ITWeb (Johannesburg)
Cindy-Lee Minnaar
13 January 2004
Johannesburg — A state-funded project to help local IT entrepreneurs develop business skills says it has partnered with over 400 companies since its launch 18 months ago. Most of these are new IT-related companies.
The non-government organisation, Bodibeng Technology Incubator (BTI), launched in April 2002 and offers free hands-on assistance in drawing up business and marketing plans, finding financial assistance, and developing and finding a target market. Unlike the Small Business Development Corporation, this organisation does not have its own resources and is supported by state and foreign funding.
"A key part of our services is the mentoring and coaching programme," says Leon Lourens, CEO of BTI. "It is the commercialisation of the product or service. Because the new business owners don't have the business skills, we give them advice on how to manage and structure their business."
"We also assist any technology-based enterprise to become a globally competitive business," says Phindile Tshabangu, BTI's black economic empowerment manager.
All the incubator's consultants are university graduates with qualifications ranging from MBAs to the different engineering degrees available, and have 10 to 25 years' industry experience between them.
The organisation's work is not limited to start-up companies. It has also helped a number of established companies at various stages of developing their businesses. Most of the assistance is hands-on, and where BTI is unable to help, referrals are made to other organisations at little to no cost.
Brett Hamilton, BTI's ICT consultant, explains that clients are sourced either by potential clients signing up on the Web site or through node manager networking. Once the standard requirements of being either a technology-oriented or ICT company are met, the clients meet the managers and various plans are set out, depending on what their immediate needs are, or at which point the company is.
The organisation receives funding channelled through a Pretoria-based organisation called Godisa, which supports South African small and medium enterprises through funding from the Department of Trade and Industry, the Department Science, Arts and Culture, and the European Union.
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