News Category: Business

Why Email is Destroying Your Business (And How to Stop it)

WHY EMAIL IS DESTROYING YOUR BUSINESS (AND HOW TO STOP IT)

There's life and death in every email.

Bill Gates

In June 2019, Slack co-founder and CEO Stewart Butterfield declared that business email would be dead and buried within seven years. Now, six years later, email remains as strong as ever – despite the weaknesses Butterfield saw still being there. Over-reliance on email brings a variety of problems. Problems which are choking businesses and, in some cases, even killing them. Here’s how to stop your business being next.

Over the past 25 years, email has become synonymous with office life: a recent study found that the average worker sends between 9,000 and 15,000 emails a year. All of this is happening despite email being fundamentally flawed in multiple ways that choke businesses and, in some cases, even kill them off. Here are four reasons why email needs to go.        

  1. It thwarts productivity     
    The first thing most employees do in the morning is to check if they have any important emails. Undoubtedly, they do – but these are often buried among a slew of customer queries, spam emails, company newsletters, messages from business partners, employee announcements, HR updates and IT memos. According to one study, wading through these emails to find the vital pieces of information can take employees up to two-and-a-half hours every day.  The need to constantly check emails can interrupt employee thinking processes and break the vital concentration they need to keep their workflow going. This can slow down projects at every step with the hours adding up dramatically over each project’s lifetime. Worse, the need to be permanently online can mean this is happening with personal emails too.

  2. It slows down collaboration       
    For one-to-one communication, email retains a powerful role. But in groups, it’s seldom efficient. Email threads where some are always included, and others seldom lead to email dead-ends, lost information and uninformed team members. Even if you are kept in the loop, it can still be confusing. Is the version of the document in your inbox the latest one? Or has it been updated by someone else on another thread?

  3. It’s damaging staff mental health
    The two challenges above lead directly to a third, perhaps more dangerous one – an attack on employee mental health. The need to constantly be available, connected and ready-to-reply is exhausting and can lead some employees into anxiety or depression. Humans simply aren’t wired to have their attention constantly divided. No wonder email overload can lead to a notable decrease in our ability to function, with one study suggesting this to be the equivalent of a 10-point drop in IQ.

  4. It’s a threat to your safety
    The internet is full of scam artists, criminals and opportunists – all of whom are trying to find a way to steal your data and/or your cash. While antiviruses and firewalls may offer protection from many forms of attack, they can’t protect from everything. According to Seacom, 40% of cyber events that result in loss are Business Email Compromise (BEC) scams. BECs – emails designed to trick staff into giving up vital information or downloading malicious software – result in an estimated R53bn in global company losses each year.

SO WHAT CAN YOU DO?       

  • Train your staff
    Email isn’t going anywhere. All enterprises, no matter their size, need to find the budget to adequately train their staff in the correct, most efficient way to use emails to reduce the burdens on themselves and their colleagues, while also reducing the threat from BEC scams. As your accountants, we can help you to ensure there’s enough money in your training budget.

  • Implement email rules
    While some countries (most notably France) have enshrined a “right to disconnect” in their constitutions, this is not the case in South Africa. That’s why it’s important to implement company rules that allow your employees to switch off and be unavailable – not just in the evenings and on weekends, but during the workday too. You can’t expect your employees to get any work done if they feel under constant pressure to check their emails. What’s more, you need to put your money where your mouth is, by sending fewer internal emails.

  • Use shared communication spaces
    There are loads of new technologies that can help your team communicate better. Shared digital workspaces allow team members to immediately see the latest versions of documents, leave notes for the entire team, and communicate important project information without being afraid that something will get lost in the process. If you aren’t using Google Workspace, Teams, Monday, Slack (Butterfield does have skin in the game), Trello, or similar, you need to speak to your accountant about making this a priority in your budget.

  • Leverage automation tools and technology
    The creation of AI has led to new solutions that can help your employees manage their email inboxes. These tools can sift out spam, and sort emails to help staff find the information they need while also deprioritising those emails that don’t need their immediate attention.

