BASELINE STUDY OF SMMEs IN THE EASTERN CAPE
ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT AND SMME SUPPORT PRACTITIONERS’ QUESTIONNAIRE
Your assistance in completing this questionnaire is greatly appreciated. The aim is to determine the
following:


Obstacles and challenges facing SMMEs in the Eastern Cape as a whole and in each region, as
encountered by practitioners in Enterprise Development and providers of SMME support
services.
Additional services needed or services in need of strengthening that must be addressed in the
Action Plan for SMMEs.
IF RESPONDENT IS A UNIT MANAGER:
NUMBER OF OFFICE/ UNIT STAFF DIRECTLY RENDERING SMME SUPPORT/ DEVELOPMENT SERVICES (CORE STAFF):
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
NUMBER OF CORE STAFF ACCORDING TO YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN SMME SUPPORT/ DEVELOPMENT WORK:
Years in position
1 – 2 years
3 – 5 years
5 – 10 years
10 – 20 years
Number of core staff
20+ years
NUMBER OF CORE STAFF ACCORDING TO YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN CURRENT POSITION:
Years in position
1 – 2 years
3 – 5 years
5 – 10 years
Number of core staff
20+ years
10 – 20 years
RESPONDENT’S DETAILS
NAME :
__________________________________________________________________________
DESIGNATION:
__________________________________________________________________________
(“Business Advisor”, “Account Manager”, “Trade and Industry Advisor”, etc.)
ORGANISATION:
__________________________________________________________________________
DISTRICT OR MUNICIPALITY SERVED:
(or “Provincial Office” if applicable)
_____________________________________________________________
TEL/ CELL :
__________________________________
E-MAIL:
__________________________________________________________________________
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CHALLENGES AND OBSTACLES FACED BY SMMEs
1. Skills challenges faced SMME owners
Do you find that owners of your client SMMEs have the skills listed in the Table below?
No
General management skills
26Estimated percentage of your clients that have these 0-10% 1125%
50%
skills:
1.1
Planning (looking into the future and planning for it)
1.2
Organizing (creating realistic standards to measure the
performance of the SMME)
1.3
Leading (working with and through individuals and others
to achieve business goals)
1.4
Motivating (creating a zeal in people to perform well)
1.5
Risk taking (being prepared to take calculated risks to grow
and develop the SMME)
1.6
Pricing (knowing how much a product is worth)
5075%
75100%
2. Any other critical business skills that you find are lacking among the SMME owners that you work with?
1.
2.
3.
4.
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
3. Education and training levels among SMMEs that you work with
Please indicate your estimate of the percentage of your SMME clients that fall in the divisions below:
0-10%
11-25%
26-50%
50-75%
75-100%
Qualifications
relevant
to
business
1 none
2 little
3 medium
4 above
average
5 extensive
0-10%
11-25%
26-50%
50-75%
75-100%
Training
relevant
to
business:
1 none
2 little
3 medium
4 above
average
5 extensive
2
4. Financial challenges
How often do you find difficulties with the following Financial Management issues among your SMME
clients?
[Is it better if respondents rank these by order of occurrence?]
No
Financial management
Never Seldom Sometimes Often
Very
frequently
3.1
Budgeting (having a budget according to
which financial resources are allocated for
specific activities)
3.2
Cash flow management
3.3
Credit and collection methods (being paid
for work done)
3.4
Paying business accounts on time
3.5
Financial analysis and breakeven analysis
3.7
Tax problems (outstanding taxes, tax filing,
VAT or other problem)
3.8
Book keeping/accounting including audit
3.8
Are there any other financial challenges your SMME clients regularly experience? Please specify:
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
5. Marketing challenges
How often do you find difficulties with the following marketing issues among your SMME clients?
No
Marketing management
Never Seldom Sometimes Often
4.1
Knowing target customers (who the potential
consumers are) and market research
4.2 Promoting their SMME (making potential
customers aware of the SMME’s products)
4.3 Growing their SMME (increasing the customers
and sales)
4.4 Remaining competitive in the market to retain
past and gain new customers
4.5 Limited range of goods or services
4.6 Saturation of markets for the goods and
services offered
14.8 Information on new or other goods or services
SMMEs might offer
4.7 Branding (having a unique brand name,
trademark or logo)
4.8 SMMEs unable to register on public sector
3
Very
frequently
supplier databases to due to inability to obtain
Tax Clearance Certificate
4.9 SMMEs unable to register on municipal
supplier databases due to inability to obtain
Municipal Billing/ Rates Clearance Certificate
4.10 Other marketing challenges faced by your SMME clients? Please specify
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
6. Legal challenges
How often do you find that your SMME clients experience difficulties with the following legal and
compliance issues?
