which he terms “The Rule Of Administrators”) to be an existential risk to democracy itself.
The reasons are pretty straightforward. The entrepreneurial class leads by means of innovation. The managerial class leads by means of rules and regulations. Their motivation is not to be in service to others but rather that others should remain in service to the status quo.
Despite being more than 80 years old, the book’s premise is at the centre of the bullseye of many of today’s burning issues.
Politics, big business, parastatals, public institutions – almost all of them are overwhelmingly run by administrators with a frighteningly large absence of entrepreneurial leaders.
To share a single data point, the ratio of administrators to students at some of the world’s top universities currently sits at an unsustainable 1:1.
If you’ve ever dealt with national leaders, political parties or government institutions, you’ve probably been struck by how much emphasis is put on protocols of address like “Your Excellency”, “The Honourable so-and-so” and “Your Worship”. (In fact, South Africa has a 56-page etiquette book to help you out if you’re interested.)
The message is clear. To this particular managerial class, “public service” is not about serving the public; it’s about the public being in service to them.
In stark comparison, entrepreneurial leaders are obsessed with serving others, in particular their customers.
Why obsessed? Simple. The penalties for a lack of service are quick and severe, whereas the rewards are overwhelmingly positive.
Let’s look at five research studies including our own that highlight the return on service for entrepreneurs.
Insight #1
The 4th Edition Heavy Chef Entrepreneur Education Report highlighted the importance of partnerships for entrepreneurs. A finding from the report’s thematic analysis showed that entrepreneurs evaluate and pick potential partnerships based on how it helps them serve their customers better.
Insight #2
An in-depth analysis of the language app Duolingo revealed that of all the tactics used to grow the app, a focus on current customers saw a 350% increase in user activity.
Insight #3
The 2022 Zendesk Customer Experience Trends Report revealed that 64% of business leaders said a focus on customer service had a positive impact on their business. Meanwhile, 60% of customers indicated that they will defect from a business after a single bad experience.
Insight #4
The 2022 South Africa Township CX Report showed that customers trust local brands who are most responsive to serve their needs, and that 90% would welcome a Spaza Loyalty Programme if it were to be introduced.
Insight #5
The 2020 African Youth Survey showed youth’s readiness to serve with 77% of South African youth believing they can effect positive change if they lead from the front. This stat inspired a radical idea to solve South Africa’s poverty threat.
I feel I need to make a quick nuanced point re entrepreneurs vs managers.
The Managerial Revolution specifically cautions against the rule of a majority managerial class in the face of an absence of entrepreneurial leaders.
But entrepreneurs need managers, obviously.
Finding and employing the right one(s) is invaluable to scale the business beyond yourself. The challenge is to hire those people while keeping the organisation focused on being of service to others.
Learn. Do. Share.
So, what actions can we take from these insights?
For entrepreneurs: Take a good look at the way you’re operating. What could you do in the next two weeks to move customer service closer to the heart of your business?
For educators: How can you demonstrate the importance of customer service to tomorrow’s entrepreneurs?
For brands: What tools can you make available to help entrepreneurs better look after their existing customers?
This article was originally shared with our community in our Friday Research Mailer. Subscribe below to get it in your inbox, fresh every Friday!
Research: Do Entrepreneurs Know How To Budget?
If you struggle with budgeting, it turns out you’re not alone. This week, Louis Janse van Rensburg unpacks how entrepreneurs feel about their skills in this area, and what they’re doing to improve.
A budget is more than a tool. It’s a reflection of the health of your business.
Your budget should tell the story of your business and where it’s going – not a fictional or aspirational story, but one grounded in reality with a dash of hope.
78% of entrepreneurs do not feel confident in their budgeting skills.
Many entrepreneurs (41%) only began to learn about budgeting after starting their business.
Cash flow and finance controls are their first priorities when catching up on this knowledge.