The world is getting faster every year, and your business can no longer afford to use email for the wrong reasons. Updating the way you work will have an immediate boost on your company’s well-being and productivity. Speak to us if you need help freeing up the budget to make it happen.

Starting a New Business? Here Are the Tax Implications…

STARTING A NEW BUSINESS? HERE ARE THE TAX IMPLICATIONS.

A goal without a plan is just a wish.

Antoine De Saint-Exupery - Author of The Little Prince

Starting a new business isn’t just a challenging undertaking. It also comes with a list of tax liabilities and administrative obligations. Not to mention an impact on the business owner’s personal tax affairs.  This overview highlights not only the compelling case for prioritising tax planning when starting a business, but also the reasons why your accountant is a must-have from Day 1.

WANT TO START A BUSINESS?

SARS warns you to be aware of the tax obligations of running a business, whether it’s in the form of a legal entity or in your personal capacity.  Considering the tax implications before starting a business will result in substantial benefits down the line. These include better budgeting and cash-flow planning, cost savings, and easier administration and compliance.

Pound of flesh
Depending on the type of business entity you establish, different tax rates and rules apply. On the flip side, certain tax incentives and opportunities to reduce the administrative burden may be available.  Legal entities like private companies, close corporations (CCs) and non-profits are automatically registered with SARS for corporate income tax when they register with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC).  This is not required for a non-legal entity like a sole proprietorship or partnership. In these cases, the owner or partners are taxed in their individual capacities on their share of taxable profits. Certain tax rebates and credits apply, which can reduce overall tax liability.  Legal entities may qualify for different tax incentives and preferential rates like the turnover tax system, the small business corporation (SBC) incentive, or accelerated deprecation relief available in Urban Development Zones.          

Corporate Income Tax (CIT)
Every business (legal entity or individual) is liable for income tax. But the rates of taxation – and the rules – can vary widely.

  • For companies (including CCs) the standard corporate tax rate is 27%. In addition to filing an annual return, companies are required to submit provisional tax returns twice a year – and to make the required payments on time.
  • Turnover tax is a possible alternative for sole proprietors, partnerships, CCs and companies with a qualifying annual turnover not exceeding R1 million. This simplified annual tax, calculated on your turnover, replaces income tax, provisional tax, VAT, capital gains tax and dividends withholding tax (if the annual dividend does not exceed R200,000). This substantially reduced administrative burden is a significant benefit for small businesses. The first R335,000 of annual turnover is tax exempt – and the highest tax rate is just 3%.         
  • Qualifying companies may register as a small business corporation (SBC) for additional tax incentives, including a tax exemption for the first R95,750 of annual taxable income, and a reduced corporate tax rate up to a taxable income of R550,000.

Employee taxes
Every employer must register for pay-as-you-earn (PAYE), deduct it from remuneration paid to employees (along with Unemployment Insurance Fund contributions) and pay it over to SARS. Once annual salaries, wages and other remuneration exceed R500,000, the Skills Development Levy (SDL) also becomes payable.  As an employer, you must submit monthly returns and payments to SARS. There are also two compulsory reconciliations during the year.  Some relief is available through the Employment Tax Incentive (ETI), allowing for a reduction in PAYE for qualifying companies that employ young people.     

VAT (Value Added Tax)
VAT registration becomes compulsory if the value of invoices raised by an entity (or is expected to be raised due to a written contractual obligation) exceeds R1 million in any consecutive 12-month period.  Your business can also choose to register for VAT voluntarily. This will benefit businesses with sizeable VAT input claims.  New businesses should factor in the increased administrative requirements of VAT registration and compliance. There are also cashflow implications as your business has a VAT liability before payments on invoices are received – a significant risk if invoices are paid later than expected.         

Other taxes that may apply

  • Companies that import or export goods must be registered (and will be liable) for customs and excise taxes.      
  • A dividends tax of 20% must be withheld by the company and paid to SARS when its shareholders earn dividends.  
  • Depending on the industry and the specific business activities, further taxes such as carbon tax, sugar tax, transfer duties, and Capital Gains Tax (CGT) may be applicable.    

