SA Institute for Entrepreneurs
Context
For many years the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) has confirmed the Institute’s experiences on the ground namely that we are not an entrepreneurial nation – coming consistently last out of all African countries participating in this annual survey. Since 2010 the Institute has been watching with interest the development of a new measure in the form of the Global Entrepreneurship Index (GEI) which measures entrepreneurship capacity slightly differently. The GIE which was released this year places South Africa 53rd out of 130 countries participating and indicates that it is operating at 40% of its entrepreneurship capacity (with the world as a whole at 52%). In addition, South Africa is at the top of the Sub Saharan African region and well above the next highest African country Botswana which placed 66.
Why is is so different from the GEM findings over the years? This is because the GEI measures different aspects to GEM namely entrepreneurial attitudes, entrepreneurial abilities and entrepreneurial aspirations. Each of these are made up of both an individual variable and an institutional variable (unlike GEM which only has an individual variable.) Entrepreneurial attitudes are how a society feels about recognising opportunities, knowing entrepreneurs, thinking of them as being something to admire, accepting risk in starting up businesses and having the skills to do so. Entrepreneurial abilities are the characteristics of entrepreneurs these can vary from sector to sector and are influenced by age, education etc. Entrepreneurial aspirations are the entrepreneur’s effort to develop and grow into new markets or new products, identify various types of financing options and so on. (GEI 2015)
Opportunity
Because our human capital development is low – and if we see this as a glass half full – this provides wonderful opportunity for improvement and growth. SA measures low on indices that only measure individual variables (like GEM) however the good news is that SA is relatively strong institutionally. So – if we can develop a vibrant entrepreneurial culture – something at the core of the existence of the Institute for nearly 20 years – SA could become a winning nation – one that is an entrepreneurial role model to the rest of the world. The areas where we can improve the most are in start-up skills and human capital development – with only 42,7% of our population perceiving that they have the capabilities for starting a business (compared to a Sub Saharan Africa average of 74%).
When the Institute was established in 1996 it believed that there was enormous potential given the strength of the country institutionally and the unlocked and undeveloped potentially individually. Its goal was to develop an entrepreneurial culture through mindset and skill development. This is now being borne out by the findings of the GEI with give credence to the opportunities that the Instituted identified in small business and enterprise development and which is it is still involved in in 2015.
The potential of the BEST Game and other entrepreneurial and skills development programmes….
Product
The BEST GAME is in essence not a game at all. It is a carefully constructed business skills development tool masquerading as a game.
The BEST GAME is interactive and experientially based. It simulates real market conditions and business scenarios in the training room.
The process gets participants to weigh up information, make decisions and react to the consequences. Participants see the results of their actions and experience the thrills and spills of real life business activity.
As participants compete with each other to succeed in business, the debates get intense, decisions get weightier and the results provoke emotions of success and failure. The result? Light bulbs flash, paradigm shifts occur and vital learning points stick.
Although is was initially designed for South Africa (Cape Town actually!) to assist emerging business people to understand the basics of business, over the past 16 years a wide variety of organisations and institutions in over 70 countries around the world (from Eastern Europe, to South America, from West Africa to Central America, from East Africa to the Far East) have used the BEST Game to teach entrepreneurship, general business
principles, teamwork, communication and life skills.
These organisations include
- Non-government training organisations (NGOs).
- Government departments and aid agencies.
- Universities and colleges.
- Adult Based Educators.
- Private training organisations.
- Human resource departments.
Best Game modules
The following modules are used in the various Best Game courses:
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BS: Business Simulation. This module is an intensive and interactive work-out in the art of managing a business, covering: how the allocation of capital affects a business; how to raise profits; the impact of unplanned expenses and penalties for reckless spending; the dangers of selling on credit; selling and negotiating techniques and much, much more. It is designed for employees and entrepreneurs.
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MP: Money Planner. Building on the experience of the Business Simulation, the Money Planner module covers how to read and write a cash flow statement, an income statement, a balance sheet and a personal budget.
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BP: Business Planner. Building on the experience of the Business Simulation, the Business Planner module covers: the basic framework of a business plan; how to build a coherent business plan from fixed costs, sales and variable costs, through break-even analysis and profitability, and the creation of financial statements.
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BIG: Big Ideas Generator. The BIG – Business Ideas Generator – is an intensive module in lateral thinking. It directs participants to identify
opportunities for new products and services based on their skills, the networks of people they know, activities they enjoy, places they know well and individuals whose needs they understand well.
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MM: Marketing Module – Reaching my own markets.
The BEST Game’s “Reaching my own markets” module specifically addresses the marketing issues that have created problems for particular manufacturing businesses. Its specific objectives are: making the learning from the simulation real for each participant’s own business; providing tools and skills for participants to use in their own business situation; getting participants to try out new marketing approaches in their own business etc.
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BB: Business Basics. This module builds on the Business Simulation. It challenges participants to analyse their business simulation experience in greater depth, and covers: business cycles, adding value, selling for profit, income allocation / planning, supply and demand, understanding the market, negotiating and selling skills, marketing strategies, pricing, production and more.
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PI: Plan It!. This is an intensive, practical series of seminars in business planning. Plan It! provides: a thorough grounding in how to write a business plan and
step-by-step blueprints for building a business plan. This is not an academic, theoretical course or text book. It is a series of hands-on work shops that mentor or coach serious entrepreneurs to develop cogent business plans to avoid the common problems of business start-ups.
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AI: Assess It!. Assess It! uses the core learning resources of Plan It! to train business loan assessors to identify fatal and fixable business plan flaws. Assess It! provides: a thorough grounding in how to assess a business plan. These hands-on work shops mentor or coach decision makers in the pressures facing SMMEs and how to detect business problems before they lead to failure and financial loss.
For more information, visit: www.entrepreneurship.co.za
SAIE (Owner)