Not too long ago we partnered up with Xero and Simple Books founder Philip van Zyl to publish The Heavy Chef Guide To Financial Management For Startups. Check out Philip’s recipe on budgeting and saving, and buy the book here.
Let’s talk about entrepreneurs and budgeting.
Earlier this week, Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana delivered the 2023 Budget.
I was working, listening with only one ear, feeling a decided lack of interest towards the entire ceremony. To the point, a feeling of futility.
Then I was reminded that I’d felt that feeling before.
I was straight out of varsity, one year into turning my side hustle, ThumbsUP, into a full-time gig.
ThumbsUP was a photography platform for sports fans. It had a simple model. We’d go to sporting events around the country, take photos of fans and upload them to Thumbsup.co.za, where people would flock to download them. This was pre-social media. Don’t judge.
I was spending my days doing platform design, working with photographers, speaking to venues, uploading content, chasing advertisers and tracking our not-so-rosy bank balance.
I had a budget, which I had very enthusiastically set up at the start. But looking at it in the midst of hustling and surviving felt futile.
That feeling again.
Let’s be honest. The budget was way off. Most of the line items were irrelevant. Expenses underestimated. Income overestimated. What was the point in revisiting it?
Today, of course, I know all too well that the budget wasn’t the problem. That sense of futility was just an emotional response to the real truth: the business was out of my control. Too many moving parts. Unfocused delivery. Broken promises. The wrong partners. Indecisive leadership (yep, I’ll take that one squarely on the chin).
Does this sound familiar?
The accuracy and effectiveness of your budget is a reflection of the health of your business and, fundamentally, a reflection of the trust people have in you as a leader.
A principle I’ve since learned from our business partner Mike Perk is that a budget should tell a story of your business and where it is going. Not a fictional or purely aspirational story but one that is grounded in reality with a dash of hope* and ambition to push your boundaries.
(*In fact, Mike just co-published a book on the topic of hope. Check it out.)
Budgeting is a notoriously tricky learning curve for small business owners but luckily there are many smart tools that are making it a lot easier – a trend we can expect to see more of in future.
Let’s look at five insights from our research about how entrepreneurs rate their skills in this area.
Insight 1: Not Entirely Confident
78% of entrepreneurs rate their budgeting skills as very poor to average.
Insight 2: A Late Start
Many (41%) entrepreneurs learned about budgeting only after starting their business.
Insight 3: Hindsight
More than half (71%) of entrepreneurs say that it would have been valuable/very valuable to learn about budgeting much earlier in their life.
Insight 4: Top priorities
Cash flow management (60%) remains the top finance skill priority for entrepreneurs but budgeting and finance controls (57%) are also top of mind.
Insight 5: Future analysis
48% of entrepreneurs say financial analysis will be a valuable financial skillset looking towards the future, expecting a closer relationship between this and their cash flow and budgeting skills.
Evidently, entrepreneurs do not have a lot of confidence in their budgeting skills. They realise it is something they should have learned earlier but are now catching up on as a priority. In the future, entrepreneurs want to be in a position to critically analyse and use the data and insights that make up their budgets.
Learn. Do. Share.
So, what are the actions we can take from these insights?
For entrepreneurs: Do you have a finance-oriented entrepreneur or advisor in your circle of peers to interact with regularly?
For educators: How are you empowering entrepreneurs to critically analyse and use a budget?
For brands: What tools or services can you offer to entrepreneurs that will help them balance their time constraints to review their budgets?
This article was originally shared with our community in our Friday Research Mailer. Subscribe below to get it in your inbox, fresh every Friday!
Research: How Well Do Entrepreneurs Know Themselves?
How does self-awareness benefit entrepreneurs? And how do we cultivate it?
It’s crucial that entrepreneurs cultivate self-awareness.
You are your business. Knowing only one half of that equation isn’t a guarantee of success.
Entrepreneurs report higher self-awareness than non-entrepreneurs.
The higher an entrepreneur’s self-awareness, the more likely they are to enjoy work satisfaction and lead a better team.
