The Business Hour's Olebogeng Motse spoke to Oarabile Manyaapelo, director of the Small Business Advisory Bureau at the NWU Business School, about how the bureau can advance your career. Listen here:

The Small Business Advisory Bureau (SBAB) was established in 1970 at the North-West University as an institute and today it is the oldest and largest tertiary small business institute in Southern Africa. It is a non-profit, service organisation for all small, medium and micro-enterprises (SMMEs).
The primary aim of the SBAB is to promote the establishment of new small businesses and to improve the efficiency of existing SMMEs in Southern Africa.

The SBAB operates countrywide from its head office in Potchefstroom with a staff of management consultants/trainers. It is a prerequisite that the SBAB consultant should, apart from academic qualifications also have practical small business experience. These consultants can consequently offer authoritative advice and training to almost any SMME.

The Small Business Advisory Bureau of the North-West University Business School is uniquely positioned to make a continued invaluable contribution to the growth and maintenance of the SMME sector in Southern Africa. The Intellectual Property accumulated over 50 years on SMME training as well as the training and management of Small Business Advisors are “game-changers” and a competitive advantage for the NWU Business School and its students.

The South African economy is in desperate need of an urgent boost. Entrepreneurs to generate growth, foster innovation and aid in job creation are urgently needed.  With the acceptance of the National Development Plan in 2013, job creation was one of the key initiatives. The NDP places the onus on small and expanding businesses to create some 90% of new jobs. Women and Youth Entrepreneurship received a large proportion of the focus of the NDP – an initiative of both the national Government and the Business Sector.

It is in the interest of South Africa’s economic growth to find ways to promote entrepreneurship under women and the youth by both encouraging new business start-ups and ensuring that start-ups are nurtured and supported so that they survive and go on to generate real wealth (and jobs) for the economy. It is especially important that these start-ups do get the necessary support as far as training, mentoring and consulting.

All the SBAB’s services are interdependent and complementary to one another and can be divided into three main categories:

• Training
• Management consultations and advisory services
• Research and information

You can contact the Bureau at info-sbab@nwu.ac.za.