With the increasing adoption of cloud technology by small businesses, there is a growing need to raise awareness about cybersecurity risks. MBSE’s courses offer essential training to enhance cybersecurity knowledge and earn CPD points.
Optimism soars among small businesses despite challenges
As South Africa marks Small Business Month, it’s encouraging that small businesses remain optimistic, with 87% feeling positive about their business outlook for 2024.
This is a 6% increase from last year, according to Xero’s 2024 State of Small Business report. Xero is a New Zealand-based technology company with offices in South Africa that provides cloud-based accounting software for small businesses.
The report, now in its seventh incarnation, looks at the trends, challenges, and opportunities facing self-made businesses in South Africa. The research is based on interviews with more than 300 small business owners across various sectors and industries in South Africa.
Colin Timmis, country manager: Xero South Africa, says in a year marked by political uncertainty linked to the elections, the increase is encouraging. However, he adds that more still needs to be done to foster growth.
“We need all stakeholders to ask themselves how we can create enabling structures, collaborations, and technology to remove the red tape and other barriers to enable sustainable growth,” says Timmis.
Risks and opportunities
According to the report, 73% of respondents reported growth in their businesses over the past 12 months. However, small businesses still face significant challenges this year. Key concerns and barriers anticipated over the next 12 months include:
- political/economic instability and crime (55%);
- loadshedding (50%);
- lack of government support (49%);
- lack of consumer demand (35%);
- limited access to funding (26%);
- skills shortage (22%); and
- late payments from suppliers (15%).
Small firms continue to grapple with two primary challenges: late payments and cash flow issues. Timely payments from suppliers are crucial for growth, yet 46% of respondents reported spending one to two months each year chasing late payments. Interestingly, 31% felt that small businesses themselves were often late-payers, while 51% were unsure about their worst late-payers.
Regarding cash flow challenges, 24% of respondents experienced some degree of difficulty, with a significant majority (72%) resorting to personal funds to keep their businesses afloat. Despite the potential benefits of securing funding to manage cash flow, 92% of small businesses have not applied for loans or funding from banks in the past 12 months.
Notably, confidence in government support among small businesses has declined sharply. Eighty-seven percent now believe government support for small businesses in South Africa is inadequate, marking a substantial increase from 36% last year.
The data reveals that small firms are increasingly seeking more assistance. Forty-nine percent of respondents cite a lack of government support as a barrier they expect to face in 2024, a significant increase from 11% in 2023. Additionally, 80% believe there is a need for more education and skills support from the government. A substantial 81% of small businesses are calling for increased funding support, and 75% are advocating for more tax breaks for adopting digital tools.
Looking ahead, small businesses remain ambitious and are eager to invest in their success.
Areas small businesses plan to invest in 2024 include:
- upskilling current staff (55%);
- technology (55%);
- personal/employee wellbeing (51%); and
- moving into new markets (41%).
The data showed that 32% were not planning to invest in their business.
Digitalisation: a game-changer for small firms
A key takeaway from the report is the transformative impact of technology on small businesses. Technology is enabling small firms to access new markets, boost profits, and streamline operations, making it a crucial area for investment in 2024.
The data underscores the importance of tech. Nearly a third (27%) of respondents identified technology as the most significant factor in their business survival over the past 12 months. Additionally, 37% reported that adopting new technology had increased their profits during the same period.
Another encouraging factor is that 75% of respondents consider their staff to be “tech-savvy”. As a result, more firms are moving to cloud software to manage their finances. The percentage of adoption stands at 68% in 2024.
The top benefits small businesses are seeing from cloud technology:
- It makes it easy to collaborate with my team (70%) – compared to 27% last year.
- Helps me better manage finances (68%).
- It has improved my business operations (62%) – compared to 41% last year.
Earn CPD points while becoming cybersecurity smart
However, technology presents its own set of risks. According to Forbes Advisor, as the globe becomes more interconnected and reliant on digital technologies, cybercrime is surging. The year 2023 saw a notable increase in cyberattacks, resulting in more than 343 million victims. Between 2021 and 2023, data breaches rose by 72%, surpassing the previous record.
Moonstone Business School of Excellence (MBSE), a recognised CPD provider, has a great way for you to become cybersecurity smart and earn your CPD points.
MBSE offers a cybersecurity package that consists of two courses and six newsletters:
Understanding the Cloud, which retails at R488, is accredited for 4 CPD points.
The first course in our cybersecurity series, comprehensively introduces cloud computing, covering its key concepts, technologies, and deployment models. The course includes a minimum of three hours of reading material and references, designed to equip learners with a strong foundation in cloud computing and its real-world application.
Cyber Leadership and Strategy, which retails at R366, is accredited for 3 CPD points.
This four-unit course covers critical aspects of cybersecurity. The first unit emphasises leadership skills in response to increasing cyber-attacks. The second unit addresses cyber strategy and policy for protecting digital assets. The third unit focuses on fostering a strong cybersecurity culture within organisations. The final unit covers incident response and recovery protocols, along with future trends to help participants stay ahead of evolving threats.
Cyber Security Newsletters, which retails at R330, is accredited for 4 CPD points.
The series of six newsletter cover essential concepts and practices to help safeguard sensitive information. These include the 12 cybersecurity concepts everybody should know, cloud security, sextortion, the AI revolution in South Africa’s financial sector, cybersecurity must-haves for SMMEs, and business email compromise.
Click here to sign up for an MBSE CPD course.