Self-awareness can be cultivated through various reflection exercises, from personality assessments and journaling, to group workshops.
“My grandmother taught me to self-regulate, which instilled an inherent sense of right and wrong within myself,” says Lwando in her Recipe on Business & Ethics, making the point that self-aware entrepreneurs create self-aware businesses.
Let’s talk about entrepreneurs and self-awareness.
A school guidance counsellor once suggested that I study urban planning. It really didn’t strike a chord with me. What did I know about civil engineering? I dismissed the advice.
Fast-forward a handful of years and it actually made total sense – urban planning is a field that exactly fits my skill set and way of thinking. Every personality survey, workshop or Enneagram I do tells me I’m a big-picture thinker who likes to connect the dots and that I have a high level of empathy for the value of each cog in the machine.
Looking back, it also occurs to me that as a kid I used to dream about getting into golf-course design. I’d spend my days drawing course layouts … when I wasn’t mapping out Lego designs, creating strategies for sports teams, structuring screenplays or drawing up creative business plans.
This kind of self-knowledge isn’t just a nice-to-have. The more I paid attention to my natural rhythms and thoughts (the good and the bad), the more I got to know myself, and the more I got to know myself, the better I performed . From coasting my way through high school to receiving top honours in a Masters programme, self-awareness helped me to get better at achieving the goals I set for myself.
It’s a process that shouldn’t ever really stop – especially for entrepreneurs.
In fact, I am a firm believer that the best chance an entrepreneur can give their start-up is to build it in their own (self-aware) image. Whatever your personality type or temperament, build a business and culture that is most true to you.
The entrepreneur’s journey is already hard enough. Every day you’re faced with variables outside your control. The one thing that you can control – the thing that will help your cause the most – is knowing who you are.
You are the business. Best the two align.
But hey, don’t take my word for it. Below are insights from research papers that explore the relationship between entrepreneur performance and self-awareness:
Insight 1: Entrepreneurs Have Above-Average Self-Awareness Versus Non-Entrepreneurs
A study in the Journal of Applied Psychology measured and compared entrepreneurs’ self-awareness versus that of non-entrepreneurs, and found a higher level among the former. They posited that this was most likely due to the demands of a business on the entrepreneurs.
Insight 2: High Self-Awareness Correlates Positively With Work Satisfaction
The Journal of Business Venturing found that entrepreneurs who reported higher levels of self-awareness also reported higher levels of satisfaction with their businesses.
Insight 3: Self-Awareness Makes For Better Teams
After surveying 181 members of entrepreneurial teams, one study found that teams with higher levels of self-awareness were more effective at communication, coordination and problem-solving than those with lower levels.
Insight 4: Entrepreneurs Improve Their Self-Awareness Through Self- & Co-Reflection
Engaging in regular self-reflection, such as journaling or self-assessments, helps entrepreneurs to improve their self-awareness, according to a study in the Journal of Business Venturing. It also showed that working with a coach or participating in training programmes with your peers can be effective in improving self-awareness.
It seems the intense demand of starting and building a business creates an environment that encourages entrepreneurs to invest in knowing themselves. This has a positive impact on their work satisfaction, performance and adaptability, leading to a better chance of success.
A good entrepreneur will seek out time for self-reflection and peer support as a way to continue improving their self-awareness.
Learn. Do. Share.
So, what are the actions we can take from these insights?
For entrepreneurs: When last did you engage in a self-reflection exercise? Can you set time aside this week to do a research-backed personality assessment, or some journaling?
For educators: How can you expose entrepreneurs to more opportunities to map their personality traits and strengths?
For brands: What steps are you taking to get to know entrepreneurs better before engaging with them?
This article was originally shared with our community in our Friday Research Mailer. Subscribe below to get it in your inbox, fresh every Friday!
Research: How Do Entrepreneurs Think About Partnerships?
In this week's research, we unpack the partnerships that entrepreneurs are – and should be – investing in.