Tax implications for business owners
Business owners who pay themselves a salary will already be paying PAYE. If there are no additional income streams, they don’t need to register for provisional tax.  If, however, a business owner receives any other income in addition to this salary, whether from another source, or dividends or investment income from the business, registration as a provisional taxpayer may be necessary if the requirements of the provisional taxpayer definition are met.

New business owners often can’t draw a salary for some time. Personal expenses paid by the company can be allocated to a loan account, or the owner can draw down a loan. These expenses will unfortunately not be deductible for CIT purposes.

The most tax-efficient solutions for your new business

When starting a business, tax planning is critical. It adds significant value and protects you against unexpected tax liabilities.  Our team can help you determine the most tax-efficient structure for your new business – and we can ensure it remains tax-compliant. We’re passionate about saving you time, reducing costs, and contributing to the success of your new venture…

Tax Compliance in 2025: Help is at Hand

TAX COMPLIANCE IN 2025: HELP IS AT HAND

Being tax compliant and ‘paying your fair share’ is not just good for you, but also contributes to the positive growth of our country’s economy which in turn benefits all South Africans.

SARS

SARS has warned that it will intensify and deepen its existing administrative efforts to drive taxpayer compliance, deploying more data science and AI, and imposing significant legal and administrative costs on non-compliant taxpayers.  This means that in 2025, maintaining full tax compliance will be more crucial than ever. Your best shot at ensuring all the compliance requirement boxes are ticked continuously and efficiently is to rely on our friendly and professional expertise.

BEING TAX-COMPLIANT IS A LEGAL REQUIREMENT FOR ALL SOUTH AFRICANS

SARS says it will be unrelenting in driving voluntary compliance in pursuing the 2024/25 tax revenue target of R1,840.8 billion. 
To expand the tax base, detect dishonest taxpayers, deal with tax avoidance, expand debt collection, and improve service levels, SARS will: 

  • Deploy more data science and artificial intelligence (AI)
  • Broaden the tax base via third-party data sources (banks, medical schemes, fund administrators etc.
  • Use predictive modelling to ensure all taxpayers and traders are registered, filing returns and paying dues
  • Build detection capability using machine learning models and AI
  • Enforce Customs and Excise trade laws against the illicit economy
  • Focus on dispute prevention and resolution.

Importantly, SARS is ready to act against those who willfully and defiantly ignore their legal obligations by misrepresenting their true economic status.
SARS will impose significant legal and administrative costs on taxpayers and traders who deliberately fail to meet their obligations.       

What does Tax Compliance look like?

Your company needs to:

  • Be registered with SARS for all the tax types applicable to your company
  • Have either merged or declared all registered tax reference numbers on eFiling
  • Timeously submit all tax returns and other documentation requested
  • Keep all registered particulars updated
  • Pay all tax debt on time, or timeously secure a payment arrangement or suspension of payment
  • Deregister the business if it is liquidated or closed.

Remember that your tax compliance status is not static: it changes according to your continued compliance with tax requirements month after month. Also remember that SARS can impose both monetary and criminal sanctions to enforce compliance. This is a significant business risk, because the burden of proof, should a taxpayer disagree with a decision taken by SARS, lies with the taxpayer. In the event that the taxpayer fails to argue their case successfully, they may find themselves in a position where penalties are suffered even if the error was unintentional or administrative in nature.

When you comply with your tax obligations, you give your business some compelling advantages.

  • Eliminate the costs of non-compliance, like penalties, interest, and additional accounting and admin fees.
  • Avoid the risk of criminal offences, which may result in a fine, imprisonment or both. Common offences include not registering for a tax type, or simply not submitting tax returns.
  • Proof of tax compliance is considered an indicator of good company management and legal good standing.
  • Good standing tax clearance certificates are often required for tender applications, bidding processes or prequalification as a supplier. They can also be needed to receive payment, or for foreign investment allowances.
  • Compliance enables companies to gain the confidence of clients, stakeholders and investors; take advantage of business opportunities; and prevent reputational damage.