No Legal matters
Never Seldom Some- Often
Very
times
frequently
5.1 Registration of SMMEs with relevant bodies
5.2 Contracting – drawing up contracts
5.3 Contracting – understanding contracts
5.4 Labour laws
5.5 Safety legislation
5.6 Any other legal challenges your SMME clients regularly face? Please specify:
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
7. Meeting regulatory requirements
Approximately how many of your SMME clients experience difficulties with the following regulatory
requirements?
No Managing regulatory requirements
01126507510% 25% 50% 75% 100
%
6.1 COIDA (Compensation for Occupational Injuries and
Diseases Act)
6.2 UIF (Unemployment Insurance Fund)
6.3 Skills Development Levy
6.4 VAT
6.5 PAYE
6.6 None of our SMME clients are large enough/ earn enough
to meet eligibility criteria for above obligations
6.7 None of our SMME clients are aware of eligibility criteria for
above obligations
6.7 Name any other problems you find that SMME clients experience with “red tape” regulatory
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requirements:
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
8. Human resource challenges
Indicate in the Table below how often you find that your SMME clients face difficulties with managing
the following human resources (HR) issues.
No
Management of human resources
Never Seldom Some- Often
Very
times
frequently
7.1
Recruitment (finding and appointing employees)
7.2
Recruitment of employees with skills necessary
for their businesses
7.3
Finding training programmes that can enable
employees to have the necessary skills
7.4
Affording (having the funds) to train employees
to have the necessary skills
7.5
Dealing with trade unions
7.6
Poor employee discipline
7.7
Absenteeism
7.8
Pay disputes
7.9
Any other challenges your client SMMEs face with respect to managing human resources? Please
specify:
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
9. Tendering challenges
How often do your clients experience difficulties with the following aspects of tendering?
No
Tendering obstacles
Never Seldom Some- Often
Very
times
frequently
8.1
Understanding of tendering processes
8.2
Affording tender documents
8.3
Attending site visits
8.4
Calculating tender prices
8.5
Completion of tender documents
8.6
Providing
all
required
supporting
documentation
8.7
Delivering tender documents to specified
offices
8.8
Capacity and resources to undertake work
put out to tender
8.9
Any other tendering challenges? Please specify:
___________________________________________________________________________
5
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
10. Information management challenges
How often do you find that SMME clients that face challenges with respect to the following information
management issues?
No Information management
Never Seldom Some- Often
Very
times
frequently
9.1 Record keeping – filing systems and access to
records
9.2 Adequate information (computer) systems
9.3 Access to information regarding support
measures available to SMMEs
9.4 Receiving assistance from other offices/
agencies created to assist SMMEs
9.5 Access to electronic/social media
9.7 Name any other common challenges that your SMME clients experience with respect to information
management.
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
11. Operational challenges
Please indicate the approximate percentage of your SMME clients that encounter operational
challenges in regard to the following:
No
Managing operations
011265075010% 25% 50% 75% 100% 10%
10.1 Managing day-to-day operations
10.2 Problem solving when things go wrong
10.3 Decision making to ensure the best options are
chosen
10.4 Setting and meeting targets
10.5 Setting and meeting time deadlines
10.6 Setting and meeting quality standards
10.7 Materials or inventory management (acquisition
and having materials available on time)
10.8 Any other challenges that your SMME clients face with respect to operations management? Please
specify:
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
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12. B-BBEE challenges
A. Approximately what percentage of your SMME clients face the following challenges with regard to
Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment?
No
B-BBEE challenges
01126507510% 25% 50% 75% 100%
11.1
Lack of awareness on the relevance of B-BBEE to their
businesses
11.2
Lack of awareness of scoring or compliance requirements
11.3
Cannot afford B-BBEE scoring by a Verification Agent
11.4
Cannot afford to comply with B-BBEE scoring criteria to
earn higher BEE Levels 1 or 2
11.5
Lack of access to B-BBEE Verification services
11.6
Lack of B-BBEE certificates and grading due to other
reasons?
11.7
Lack of letters from auditor confirming turnover and
ownership to earn automatic B-BBEE scores
11.8
Lack of understanding the Preferential Procurement Act
11.9
Difficulty ensuring that tender price does not exceed the
pricing band set by authorities (eg. max Rand per plate for
caterers)
11.10 Difficulty ensuring tender price does not exceed the 20%
or 10% allowance for higher BEE Level tenderers
11.11 Name any other B-BBEE obstacle(s) your SMME has experienced
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
B. To your knowledge, approximately what percentage of your SMME clients have ever received the
following types of B-BBEE opportunities?
Type of B-BBEE Opportunity
01126507510% 25% 50% 75% 100%
11.12 B-BBEE Preferential procurement opportunity from a
private
sector
(non-government)
company
or
organisation?
11.13 B-BBEE Enterprise Development support from a private
sector (non-government) company or organisation?