A partnership can make (or break) your business.
“Partner” doesn’t just refer to your co-founders – it can be an investor, a service provider, a mentor or an employee, for example.
It’s tempting to pick the best in the game as your partners, but you’d be better off choosing someone you have good chemistry with.
Partnering up is about more than shared resources and outputs. Can you identify a partnership that offers the potential for personal growth, too?
A successful partnership relies on you both bringing your best. You may want to brush up on the art of listening.
Nick, the CEO of Veldskoen Shoes, has become kind of famous for partnering with the right people to grow the Veldskoen brand. Check out his recipe on pitching to partners.
Let’s talk about entrepreneurs and partnering.
Whether it is partnering to co-found a start-up, collaborating on a brand partnership or forming a strategic alliance, choosing a partner can make or break a business.
How to identify, engage with and grow a partnership are all burning questions for entrepreneurs.
There is a golden rule to follow, of course: choose partners with whom you have a natural chemistry, even if they don’t perhaps have the best technical expertise. The chemistry within a group of collaborators is a better predictor of long-term success than level of expertise alone.
Entrepreneurs are surrounded by a diverse range of partner relationships: suppliers, clients, communities, institutions – even life partners. Each relationship requires a particular skill set to cultivate something that is mutually beneficial.
Knowing this, entrepreneurs are proactively investing in their ability to identify and build healthy relationships. Let’s look at a few themes we’ve picked up in our research analysing all our recipes that mention partnerships:
Insight 1
The five collaboration priorities for entrepreneurs are partnerships that enable them to access capital (investors), build a business (co-founders), serve their customers better (external organisations), tap into personal growth (mentors) and cultivate culture (employees).
Insight 2
Personal growth – the potential to learn from a partner – is a major consideration for entrepreneurs looking to identify new relationships. Partnerships are about much more than service agreements and outputs.
Insight 3
Entrepreneurs are learning how to become better listeners and how to extract value from feedback, whether positive or negative.
Insight 4
Self-awareness is a quality entrepreneurs look for when deciding whether someone is a suitable co-founder or not. They value co-founder relationships in which everyone knows their personal shortcomings.
Our data tells us that entrepreneurs are clear about the type of partnerships they want to prioritise, and they’re very conscious about how they are selecting their partners. The potential for personal growth is a major consideration, as is self-awareness and the ability to listen – all in the name of cultivating healthy partner engagements.
Learn. Do. Share.
So, what are some of the actions we can take from these insights?
For entrepreneurs: As much as you might like to, you know you can’t do everything yourself. But before you approach a potential partner, try writing down your relationship-building strengths and weaknesses and see if there’s anything you can improve on.
For educators: Entrepreneurs want to cultivate their interpersonal skills. How can you support entrepreneurs to develop their ability to be better partners themselves?
For service providers: Entrepreneurs struggle to find partners who are right for the stage their business is at. How can you help them improve their ability to identify and assess a potential partnership?
This article was originally shared with our community in our Friday Research Mailer. Subscribe below to get it in your inbox, fresh every Friday!
Business Website Trends To Freshen Up Your Website For 2023
Freshening up your website is essential for keeping up with the competition and changing customer expectations.
Keeping abreast of recent trends can help you set your website apart. In the past, trends such as minimalistic design, use of white space, parallax scrolling and even animation were used to modernise out of date website designs, largely based on changing customer preferences. And while many of these trends continue to be popular, new trends will always emerge as technology and user habits change.
Freshening up your website is essential for keeping up with the competition and changing customer expectations.
In this post, our friends at xneelo identify a few emerging trends to help you breathe new life into your business website.
Responsive design
This is a trend that pops up year after year. To put it simply, responsive design ensures your website translates well across mobile devices and provides a great user experience for mobile phone users. More than 47 million South Africans accessed the internet through a mobile device in 2022, so it's important your business doesn’t miss out on this key market.