Help is at hand

Now more than ever before, professional assistance is the best way to consistently meet all the tax compliance requirements across all the relevant tax types over the tax year, and in an always-changing tax landscape.  SARS itself recommends “employing an accountant, tax practitioner, or other tax professional to complete returns, or from whom to obtain advice before completing a return with entries that are not understood or adopting a position with tax implications” to ensure you have taken “reasonable care” when it comes to your tax affairs.  We are well-versed in the requirements and deadlines of the various tax types and we’re also on top of the latest rules and processes. In a nutshell: we have the tax expertise to ensure you remain tax compliant all through 2025.

3 Things you have to do to position your business for growth in 2025

3 THINGS YOU HAVE TO DO
TO POSITION YOUR BUSINESS FOR GROWTH IN 2025

There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work and learning from failure.

Colin Powell - US Secretary of State

In a world where market conditions and consumer preferences are constantly shifting, many business advisors tell leaders to be agile and adaptable if they want their businesses to succeed. While this can be effective, it’s even better for your business to already be positioned to take advantage of any changes that may occur. Whatever the size of your business, the right planning and structure can lead to growth. Here are three proactive things you can do that will pay off in the long run.  Every business should conduct an extensive review of its business operations at least once a year. Doing a review allows you to track your company’s progress towards achieving its goals, to evaluate current strategies, practices and operations, and to determine what’s working and what isn’t. 

OF COURSE YOU PLAN FOR YOUR BUSINESS TO GROW…

… but in an environment of constant change, it can be hard to know where to place your energy. These three focus areas will help you position your business for growth, regardless of the external circumstances.

Clean up your finances
A business that’s ready for growth is one that understands its finances. How much money can you afford to spend on advertising? What investments need to be made to maintain infrastructure or hire the right staff? And can you afford to keep going if there’s a disruption in your supply lines? Businesses with tidy finances are able to answer all of these questions and more.  If you can’t answer every conceivable question about your finances, then you need to ask your accountant (that’s us) to help you get them in order. Here are a few pointers:

  • Separate business and personal finances
    Business finances that are intermingled with personal ones create confusion and make it difficult to get a clear picture of just where the business is headed.
  • Introduce bookkeeping software 
    You may not have the time to stay on top of your finances when you’re running the business – but that’s okay. Using bookkeeping software can keep you one step ahead of the game, and it will definitely save your accountant time.
  • Regularly update your financial statements
    Ask us to keep a set of financial statements up-to-date and on hand at all times. Financial statements can open doors, allowing you to get necessary funding, apply for awards or government incentive programs and/or build an accurate business strategy.

Optimise your client base
Improving company finances doesn’t have to mean introducing new products or expanding into new territories. It’s far simpler to maximise the benefit you’re getting from your current market. Do this by ensuring your sales and marketing teams are functioning at the best possible level, getting the right information to your clients, and then maximising the impact they have on those clients.  Focus on building genuine relationships with your customers by engaging with them and their needs, providing top-level service and offering value beyond the sale. If you truly care for your customers they will care for you, and you will find yourself at the front of the queue when it comes to new market information and advice on how your product could be improved. Your sales team should also be encouraged to follow up with potential new clients to ensure opportunities aren’t being missed.

Analyse your existing offering
Growth can also be generated by making sure you’re offering the products your clients need at the right price. It’s no good pouring money into a product that’s not right, or which isn’t as good as its competitors. The first step to finding out if you’re on the right track is to ask yourself the question, “If we stopped operating today, would anyone miss us?” If the answer isn’t a resounding yes, then you need to immediately investigate what changes need to be made.  Do you need to bring on new products to fill the missing gaps in your offering? Is there an essential thing that your product could be doing better? If you aren’t continually striving to deliver the best product in the perfect price range, then you’re probably falling behind.

