Rek Your Cheque: Business advice on your phone

Free access to small business advice is here! Developing your side hustle and making a success of your small business is now more important than ever.

To do that, we need access to guidance and simple, effective information which we can use to practically build our businesses.

As someone who facilitates the platform for 12 community-based clothing and accessory brands, I was hugely excited when I came across a free platform designed specifically to assist small businesses.

The SMMEstart business recovery service on WhatsApp officially went live late in 2020.

This platform is intended to be a way of helping small, medium and micro enterprises recover and grow after the devastating last year we have just had.

As 2021 starts, the most pressing issue South Africa faces is rebuilding and growing our economy.

The participation of SMMEs in the country’s recovery cannot be overlooked or underestimated.

SMMEstart is doing its part to deliver essential information, interactive training, and access to recovery-oriented services and resources to small businesses, all via WhatsApp.

All you need is wi-fi and/or data!

While the foundational information is there, it is also a live service, which means it will be updated weekly with new content, news and resources that will help and support SMMEs as we navigate this difficult time.

I am not the most technically advanced person - in fact, my children roll their eyes at how limited I am - so it helped that the instructions on SMMEstart are clear, simple and easy to follow.

How it works

Getting started is easy.

All you need to do is simply text the word ‘hi’ in a WhatsApp message to 060 011 0110 (or click on this link https://wa.me/27600110110?text=hi).

Personally, I just did it the easiest way I know how.

I created a contact called SMMEsmart with the number 060 011 0110, and took it from there.

The menu is easy to navigate and covers everything from applying for financial relief and recovery funds, to becoming a compliant business, how to market your business, taking your business online, how to stay healthy during Covid-19 and keep your staff safe, navigating legal and tax issues, latest news for small businesses and much more.

The moment you see the first page of this platform, you get excited.

It really does address all the challenges that small businesses face.

On the first page you get to explore the following issues:

• Financial: Financial relief and help

• Grow: Resources to help you upskill

• Tax: Relief and help with tax

Marketing: market your business

• Legal: Access to legal guidelines

• Health: Stay healthy

• News: SMME news and inspirational stories

• Free: Find free resources

• Share: Tell others about SMME start.

Like I imagine most small business owners would do, I followed the “Marketing” prompts first.

This then took me to explore the different social media platforms like:

Facebook advertising, Google my business, Google ads, email marketing, customer retention and a free marketing kit.

All things which I have seen and heard about and knew could add value to my business, but didn’t quite have all the necessary info on.

On SMMEstart, every different social media platform, and the way in which it can help your small business to grow, are thoroughly explored.

Another thing I found incredibly valuable, fell under the “Find free resources” prompt.

Being directed to small business support centres and hubs led to me finding contact details to support portals for SMMEs.

When exploring the “Grow” section, I was taken to free books, skills training, mentorship and “How to” guides.

The prompts took me to free skills training with access to 106 lessons across 26 digital platforms.

All of this, and everything else, is completely free and that really helps in these difficult times.

I have always supported platforms which make simple, clear, effective information easily accessible to our communities.

Since there is no cost to this (besides having data/wi-fi) there is no reason for us not to access this information and use it to grow our businesses and make it succeed.

Sadly, our community is not the best when it comes to sharing.

We tend to hold onto information that can add to our own growth, but do not consider how it can affect the growth of others and our community at large.

We have a tendency to break each other down instead of helping to build each other up.

This needs to stop!

We have so much talent, creativity and expertise in every sector of business right here, among us.

We need to change our mindset and realise that while we hold each other back, other communities flourish, and we run the risk of being left behind and staying exactly where we are: always moaning, groaning and pointing fingers at each other.

We must start working together and realise that the more we grow our community businesses, the more people will support us, and the more jobs will be created within our space – by us, for us.

So please share the details to the SMMEstart platform far and wide.

Someone out there, with a small business or even just a small business idea, might just desperately need access to this information being offered right now.

Remember, all you need to do is text the word ‘hi’ in a WhatsApp message to 060 011 0110 (or visit this link https://wa.me/27600110110?text=hi).

*Moeshfieka Botha is Head of Research and Consumer Education at National Debt Advisors. For more debt and personal finance information visit www.nationaldebtadvisors.co.za