Immersive elements
This year will see website owners use their online platforms to create a new way to engage customers – a richer alternative to email and chat bots. WordPress has already released new themes for 2023 that focus on simplicity, intuitive design and customisation that will allow creators to add that immersive element to their websites.
Creating an immersive or interactive experience on your website can be as simple as integrating streaming video, e-books and music to your site.
Getting more serious about security
Customers have had enough of compromised privacy and data breaches. 37% of consumers interviewed for a recent IBM report said they intentionally switched brands to protect their privacy.
As an online business owner, you need a clearly defined strategy in place for data security, privacy, and recovery. On the marketing side, this means allowing customers to opt out of sharing personal information and protecting the personal data in your care.
Best practices that stand the test
Some design trends will never change – and for good reason.
Best-practice design elements include:
Clear and simple navigation: To help potential customers understand what you do and find what they need quickly.
Social media integration: This allows you to connect with customers and promote your business on multiple platforms.
Calls-to-action: These snappy one-liners encourage visitors to take action, such as making a purchase or filling out a contact form.
Why you need a website for your business
Having a website is essential for improving the visibility of your business and raising your credibility. In South Africa, it's common practice for potential customers to Google businesses and services to verify whether a business is a scam or not – and to check their customer reviews. A website is also a cost-effective marketing tool that provides helpful information and allows customers to purchase products and services online.
Having a website is a great way for your business to access new customers. Look after it, including occasionally freshening up your design, and it will continue to serve you well into the future.
Start your online journey with a hosting partner that understands your business. Choose a hosting package that meets your needs here.
This advice was compiled by our friends at hosting provider xneelo.
South Africa’s Top 5 Most Exciting Startups 2022 Provide A Glimpse Of Hope For A Stuttering Economy
On Thursday 1st December, five startups were named South Africa’s Most Exciting Startups for 2022. In the words of Louis Janse van Rensburg, CEO, Heavy Chef Foundation, "based on the quality of startups on display last night there is good reason to be legitimately excited for the future."
On Thursday 1st December, five startups were named South Africa’s Most Exciting Startups for 2022. In the words of Louis Janse van Rensburg, CEO, Heavy Chef Foundation, "based on the quality of startups on display last night there is good reason to be legitimately excited for the future."
Every year, entrepreneur education organisation Heavy Chef, together with Xero, PayFast and xneelo, celebrates South Africa’s ‘most exciting’ startups. From 1000s of entries, eight prominent judges select a shortlist of 12 startups. The five winners were announced at an evening event on the 1st December, at the Workshop17 Watershed venue in the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town. Today, Heavy Chef released the winners.
This year’s judges included inspiring entrepreneurs such as Robyn Smith, Founder of Faithful To Nature, Khanya Mncwabe, Founder of Matawi Mead and Rob Paddock, Founder of Valenture Institute and previously the Co-Founder of Getsmarter. There are also luminaries from stellar ecosystem support organisations, namely Carla Thiele, Head of Marketing at Xero SA; Colleen Harrison, Head of Marketing at PayFast and Mark Peddle, Marketing Strategist at hosting giant xneelo. Zinhle Novazi and Lukhanyo Neer, Directors at the Heavy Chef Foundation round out the 2022 panel.
The Top 5, in alphabetical order:
Curbon
E-commerce offsetting made simple. Curbon is an e-commerce plugin that effortlessly offsets their carbon footprint with each sale.
Floatpays
Unlock the power of financial wellness at work through on-demand earned wage access, paycheck linked savings, financial education and practical tools.
Franc
Smart investing for everyone through a simple and easy-to-use app that'll have you investing like a pro in minutes.
Parket
The world's first turnkey digital access parking management system to provide cashless and ticketless public parking.
Zoie Health
Zoie is an all-in-one women’s digital health-care app.
Fred Roed, CEO of Heavy Chef mentioned the unique diversity of entries. “The beauty of these awards is that we don’t look at financials or market share. We look at potential. This means that we often see giant startups such as Pineapple and Naked compete against companies such as Disktie and Zoie, which are still scrappy garage bands in comparison.”
