SimplyBiz® helping you get connected after lockdown
There is much gloom and doom out there, but we want to focus on the can-do’s, not the can’t-do’s.
∙ Suddenly in need of a spare laptop or collaborative software?
∙ Share what your business is doing to survive Covid-19 and “distance hustling”.
∙ Share your ideas and positive experiences and stand a chance to WIN!
Covid-19 is a game-changer and going forward, digitisation and connectivity will become a necessity, not a luxury. That’s why we are giving you a chance to work remotely and stay in touch with your customers with these incredible prizes:
Enter now to be in a weekly draw for one of 20 X R5 000 Incredible Connection Vouchers.
∙ First Draw - 27 March 2020 (Closed)
∙ Second Draw - 6 April 2020
HOW TO ENTER
✅ Share your tips and positive experiences in the comments below
✅ Register on SimplyBiz® https://www.simplybiz.co.za/register
✅ (If you’re already registered, you’re an entrepreneur destined to overcome!)
T's & C's Apply
127 comments
I am a very young business owner, and only started my business, a nightclub , last year in april. i have been in management of night clubs and restaurants for 16years. and owning my own was a dream for me. unfortuantely, due to the corona virus, i have had to shut my doors, indefinitely. and i dont think i will be able to cover the loss i make in the forth coming months. its a tough call, i had to make it. and with lockdown, i guess everyone is feeling it. we all have to do our bi for humanity, for me , that lets me rest , uneasily at night! i have come out of this with so much debt, its unbelievable . Dreams shattered, but, ill just need to rebuild myself once again when the lockdown is over. good luck to all business owners during this uncertain time. this too shall pass
The COVID-19 pandemic has seriously affected all spheres of life & especially more so for small business owners.
The same sentiment goes for my little Cleaning Company, which in its infancy (operating properly for just under 2 months) when the 21 day lock-down was announced.
Naturally one would feel this is a death sentence, but in reality it gives us the chance to employ those skills & specialties that we boast about on our CV's.
I registered as an Essential Services Provider & then sent the certificate as well as an updated Company Profile to every company which I've made contact with in the last few months.
My pitch is centered around what we can do for them post lock-down, when their staff has to return to their work-spaces as well as their clients being able to come to them.
Each client will be awarded a "Clean Certificate" to display, stating that the premises has been disinfected by a professional company, with commercial/hospital grade disinfectant. We can also offer a PPT slide show of photos taken during the clean if they want to play it on their in-office screens or TV's as a visible VAS.
The main point behind the certificate & slide show is for the peace of mind it will give the staff & clients when they walk back into the building. It should reduce the stress of people wondering if they will still contract the virus, so that they can focus on their core business.
For the employer this translates to a quicker start to efficiency & productivity.
This strategy might not reap immediate results, but I'm counting on it to kinda add to my sales pipeline for when people are less stressed.
I'm sending it to at least 50 businesses a day for the next 2 weeks.
In the meantime I'm hoping some ads on Gumtree & Facebook Marketplace might yield some results so that I can at least put some bread on the table.
On a very positive note though, let's NEVER forget that we are South Africans, the most resilient nation on this continent as well as natural born hustlers. Together we will all get through this.
Please stay safe, stay healthy, stay blessed.
During this terrible time in South Africa's History.. Communication is Key to you Staff , Customers , Suppliers etc.. Why not use our Bulk SMS System for this purpose ?...
Go For It Guys !!!!! .. ( http://www.smsguys.co.za )
SMS is still the key solution for instant and reliable communication during critical times. Look at various ways that your business can implement while staying at home.
By establishing a line of effective digital communication with your customers, employees, and the wider community, you instill trust, eliminate mixed messaging, and inspire hope that, together, we can weather the storm.
Reach out to your Employees, Customers, and Suppliers while staying at home with www.smsguys.co.za communication Platform
MILK+SUGAR is helping our clients to continue to tell their stories even in lockdown.
We're able to Livestream or pre-record this remotely. All they need is a laptop with a webcam and built in mic. They must use Chrome as their browser and importantly have a pretty solid internet connection.
If they want to record content on their phones, or laptops themselves, we are able to use that too.
We do the rest including integrating their graphics, social feeds and other assets into their content.
The focus of my business is kids entertainment.since gatherings are not allowed, my business has shut down until such time when all is back to normal.
Hi...as Blackheart Entertainment...we have taken our stand up comedy online...doing stand up comedy across all our social media platforms getting our fans to pay subscription to our content...because we no longer doing venue gigs while on lockdown...
