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RS TOWNSHIP E W O P M E E M M A R G A BOX PRO MENT COCA-COLA BIZNIZ IN TURN TIDE AGAINST YOUTH UNEMPLOY BUSINESS AND HELPS
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oca-Cola Beverages South Africa (CCBSA) is helping to turn the tide against youth unemployment by giving young people between the ages of 24 and 35 living in townships the opportunity, skills and funding to set up and run their own successful container shops. The programme – Bizniz in a Box – was rolled out in 2016 as part of the company’s Youth Empowerment Programme. It involves the selection of talented young people who are then given training in marketing, sales, stock management and finance, as well as access to funding to start their container business – literally a business in a box. Participants attend an Entrepreneurial Bootcamp where they are given the basic business skills they need to manage their Bizniz in a Box. Prospective entrepreneurs complete a National Qualifications Framework (NQF) Level 2 accredited programme and demonstrate that they grasp and understand basic financial principles. They are then allocated a fully stocked container shop and operate the store for a period of two months. During this time they need to use their own initiative to promote the store within the community using direct marketing, promotions and other tools. Once the twomonth immersion process is complete, the entrepreneurs who meet predetermined performance criteria graduate and proceed to the next phase, going operational.
the store and inventory. Once the total repayment process has been completed and the entrepreneur meets the predetermined performance criteria, the store is officially handed over to them. “Bizniz in a Box works on the basis that the youth repay a portion of the capital cost of the store,” says Akona Sishuba, Enterprise Development Project Manager. “The money that is repaid is invested in future rollouts of the project, enabling more youth to be supported in their quest to become entrepreneurs.” CCBSA has also committed to exploring and developing a micro-franchise programme supporting township retail development leveraging Bizniz in a Box, as well as the Owner Driver programme, which develops logistics entrepreneurs. These will be used to collaborate with the Tshepo 1 Million township economy programme, a partnership to coordinate efforts between government and the private sector to help create opportunities for one million youth in the province.
At this stage, entrepreneurs begin the exciting task of managing their allocated store. This allows them to gain valuable micro-enterprise experience under the guidance and support of CCBSA, business development support consultants and mentors. They must then start making monthly repayments towards the start-up capital outlay of
OMS TOWNSHIP RETAIL BO
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orget a sluggish national economy. Township retail is booming as major brands invest amid stalled CBD and suburban growth. One such case in point is Mdantsane’s biggest retail node, Mdantsane City Shopping Centre, which has established itself as a hotbed of retail activity. General Manager Dean Deary says foot traffic increased by 4% this year alone and that the 36 000m2 mall had shown consistent year-on-year growth throughout its nine-year history and was now effectively fully tenanted. 20
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“Mdantsane City turned nine years old in April and I am extremely proud to see the investment and buy-in of our local community that has helped the centre reach this milestone. We have one vacancy left, which has been offered to a prospective tenant.” The success recently prompted Famous Brands to expand its investment by establishing the area’s first Wimpy restaurant, which is scheduled to open in June. The centre already boasts sister brand, Debonairs. “This new addition will add to the already-growing foot traffic and
