The Head of Regions, Don Mashele thinks sefa stands to derive colossal from SMME Hubs. Their success in Gauteng is important as it will allow sefa to spread its footprint to the whole country through this initiatives.
One of the challenges facing small businesses is access to a variety of services provided by both public and private sector institutions. A number of institutions are sparsely distributed making it difficult for entrepreneurs to access them.
An ideal situation is to have these institutions located under one roof. This will, in addition to promoting accessibility, ensure that duplications are minimized as there will be seamless provision of services.
Recently there has been a dedicated move in Gauteng where both public and private sector have partnered to establish SMME Hubs. There are currently two Hubs, one located in Kempton Park targeting Ekurhuleni and the other located in Fourways targeting Diepsloot and surrounding areas. A third Hub will be launched on the 23rd of September in Alexander.
Why are Hubs important to sefa?
sefa normally distribute its offerings through a network of regional offices. There are currently 9 regional offices throughout the country. To ensure that sefa spreads its footprint strategy to other areas there is a need to create branches and satellite offices.
The branch offices are smaller outlets linked to a regional office and manned by few staff members, ranging from 2 and 3. In this regard the SME Hubs dovetails well with our ambition to spread our footprints to all corners of South Africa, as we are able to locate a branch office within the Hub in a cost effective way and within our target market.
In addition sefa has satellite offices that are located within the Small Enterprise Development Agency (seda) premises. Satellite offices are mainly referral outlets that are not manned by warm bodies.
It is therefore vital for sefa to support these initiatives as this will assist its own growth. Depending on the success of the Hubs in Gauteng we are likely to see the rolling out in other provinces. This will ensure that we are represented nationally without having to invest a lot of resources in physical infrastructure.