Starting a business is a dream come true for many entrepreneurs. It’s a chance to share your passion with the world, create unique products or services, and make a living doing what you love. However, the road to success is never easy. Challenges are inevitable, and they can be daunting. The question is always – what is the challenges that small businesses face. So, whether you’re a new entrepreneur or a small business owner, read on and let us know your thoughts and what your challenges are.

Challenges we identified through our journey

  • Limited access to cash for financial growth
  • There are a number of marketing challenges that small businesses face. For one, you may not have the same resources as larger businesses. You may also have a limited budget, which can make it difficult to experiment with different marketing tactics. Additionally, you may not have the time to devote to marketing that larger businesses do. You have to test different marketing channels and techniques to know which one will work effectively for your business. And you have to keep up to date with the latest marketing trends!
  • Balancing Quality and Growth
  • You don’t always make/do what you want. We quickly learned that the business is all about the customer and not about our own preferences.
  • 1 -3 year Business Plans/Goal planning becomes extremely difficult. So many influences that can suddenly change your direction – COVID, Loadshedding, inflation, strikes, etc
  • There is no fool proof plan. You have to learn as you go ahead.
  • In today’s business world, there are a number of challenges that small businesses face when it comes to legislation. With the ever-changing landscape of the law, it can be difficult to keep up with the latest changes and ensure that your business is in compliance. This can be a costly endeavour, as non-compliance can result in heavy fines. To make things even more complicated, different businesses are subject to different laws and regulations. This can make it difficult to know which laws apply to your business and how to comply with them.
  • To add to legislation is the usually health department compliance with all the regulations that are in place for food products. These can be costly and time-consuming to comply with, and can often be a barrier to entry for small businesses. Despite these challenges, small businesses play an important role in the food industry. They provide variety and competition, and often offer unique and innovative products.
  • Competition. This is an area that is extremely difficult in South Africa. We all agree – competition is good for growth.  But small businesses face the challenge of competing against larger businesses that can often offer lower prices and prefer to import cheap products.
  • Finding Customers. How do I stand out in the market? Where do I find customers/partners that have the same passion?
  • Cashflow!