The pandemic is very stressful for everyone. For big and small businesses it is a big challenge! So this is how we surviving the COVID-19 at our business and their clients. Before we could even offer our services, we were educating if not giving tips to our clients abount this virus, how it starts, the symptom and the recovery phase. But most importantly they need to know the generousness of the virus.
But as for during the lockdown, our business is doing most of its services online and our customers are making use on online payments such as FET, Paypal, Payfast, OSD and direct bank transfer. Our offices is closed and we making use of NCH Business Suite software to track sales and delegate tasks to relevant employees as much as communicating emergency matters and reporting.
We trained our customers to be calm and always wash their hands at home, at work, in the mall, and they must avoid touching their face at all times. If they suspect having made a phyisical contact with someone who is having the symptoms they must run to the doctor.
And yes it is very difficult time of us. The sales is going low, slow network connections and most customers dont know if they should make use of our products and services but we try and convince them into doing business with us
We at Gingerlykids seeing that we a very small team and we can not operate during the lock down as we are a kids boutique store.
So in this time that we can basically not do any business we trying to stay relevant by advertising on most social media networks this is very important for our survival after the lockdown.
We also post positive ways to keep kids in informed and busy during the lockdown. We encourage parents to not grow tired having they kids around but create fun activities , dress up parties and keeping them safe.
We check in on all our customers that we have they contact details making sure they safe and taking care during this pandemic.
✅ [Helping Schools, Students and Parents deal with Covid through Entrepreneurship] I created a FREE entrepreneurship course open to everyone in South Africa staying at home. It has 12 modules over 4 weeks and is completely online. "The only way you can predict your future is by creating it" and my vision with this is to help people create a new brighter and better future for themselves through the power of entrepreneurship. You can access it here: https://www.willemgous.com/entrepreneurship
If you try to do this alone you will fall, but if we stand together and help each other we will get through this, stronger and better. How can you help another business owner today?
At Nvirogreen we do Pest Control & Hygiene, the majority of our work comes from the schools be it Public or Private, we also have service agreements with restaurants, we have applied for an essential service permit and we received it, in the event we do get called upon to provide product or service, the Carona Virus Covid 19 has caused us to send our staff home only my wife and I are on standby, to date we haven't had any response from any sector yet but we are hopeful that there will be a turnaround, we managed to cover salaries for the month of March, as far as April, May & June is concerned we do not have provision for these months, as a small business we also have a social responsibility to the community we live in. we have however moved around our local supermarkets and shops and communities as they go about their business to assist we can with the limited recourses we have at our disposal to provide and supply gloves and sanitizers to the aged and less privileged, we are not able to help everyone but we call on local businesses to provide the masks and sanitizer to those in the community who are not able to source or afford this protective equipment.
Masetshire Lebona
I-Manage Consulting Services manages a number of portfolio including "Management Consulting, Brand & Marketing and Property Management & Development. Our core services focuses on SMME's business advisory (governance & compliance). During the 21 days lockdown our focus has been to improve our visibility and as such, we are using the downtime to ultimately set our website and other business marketing tools that will grow our business and benefit our clients. We have been postponing the website setup for a while. In other areas, I-Manage applied for the essential services certificates from CIPC for all medical facilities as well as completed Form C permission for essential workers to ensure that these facilities do not experience any interruptions as they remain operational during lockdown. In line with government safety precautions to be taken during this period, our facilities experienced a shortage of essential goods for their daily operations. Due to the high demand and shortage of the essential goods from big wholesalers and retailers, we had to look at alternative ways of sourcing and supplying those goods for our facilities. This led to the establishment of a relationship with a local Biotech laboratory, Global Health Biotech (GHB), based at Innovation Hub and headed by a black female scientist and professor from TUT t supply us with sanitizers. GHB manufactures hand and surface sanitizers at their laboratories and delivers them directly to clients. This relationship created an opportunity to support locally manufactured goods, an opportunity which could have been missed has it not been for the lockdown and shortage of supplies. We have also started to make use of the online platforms to place orders for the supply of other essential goods required. For the SMME's we manage, we had to be proactive and inform their customers via emails about that COVID-19 and its implications on their businesses. We also looking to assist our SMME clients who have been financially affected by the lockdown, with application process to access relief funds. We are trying our best to be proactive and keep our clients motivated and operational.