Some of the shortlisted companies were unlucky to miss out on being awarded ‘Top 5’ status. The rest of the list included some of South Africa’s most heartwarming innovations. The Top12 list is:
Disktjie
Soccer boots specially designed to play on gravel soccer pitches
Finclusion
Finclusion is building Africa’s neobank and accelerating financial inclusion in Africa by offering alternative, innovative banking products to all Africans.
Green Scooter
The first in South Africa to commercially produce a federally-compliant highway-capable electric vehicle, the Zbee RS & Zbee Cargo.
Naked Insurance
The new way to insure your stuff through instant, honest insurance at game-changing prices.
Pineapple
100% pure insurance. 0% other stuff.
Sonke
Sonke takes shopping from the shelf-service to self-service, from linear to circular consumption with automatic refill machines.
Stitch
Stitch is a payments startups that helps businesses easily develop more user-friendly, innovative and inclusive digital finance products, at lower costs and without fraud.
The panel of eight spent the weekend of 18-20 November poring over the nominations. Startups that were earmarked by the judges for notable work included a diverse range of categories.
Zinhle Novazi, Director of Heavy Chef’s non-profit research company, the Heavy Chef Foundation, was enthusiastic about the shortlist. Novazi, however, cautioned that there was a distinct drop in ‘township economy’ entries compared to 2021. One of last year’s notable winners was the startup Walk Fresh, an innovative sneaker cleaning service that has scaled into Foschini Group stores and malls around South Africa.
“There has, however, been an increase in ‘circular economy’ startups,” said Novazi.
Many entries were impressive, but disqualified by the award criteria of what denotes a ‘startup’. “In these awards, a startup is qualified by the fact that it has been running for seven years or less.” An example of an impressive entry that received many nominations was Lumkani, the township fire alert service. It was removed from the list of potentials as it has been trading for more than seven years.
The judges each provided a list of their ten favoured startups. The final twelve was aggregated from these lists, which included special mentions for the following startups:
&BAM, Adbot, Ambani, Beeline, Buzzer, ChaufHER, CoachED, Deliver Ka Speed SA, Dnko, Explore Data Science, Foondamate, Future Females, HearX, JEFF, Job Crystal, Khula, Latitude, My Social Life, Nopbx, OfferZen, Ozow, Pargo, Puno Greenery, Rent my Ride, Rentoza, Simply Granola, Sortd, Strove, Sustainabuild, Troy Gold and Truid.
Heavy Chef’s CEO Fred Roed was enthusiastic about the range of startups in the Top 12. In previous years, the startup shortlists were often slanted heavily towards Cape-based fintech startups such as Mama Money, JUMO and Yoco. We’re seeing a much broader range of startups in different sectors. The encouraging aspect about this initiative is always to see the dedication of young entrepreneurs towards making the world a better place.”
The SA’s Top 5 Most Exciting Startups event takes place annually in the first week of December. Public Speaking World Champion Verity Price took the MC role once again to announce the winners of 2022’s Top 5 finalists.
Roed has this to say about the event, “It’s always a lot of fun and a spectacular way to celebrate the great work coming out of the sector.”
“Most importantly, the startups represented in this competition provide us with a glimpse of how we can resolve many of the endemic challenges we face in South Africa. There is not just hope. There is a legitimate reason to be optimistic.”
More information can be found at: www.top5startups.com
SA’s Most Exciting Startups Judge Mark Peddle On 2022’s Level Of Competition
This year, xneelo Brand Strategist Mark Peddle served on the judging panel of the 2022 awards, and had the hefty job of sifting through 100s of entries.
By the time you read this, the winners of South Africa's Top 5 Most Exciting Startups Awards will have been announced. Web Hosting provider xneelo is a proud supporter of the awards, and a long-time friend of small business champion Heavy Chef.