The bottom line
A company is like the human body. It needs to be perfectly optimised to run at its best level. Making the changes to improve your business health today will pay off in the long run. If you need any help with the financial side of things, please speak to us.

Five Signs It’s Time for a Rebrand

FIVE SIGNS IT'S TIME FOR A REBRAND

Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.

- Jeff Bezos

Marketing is a tricky game with ever-changing rules. When your marketing doesn’t seem to be working and you aren’t getting the results you want, it might be time to go back to the drawing board.  If you have great products and services, but no one is buying, it could be because you are desperately in need of a rebrand. Here are our five signs you may need a refresh.

HERE ARE THE SIGNS

You have a great product or service that fills a need. You are doing your marketing. Your accountant has helped you streamline your cashflow and provided you with your financial forecasts. You are well aware of the risks and challenges, but you are still not connecting with your customers. What could possibly be going wrong? There’s a strong chance you may need a rebrand. Here are five signs that it’s time to think of a brand refresh.

If you notice one or more of these signs, it’s likely your company may need a rebrand. And before you worry about freeing up the budget to make it happen, remember that we are here to help. As your accountants, we can help you to find the funds required to shake up your brand and get yourself on the right foot again.

01

YOUR BUSINESS HAS CHANGED

Growth is generally considered a good thing, but if you have grown too much you might have left behind the little brand you once were. Merging with competitors, bringing in new products and moving into new areas to seize opportunities can all result in your brand becoming muddled. If you’ve morphed into a jumble of different products, services and merged divisions it can become hard for your customers to work out exactly what you do. Now might be the time to bring everything under one new banner – or, alternatively, to split your brand into clearly identifiable offerings.

02

YOU DON’T STAND OUT FROM THE COMPETITION

If you look up your services and see a multitude of similar companies, chances are your brand is not defined well enough. If your company looks just like the others in the same sector, then how will your customers know to choose you over anyone else? You need to show the market that you are different – and a well-articulated brand offering can do just that.

03

YOUR BUSINESS HAS SUFFERED REPUTATIONAL DAMAGE

This is a tough one for leadership to admit. Did you get off to a bad start? Did something happen that put your company in the news for the wrong reasons? Were you caught up in something unsavoury that maybe you had nothing to do with? Or were the previous owners simply incompetent? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then it’s definitely time for a brand refresh. Casting off the old image and adopting a new one is the quickest way to leave the past in the past – and it needs to happen urgently.

04

YOUR POLL RESULTS ARE CONFUSING

The best thing you can do if sales aren’t living up to expectations is to start asking people why. A simple poll that asks your clients, employees, friends and family what your company does and how it could do things better could be just what the doctor ordered. If the results are inconsistent, then you have your answer: it’s time for a rebrand. Your brand narrative needs to be strong and focused if you want your audience to recognise your value.

05

YOU HAVE HIGH EMPLOYEE TURNOVER

We live in an age where employees want to work for companies they believe in. It follows, that companies with weaker brands and undefined missions can find it hard to hang on to talent. While South Africa’s poor employment stats may mitigate this somewhat, a weak employer brand can also be identified by the way high-value candidates react to interviews. If you notice you’re struggling to get your chosen candidates to sign on the dotted line, it may mean you haven’t been able to communicate what you stand for – and they have decided to work for more attractive brands that they do understand.

Five Foolproof tips for Onboarding Remote Employees

FIVE FOOLPROOF TIPS FOR ONBOARDING REMOTE EMPLOYEES

Employee orientation centres around and exists to help the individual employee, but it is the company that ultimately reaps the benefits of this practice.

- Michael Watkins, author of “The First 90 Days”

Getting a new employee comfortable with company systems, values and dynamics can be a difficult ask at the best of times. And it’s even harder if you’ve got to do it all via video call.  Of course, remote onboarding has its challenges. But this doesn’t mean it can’t be done well. Here are five simple tips for ensuring your remote employee is brought into the company effectively and efficiently.