At Mpubane Muti Solution, We hiring Mobile equipment such as (Chemical mobile Toilets and Mobile Cold rooms , Manufacturing Ice cubes and Planting and selling vegetables and we based in rural area. unfortunately since the lock down due to Corona Virus the business is slow. Most of our customers are local Pubs, Taverns, Bottles stores, restaurants etc, and they are all closed due to the virus. on the side of hiring, all the event are cancelled and some are postponed. we now only relying on members of the community around who are just buying vegetables straight from our garden on daily basis. in summary it is indeed very difficult for the company to operate at the moment.
Kuyanda Chemicals, being a cleaning detergents manufacture means we are classified as an essential services provider. We are closed off for walk in customers and work with skeletal team to continue production of essential products. We are working hard to keep supplying our clientele which include Clinics, Laboratories, Correctional Centers, private doctors and etc with essentials like Anti-bac Hand Soaps, Bleach, Hand and Surface Sanitizes.
Greetings All,
I run an Automotive Detailing business. Our business relies heavily on developing long term relationships with our clients. With this said, clients ask what they should do to maintain their vehicles better during this time. We have started an online channel where viewers watch our instructional and training videos on maintaining the appearance and hygiene of your car. Our aim is to teach people how they can maintain the hygiene in their vehicles in a cost effective manner with household products or goods. Through this, i have learnt that business that last are businesses that evolve, businesses that stop focusing on making money but focus on expanding and evolving. In this, they become relevant brands in the future, even if they the core purpose is no longer. This has been the how life has been recorded over time and this has brought our us, our country and our planet to where we are today. My subscirber base has been growing and in the future, I would not have to worry on how many clients I have provided a service for, my only concern would be how many people I have taught.
Intlalo is a consulting company that focuses on business training and organisational development. SMME's have taken a strain during this lockdown and we've been offering support and guidance to keep our clients' businesses sustainable. Online presence has been a key factor in stimulating business growth and we've developed their website and social media platforms for maximum exposure.
At Sizanimavoko Enterprise we are affected by this virus but we have advantage of working at home that makes things easier for us. We making sure that we wash our hands before sewing , and before the lockdown we prepared ourselves by making sure that we purchase fabrics in rolls now we just sewing without going up and down looking for fabrics.
Working as a Management Assistant and part of an International Network we are the driving force and often the unsung heroes to ensure our MD's, CEO's and Management
are allowed to focus on business whilst we take care of the non business related matters such as sorting diaries, managing meetings, conferences, travel and personal matters.
Amidst this COVID-19 pandemic the Management Assistants in all the sectors affected had to overnight adapt to working remotely and often have to take the lead and step in to ensure
our Management have the support to focus on Business.
At Snow White and Seven Dresses, we've been hard hit by Covid-19 as our brides cannot access our walk-in store nor can we courier our stock however we have an online store on our website and we are offering our customers big discounts for purchases to be delivered after lockdown. They can also pre-order stock in the coming weeks ,which we have not yet received due to the pandemic, and we'll reserve it just for them. We are all about customer satisfaction!
At Shoop Sharp Construction Services, we are all about company culture and relationships, and this indeed exceeds our goals. I ensure that all of my team are highly engaged, during this time, strategyzing, planning, for the road ahead using Skype and Zoom. Our company's success is reliant on that we work together as a team. If the team is solid so is our results. We are all about relationships as no matter what business you are in people buy from people, so it is important that your company culture is embarrassed by all staff from cleaner, to site foreman to admin staff to the GM. When your company culture is in alignment with your business goals, employees are able to connect to your mission and they are motivated to exceed their goals. Not to mention that they are more creative in solving problems and committed to developing a long-term career at our organization. These are all behaviors that is key to the business success.
HAPPY CULTURES=EXCEPTIONAL TALENT RETENTION
I am a visual artist and it hasn't been long since I started running my art business: Koranges Art (pty) Ltd. I am mostly using this time to work on my business admin and I am engaging with potential clients and my followers on social media platforms or emails to share my inspirational art and creativity to enlighten people on positive information. I have been doing a lot of planning for my business for a way forward, brainstorming new ideas and marketing my brand. This has been a great time for me to reflect on my business plan. I have also been sharing with my followers how to protect themselves and the importance of taking the necessary precautions.
Ruraldol Consulting is a Promotional product and corporate apparel company and we had been looking at growing into full apparel manufactures and we were thinking of applying for funding before this period. So we used this time to do exactly that, put together all the required documentation and applied for funding. And we have opened our Technical Department, where we are offering UPS and Batteries services, so in this time , we are looking closely to that and setting face-to-face visits after this period, to all those are reachable via email at this point, we putting ourselves togetherand ready for that.