This year, xneelo Brand Strategist Mark Peddle served on the judging panel of the awards, and had the hefty job of choosing the top startup winners alongside the rest of the judges.
He shares some insight into the thought processes around judging these businesses and his impressions of the startup space in South Africa.
What are the judging criteria?
Startups are judged on their innovation, scalability and unique IP. To qualify, businesses must have been operating for less than seven years, be registered as businesses in South Africa, and have at least one South African founder. Over and above these qualifying criteria, we're looking for exciting startups. Disruptors. Those that impact the world in a positive way.
What excited you about this year’s entries?
Entrepreneurs are embracing technology to help solve old problems and open up new industries. Lots of work is being done by these businesses in the Fintech sector, for example, driven by technology and developing new products to reduce the friction for transferring funds across African borders. And in the education sector, the diversity of educational resources indicates how technology is being embraced as a means to spread information. Entrepreneurs are finding opportunities to not only fill a need, but also do it in a financially sustainable way – essential for long term sustainability.
What trends did you notice about growing industries?
I was impressed by the completely new and novel ideas and solutions.
Wellness was also a noticeable theme this year – from the usual beauty, exercise and food themes, to now also addressing mental wellness and access to specialist gender based health care.
What is your advice for new startups and entrepreneurs?
There are some truly innovative and unique ideas that are just getting off the ground but the journey is long. Businesses that only started in 2016-2018 have now only reached wider national exposure. They are testament that an idea, with hard work, can reach lofty levels given the time and support to develop and evolve.
Xneelo extends its congratulations to all the nominees and winners.
5 Reasons To Choose WordPress For Your E-commerce Site
Do you plan to take your retail business online? The platform you use to manage your e-commerce store will play an important role in its success.
Do you plan to take your retail business online?
The platform you use to manage your e-commerce store will play an important role in its success.
For those keeping it small for now, WordPress is a flexible and powerful Content Management System (CMS) for your website and online store that you can easily navigate on your own.
In this post, Heavy Chef’s friends at xneelo take a look at five reasons to choose WordPress for building your e-commerce store.
1. You can set up your store quickly
One of the most important steps in running an online store is choosing a reliable, robust e-commerce solution. WooCommerce is a popular plugin that can be set up on your WordPress site quickly and easily and essentially turns your website into an online store.
If you’d like a solution that’s even less hands-on, opt for a Managed WordPress solution that includes pre-existing templates and demo content you can simply make your own. There is also an e-commerce theme that runs off WooCommerce and the Yoco payment gateway, allowing you to open your virtual shop doors quickly.
One of the added benefits of Managed WordPress is that all your hosting, security and update needs are taken care of for you, with additional support available when you need it.
2. It’s extremely reliable
WordPress is actively maintained and supported. Considering that it has such a wide and active user base, it’s always easy to find someone to provide support and answer your questions within the WordPress community.
Of course, you may not even find yourself needing assistance since the platform is known for being easy to use, with no coding experience required.
While Managed WordPress is also maintained and supported, it has the added benefit of coming with 24/7 support as well as free tutorials and a dedicated Help Centre.
3. It’s super easy to use
Both WordPress and Managed WordPress websites use the Gutenberg editor, also known as the Block Editor, which features blocks that allow you to customise your website according to your needs. Simply insert, drag, delete and rearrange the blocks to where you would like them to appear.
You can also add any number of widgets to customise your web pages to your needs and preview your work, so you can see what it looks like before you hit publish.
With the recent WordPress 6 update, the WordPress dashboard and Block Editor are even more user-friendly, with new features such as block locking and shortcuts allowing you to do more, faster, and more accurately.
4. It’s an extremely flexible platform
WordPress makes it easy to customise and manage every aspect of your site to make your e-commerce store unique, engaging, and user friendly..
WordPress plugins can help you extend the functionality and features of your e-commerce website. From social media and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) features to analytics and even chatbot functionality, the WordPress Plugin Directory is packed with add-ons that can help you take your online store to the next level.
