NEWSLETTER: If it bleeds it leads

“If it bleeds, it leads” is a familiar phrase from the world of news and it seems to have become very pervasive as a part of the COVID19 world – all we want to do is look for bad news…. This Monday, we are here to tell you that actually there are plenty of reasons to feel optimistic and your business will get through this. 

Here are just 13 examples from our network in recent weeks:

1.    We have 2 clients who are involved in the world of recruitment and both have reported increased volumes in the last few weeks as the initial shock of the lockdown has started to ease. Businesses don’t hire when the end of the world is around the corner …

2.    We had a great status meeting with our partners from LulaLend the other day and they are continuing to lend to businesses during this period.

3.    Our partners from the Youth Employment Service (YES) have managed to put nearly R1m worth of money back into emerging seamstresses through its #Masks4All project. If you need masks for your organization, please drop us a line on [email protected] and we will give you the relevant information.

4.    Our friends over at OUTvest are continuing to see inflows into their robo-advisor solution as people looking for low-cost, flexible ways to save and invest. The team from EasyEquities also continue to attract new clients and were featured prominently in the Sunday Times over the weekend.

5.    The team from Uzenzele have seen a spike in projects – particularly around capital raising for industrial businesses looking to re-tool / re-purpose their operations for the supply of protective equipment.

6.    Our partners from SME Snapshot reported a 30% increase in their user-base over the last 40 weeks as entrepreneurs realise the importance of tracking key metrics in their business.

7.    The SME.Tax team have launched their “Adopt an SME” campaign to support entrepreneurs who need accounting support. You can find out more about it here.

8.    Just yesterday Sasol posted about the opportunity to supply renewable energy projects to the company. Similarly, the likes of SEDA are investing significantly in their hubs and township incubator / accelerator projects.

9.    Stella from Quickwill says that they’ve seen a significant increase in their offering and are now in the process of rolling out their offering for financial advisors.

10. Grocery start-up Zulzi just raised R30m in a market where “retail” is under significant pressure.

11. Stachia from Bassalt Santech Solutions says they’re seeing new opportunities after pivoting to this new technology. It’s quite a cool story but they were recently featured on radio 702 last week.

12. Our team recently hosted a webinar for the Black Umbrellas entrepreneurs around how to access the media. There were 70+ entrepreneurs on the call and most were looking for ways to grow their business, not rollover to a virus. You can listen to the presentation here.

13. Innovation is the name of the game and we’re partnering with the guys from Leaply and SchoolAdvisor.co.za to host a first-of-its-kind Virtual Career Day next week for law firms looking to recruit high-quality graduates.

It is really important that we don’t let bad news overwhelm us and that as entrepreneurs we let data inform our decisions. As of yesterday 0.004% of the global population had died from COVID19.

30 million new people have arrived in the world since the start of 2020 and South Africa will see net population growth of around 700 000 by the end of the year. The world is going to require innovators who build stuff, tackle healthcare issues, develop ways to deliver remote education, food and water security etc. ….

The money hasn’t disappeared out of the system – in fact they’re printing hundreds of billions of dollars MORE – to restart the engine. It might not be “business as usual” but the odds are actually in your favour.

 Surround yourself with the people who want to tackle these issues and the opportunities will present themselves.