*We are also looking at our competitors and comparing suppliers as well.
* Applied for funding,
* As a company which also sells Ruraldol-Brand Apparel (clothing Line) to clients, we took this time to chat with our WhatsApp clients, checking them out and getting informal feedback from them, make-up time that is stolen by our busy schedules.
*Reviewing our Business Plan, Bitch and our Marketing Strategies.
*Applying for all the procurement Database we have missed, all those that are accessible to apply online.
Fortunately we have an online payroll, accounting and tax services business. We have carried on with business as usual but have had the time to do lots more research and provide better service to all of our clients. I have been doing webinars to keep my tax knowledge relevant and also getting up to speed with social media advertising. I have realised that sometimes we should stick with what we know and let the experts in other areas stick with what they do best. We cannot be experts in all fields of business, much as we would like to be able to do so. It has been challenging not to be able to hop in the car and go and see clients, and do the daily shopping. I think that this experience is going to teach us all to be more mindful of the important things in life, and to stop and smell the roses occasionally. We also need to stop carrying on like hamsters and just sit and read and enjoy the sunshine and the family. It is terrible to think of the people who have lost their lives though. We are being taught to make the most of every second as our lives can change in the blink of an eye. We can and will get through this as long as we all cooperate.
At DM Technologies we offer IT sales and IT service, however due to Corona virus we are not able to provide all of our services but below are the services and what we are doing during lock down as we are working from home
1. We are still assisting our clients with End user, network and desktop support using telephone, WhatsApp and email. For these service we have also extended our operating hours to 07:00 AM to 19:00 PM Monday to Friday
2. We are still taking and processing orders made via email, telephone and WhatsApp. However we will only be able to deliver after the lock down
3. We are still running our weekly and monthly special, advertising on our social pages
4. We are busy testing the demo products we received from our suppliers/manufactures, so it can be easy for us to offer support to our clients who purchase these new products
5. Lastly we are working on introducing new services and products on our company, we are busy testing the Voip, video conferencing and Wi-fi/ Hotspot
My business is a Graphic Design Studio called. Hanx Design Solutions. I am using this time to update my clients company / business profiles. Updating their Websites. Creating Graphics for branding, so this is ready when the lockdown is over. Also honing my skills to give a better client experience
I believe that we have all entered into unknown territory where we all have to consider doing business differently. Social media has given us the ability to stay connected with one another and to be able to work remotely. As educators and facilitators, we are able to teach online but the challenge is going to be to assist many students out there that do not have access to computers. I believe that we need to look at a "Mobile School" as it seems every single South African no matter where they come from have a cell phone. I would like to explore this idea as many of my students are not accessible via a computer link, also because many cannot afford this. The other challenge is that the Department of Education is going to have to join this party as most of my courses are managed by them and they have shut us down until farther notice. This too shall pass and I pray that we emerge stronger, more positive and that we will all get to the next level.
Nteto trading and projects during this lockdown is closed because we are printing company, we do screen printing, Mugs, T shirt, Caps, etc. So we only print according to orders received. So at this moment we are not operating.
This is the time that I use to mostly strengthen my social media presence and create/broaden my marketing on those platforms and it works in miraculous ways. Even though few people have the capacity to spend on my business now, I am very sure my efforts will bring a huge growth once everything goes back to normal. I also encourage word of mouth to all my customers and reward them with discounts. It works best.
We at Mankolisi Business Enterprise are striving by all means to help the current efforts by our Government to combat the spread of the Corona virus. Covid 19 has indeed affected our business negatively since we are in the construction industry. Immediately after the call by the President to observe regulations of the maximum number of people in a group, we then knew that it is our cue to take necessary steps. We bought SABS approved masks against viruses as opposed to dust masks which a majority of other companies were using. We also took upon ourselves to educate other contractors on site to only use medical masks stating the difference between the dust masks and medical masks. By the time the lockdown was enacted by the President, we had a zero incidence of Corona virus infection in terms of screening and known symptoms. Even so, we urged our people to download the WhatsApp number for corona to keep themselves updated daily with the information regarding COVID 19. Since we had not been paid yet, we incentivized our employees with 1GB WhatsApp data to keep abreast of the latest information on COVID 19 and the company news. Unfortunately, no one got paid so far due to the sudden lockdown, so we keep in contact with our employees on WhatsApp to keep them in the loop. Fortunately, our employees understand the state the world is in as our primary goal is to keep everyone safe.