HERE ARE OUR TIPS

Onboarding a new employee is always a delicate task. And it’s a whole lot trickier (and arguably more important) if your new hire is going to be working remotely. Here are our tips for getting your new remote employee – let’s call her Sharon – up-and-running with minimal fuss.

01

PLAN AHEAD

By the time Sharon’s first day at the company dawns, you should already have sent her a package containing everything she needs to do her job. This package might include a laptop, cell phone, webcam and headphones – all set up and ready to use with your chosen software. It’s also a nice idea to include a personalised welcome letter, a small gift like a coffee mug, and an employee handbook containing useful contacts and company procedures.

02

GO DIGITAL

It goes without saying that all your onboarding material now needs to be digital – both for you to use during online meetings and to send to Sharon for her own reference. If you have the resources, consider making each learning section into a small video, which you can put online (it doesn’t have to be Hollywood standard).

As your accountants, we can provide you with the information you need to create a digital FAQ on all matters regarding payment, taxes, bonuses and raises. You can also create a digital checklist for employees to complete that includes items like “Set up email address” and “Fill in medical aid details”.

03

TELL THEM A THOUSAND TIMES

The key to any successful onboarding is to make sure the important information has been properly understood. Don’t be afraid of telling Sharon something twice, or even ten times if that’s what it takes. If possible, assign her an experienced co-worker who can act as a buddy to answer questions in a friendly and accessible way. This is handy when she wants to know something simple and doesn’t want to bother you.

04

SHOW THEM AROUND

Make sure you schedule at least one meeting for Sharon to meet her team. Everyone should be there to introduce themselves and give Sharon a friendly virtual tour of your office or facilities. This warm, face-to-face introduction will help her feel at home.

05

ENCOURAGE ONGOING COMMUNICATION

Working remotely, it’s easy to forget there are others around you. In the first few weeks, schedule regular meetings with Sharon simply to see how she’s settling in. Ask her if she’s having any challenges and give her feedback on her progress. Addressing concerns and correcting errors early on will ensure they don’t become entrenched – but be careful not to dent Sharon’s confidence. You can also use her feedback to improve your own onboarding process.

When should your company be cautious of AI?

WHEN SHOULD YOUR COMPANY BE CAUTIOUS OF AI?

Artificial intelligence is just a new tool, one that can be used for good and for bad purposes and one that comes with new dangers and downsides as well.

- Sarah Jeong, Information and Technology Journalist

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is everywhere. Looking around, it seems just about every business in just about every sphere is trying to leverage the technology to streamline their operations, automate tasks and even interact with their clients. But even as AI becomes integrated with everything from banking to your toothbrush, many experts are warning that it still falls short in several critical areas. Here’s what you need to know to make sure you don’t leave yourself expecting too much from your little robot buddy.  Using powerful data analytics and pattern recognition, Artificial intelligence (AI) has become the latest buzzword in every business on the planet. If you looked hard enough, you could probably find an AI solution for every application a business could need (and a few no business could ever need!). Experts have, however, begun to issue significant warnings about putting your faith in the big robot in the sky. 

Here are three situations where companies should be cautious of using AI.

Don’t be fooled by the name: AI is not truly intelligent. Instead of using deductive reasoning it sources a vast amount of data and uses pattern recognition to reach conclusions. This means that AI is only as good as the data it’s given. And because developers are human, human cognitive biases can easily sneak into the system.       

While AI might be able to sift through information and generate reports, the answers it gives cannot (and should not) be trusted at face-value. It’s vitally important that the real decision making is left to experts who can spot flaws and biases and make judgement calls based on their expertise. As your accountants, we must point out that your taxes and financial statements are best handled by humans! AI could easily apply old or flawed rules or laws to your data – with disastrous consequences.

Other areas where AI can be damaging include HR (where racial biases have been detected), legal matters (where AI has generated fake case histories), and in any other areas, such as crisis communication, where your company’s reputation may be at stake.