5. You can use it for more than just e-commerce
Using WordPress as your e-commerce platform enables you to do more than simply sell products online. You can use it to create virtually any type of website, for any industry, budget, or size.
For example, you can use WordPress to set up a blog to help update, inform, and educate your customers about industry news and topics. You can also share helpful resources such as FAQs, tutorials, and How-To guides:
What’s more, WordPress makes it easy to offer your e-commerce site in multiple languages. Pair this with the platform’s accessibility features, and you have a website and online store that’s more useful and relevant for audiences across the globe.
By using WordPress for your e-commerce platform, you’ll have all the features, tools, and functionality needed for your site in one place. You can create a robust online offering of products and services, as well as provide your customers with meaningful information.
This advice was compiled by our friends at xneelo.
More guidance and training videos can be found at Heavy Chef’s entrepreneur learning platform.
Research: How Do Township Entrepreneurs View Local Brands?
Louis Janse van Rensburg explores township entrepreneurs’ passion for local products.
Let’s talk about township entrepreneurs loving local.
One of the many beautiful things I’m reminded of often about South African entrepreneurs is just how diverse the community is. The closer you look, the more pockets of subcultures are found - each with its own set of idiosyncrasies.
What is even more fascinating is how entrepreneurs then move between subcultures, slotting in and out of new groups, but always leaving behind traces from others. A medley of distinct identities within a larger collective.
Take one of the most important communities in South Africa, township entrepreneurs.
The surface-level similarities between different townships across the country are pretty obvious - mostly informal traders, low employment rates, socio-economic hardship, lack of access to resources and so on.
Yet at the same time, no township is the same.
You just have to spend a bit of time in a handful of them to notice differences (some vastly so!) in vernacular, values, references, habits, group dynamics, symbolism, and fashion sense - to name a few. All demand a unique approach to engaging with them when it comes to offering entrepreneur development support.
The point is, they are the same but different. Different but the same.
In visiting different township entrepreneur communities across the country, one thing we noticed that was very much shared between all the communities and was visibly increasing over time, was entrepreneurs' love for local people and local things.
It’s an area that we covered in-depth in our 4th edition Heavy Chef Entrepreneur Education Report: local is a source of inspiration for entrepreneurs.
Then earlier this week, the talented teams at Rogerwilco, MarketingMix and Survey54 released the 2022 South African Township Customer Experience (CX) Report which further cemented this fact.
Here are four key insights from this year’s Township CX report and another from our own that show how township consumers and entrepreneurs lean into local:
Insight 1: Overwhelmingly, township communities prefer to buy local - in particular, local fashion brands if they are available.
Insight 2: Local fashion brands are a source of inspiration and pride to township communities, with an increasing awareness of those brands.
Insight 3: There is a distinct appetite to convert their loyalty to local businesses into other rewards like discounts.
Insight 4: Local connections - family, friends and social networks - strongly influence buying decisions.
Insight 5: For township entrepreneurs, although they still rely heavily on themselves, the people closest to them are their strongest source of influence on them as entrepreneurs.
It’s local across the board. Township communities connect with local brands, businesses and people - not because of a sense of loyalty but because local is a point of connection, meaning and beauty that is deeper than we ever thought.
So, what actions can we take from the data?
For entrepreneurs, you are surrounded by powerful local stories (including your own) that are full of lessons in business and life. Why not pick and curate a few, and find creative ways to share them with other entrepreneurs inside and outside your community?
For educators, township entrepreneurs are looking for education models that fit into their lifestyle, not the other way around. Are there structured ways you can deliver local content while they are hustling to make a living?
For service providers, you have powerful platforms and large supply chains. How can you bring local micro-businesses into your world, shine a light on their stories and use them as conduits for your products or services in their communities?
This article was originally shared with our community as Louis Janse van Rensburg’s Friday Research Mailer. Subscribe now to get it in your inbox fresh!