13. Technological challenges
Please indicate in the Table below the approximate percentage of your SMMEs clients that experience
challenges in regard to the following technological aspects of business.
No
Technological challenges
0112650757
13.1
13.2
13.3
13.4
13.5
10% 25%
50%
75%
100%
Lack of correct equipment
Lack of specialised knowledge or application of best
processes and procedures
Lack of suitable Software
Lack of modern machinery
Any other Technological challenges your SMME has experience? Please specify:
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
14. Infrastructural and business environment challenges
Please indicate in the Table below the approximate percentage of your SMMEs clients that experience
challenges in regard to the following other .
No
Technological challenges
01126507510% 25%
50%
75%
100%
14.1 No suitable space to operate or lack of business
premises available
14.2 Business is poorly located to attract customers/
clients
14.3 Suitable premises are available but are not
affordable
14.4 Lack of support infrastructure to operate equipment
(eg. electricity, 3-phase supply, phone landline or
internet access)
14.5 Lack of suitable or affordable transport services/
systems
14.6 Lack of roads or other transport infrastructure
14.7 Little or no local market for goods or services due to
poverty among local communities.
14.8 Lack of organised business structures lead to a lack
of business connections and an inability to benefit
from networks.
14.9 High levels of crime and theft
14.10 Any other infrastructural or business environment challenges reported by your SMME clients?
Please specify:
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
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15. General SMME support service challenges (SMME financing covered by Q. 16)
SMME support organisations and offices often have to collaborate with other stakeholders in their work.
Please indicate how serious you have found the following challenges to be in working with Non-financial
SMME support and advice services, with 0 indicating that you do not consider this a challenge, 1 if it is not
serious and 2 - 5 if more serious:
No
15.1
15.2
15.3
15.5
15.6
15.8
15.9
15.10
15.11
15.12
15.13
15.14
15.15
15.16
Challenges with support services
0
1
2
3
4
5
Non-financial support schemes available are not
suited to the needs of most SMMEs
SMMEs are unaware of support services
available to them
SMMEs have difficulty accessing offices of
support and advice services
Administrative processes for accessing support
systems are difficult for most SMME owners to
understand and comply with
SMME owners have difficulty meeting
application requirements for support services
Turnaround times for applications for SMME
support services are too long
Feedback on the success or failure of
applications is not received
Outsourced service providers (eg. consultants)
lack the capability to carry out the services they
offer
Outsourced service providers are too expensive.
As a result, few SMMEs can be assisted to utilise
them.
Lack of skilled or experienced mentoring
services
Monitoring and follow-up on supported SMMEs
is inadequate
Support institutions and their local service
centres lack the manpower and capacity to
deliver the services they offer
Sector-specific or specialised advice is difficult
to access when clients request assistance with
information.
Please list below any other serious challenges you have encountered in assisting SMMEs that
were not included above:
_____________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
9
16. Challenges with SMME financial support
Please indicate how serious you have found the following challenges to be in working with public or
private sector SMME development finance support (0 indicates that you do not consider this a challenge,
1 if it is not serious and 2 - 5 if more serious):
No
15.1
Challenges with SMME financial support services
0
1
2
3
4
5
Financial support schemes available are not suited to
the needs of the SMMEs that need the most
assistance
15.2 SMMEs are unaware of financial support services
available to them
15.3 SMMEs have difficulty accessing offices of financial
support services
15.4 Administrative processes for accessing SMME finance
schemes are difficult for most SMME owners to
understand and comply with
15.5 SMME owners have difficulty meeting application
criteria for development finance schemes
15.6 Costs of development finance are too high for most
SMMEs
15.7 Turnaround times for applications for development
finance are too long
15.8 Success rates for receiving SMME financial support are
low
15.9 Feedback on the success or failure of applications, and
the reasons for failure, are not received
15.10 Monitoring and follow-up on supported SMMEs is
inadequate
15.11 SMME Development Funding Institutions and their
local service centres lack the manpower and capacity
to deliver the services they offer
15.12 Please list below any other major challenges in regard to financial support services that you have
encountered that were not included above:
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
10
FOR RESPONDENTS EMPLOYED IN DEVELOPMENT FUNDING INSTITUTIONS
17. Challenges with SMME funding applications
Please indicate how serious you have found the following challenges to be when dealing with applications
from SMMEs (0 indicates that you do not consider this a challenge, 1 if it is not serious and 2 - 5 if more
serious):
No
15.1
15.2
15.3
15.4
15.5
15.6
15.7
15.8
15.9
Challenges with SMME financial support services
0
1
2
3
4
5
lack of collateral security
Lack of a deposit
Poor business plans
Inadequate proof of a market
Unavailability of proper financial records
lack of collateral
Lack of a deposit
Poor business plans
Please list below any other major challenges you encounter in providing financial support to
SMMEs:
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
THANK YOU FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION AND INPUT.
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