The National Gazelles
The National Gazelles is a national SME growth accelerator funded by Seda and the Department of Small Business Development. Currently in a three-year pilot, the programme aims to identify and support SMEs with growth potential across 10 priority industry sectors aligned with the National development Plan and Seda’s SME strategy. SMEs are identified through an annual call for applications, with selection done independently by private and public sector partners.
The programme aims to assist each business to operate as closely as possible to its maximum potential. Growth acceleration support is guided by a detailed business diagnostic and growth strategy, and includes a R1-million growth grant for equipment and capacity-building, facilitated access to finance, productivity and business advice, business skills development and more.
Please see the APPLY and NOMINATE links on this page to see the current application status for the programme, and to apply for your business, or nominate a business, for the programme. To be considered, you need to have been in business for at least two years, have turnover of at least R1-million, and at least two full time employees.
BENEFITSNational Gazelles members become part of a vibrant national network of like-minded entrepreneurs, who benefit from the following programme activities and services.
- Expert business MasterClasses that rapidly improve your business, management and entrepreneurial skills and abilities
- A detailed analysis of your business to identify how you can improve operations, productivity and market share
- A customized growth strategy developed for your business, combined with weekly personalized support to help you implement the strategy
- Assistance with access to funding, grants and incentives to support capacity and competitiveness
- On-request expert interventions to assist you to address growth-related issues in your business
- Business travel assistance including an SAA Gold Card and Avis Preferred Plus Card
- Networking and business opportunity events
- A daily customized tender email with all current tenders relevant to your products and services
- Use of the National Gazelles brand on all your stationery, promotional items, letterheads and proposals
- Profile on the National Gazelles website and inclusion in other PR activities and benefits
More benefits are continually being added to the programme.
PARTNERSHIPS
Partnerships are a key component of the National Gazelles programme. Our partners play a significant role in supporting the Gazelles on their growth path. New partners are continually joining the Gazelles programme, so watch this space.
We have partnership opportunities available in the following areas:
- Programme sponsors
- Procurement partners
- Business networking partners
- Nomination of Gazelles for each annual intake
- Specialist business advisors to the Gazelles
- Industry sector partners
- Technology partners
- Partners offering specific benefits to Gazelles
HOW CAN I BECOME A NATIONAL GAZELLE MEMBER BUSINESS
Every year we accept 40 new member businesses into the programme. Members can be situated anywhere in South Africa.
Application is by means of an on-line form during the annual application “window”.
Each application is scored by our audit firm partners, SekelaXabiso, KPMG and EY. This score makes up 40% of your final score.
If you are among the shortlist of 200 applicants, you then attend a interview in your province, where you have the opportunity to present your business and be interviewed by the panel of business experts. This counts for 60% of your final score.
The resulting score (application form score plus interview score) makes your final score. We then select the top 40 applicants, adjusted by size of Province to ensure every business in each Province has a fair chance of selection.
The entire process is then audited by Sizwe Ntsaluba Gobodo to ensure fairness and transparency.
New members are then invited to attend an induction workshop to explain the programme benefits and how to get the maximum benefit
Source: https://www.nationalgazelles.org.za
National Gazelles (Owner)