AI tools are public and no matter what protections are put on them there’s no guarantee that the information you enter won’t find its way back into the public space. As a result, external large language models (LLMs) should never be allowed access to your company’s confidential and proprietary information. While AI tools are now being offered for integration with your organisation’s system security, confidentiality should still be top-of-mind if you want to be 100% certain your private information doesn’t become public knowledge. This is a classic case of better safe than sorry.

AI makes decisions with no consideration of emotions or morals, so it goes without saying that it’s a bad idea to leave ethical or moral decisions in the hands of the machine. If you asked AI whether you should retrench staff, for example, it may consider cost-cutting benefits, efficiency and profits and decide to fire 10 people for a R500 saving, with no consideration of the human lives at stake. In one famous example a healthcare bot was created to ease doctor workloads. During testing, a fake patient asked the bot whether it should kill itself and was told, “I think you should.” Workload eased, but at what cost?

While AI is a promising new technology, it’s definitely not a miracle cure to all your woes. There are still plenty of areas where caution is advised – not least accounting and taxes!

7 Effective Business Lessons Inspired by Madiba

7 EFFECTIVE BUSINESS LESSONS INSPIRED BY MADIBA

We can in fact change the world
and make it a better place.

- Nelson Mandela

In just a few days, on 18 July, the world will commemorate Nelson Mandela Day, dedicated to honour our Tata, Madiba, known for his great leadership skills and his ability to inspire people around the world to greater heights.  Mandela also left us with some really effective lessons that can inspire and encourage business owners and entrepreneurs in these uncertain times. In this article, we highlight 7 important business lessons inspired by Madiba’s wisdom.

Rolihlahla Mandela was born into the Madiba clan in Mvezo, Transkei, on 18 July 1918. He was given the name Nelson by a teacher on his first day at school. Affectionately known as Tata, grandfather of the Rainbow Nation, Mandela is best remembered for successfully leading South Africa’s transition from apartheid to a multiracial democracy.

Mandela is the only person honoured by the United Nations with his own international day: Nelson Mandela Day on 18 July each year. On this day people around the world honour Mandela’s contributions and humanitarian work by following the example he set. He donated half of his presidential salary and part of his Nobel prize money to help street children. And he established the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund which continues his legacy by focussing on education, HIV/AIDS and ‘peace and reconciliation’.

Nelson Mandela’s life and words of wisdom provide inspiration that can help you lead your business to greater success.

01

Everyone can rise above their circumstances and achieve success if they are dedicated to and passionate about what they do.

Passion and dedication are crucial to successful business: passion drives innovation and creativity, and dedication keeps you going when things get tough.

02

Vision without action is just a dream, action without vision just passes the time, vision with action can change the world.”

As an entrepreneur or business owner, vision is vital. But it doesn’t count for anything if you and your team don’t take action to make it a reality. 

03

The mark of great leaders is the ability to understand the context in which they are operating and act accordingly.

Today’s business context is more complex, multifaceted, and fast-changing than ever before, requiring agility in both decision making and execution.

04

After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.

Entrepreneurship and business ownership inherently entail challenge after challenge, day after day, year after year. Expect and embrace challenges, focussing on finding the opportunities they hold.            

05

The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.

We all face many kinds of fears all the time: fear of failure, disappointment, the unknown, even of success. What sets entrepreneurs and business owners apart is that they don’t allow fear to stop them – they are brave enough to try, to step out, to take the risk … despite the fear.        

06

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.

Continuously educate yourself to better manage and grow your business. Also educate and upskill your employees on an ongoing basis: offer mentorships, internships, learnerships and apprenticeships; facilitate capacity building for Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs); and sponsor schools or scholarships in the community or in your industry.  

07

Overcoming poverty is not a task of charity, it is an act of justice.

Even small businesses can make a meaningful contribution, and it makes sense to start in your immediate community. Make an authentic, long-term contribution that will have a lasting impact, by focusing your company’s contribution around your product, service or expertise, and aligning it with your vision.

Hopefully you can apply some of Mandela’s wisdom in your own business. And don’t forget to give 67 minutes of your time on 18 July.

How to implement effective leadership development in your business.

HOW TO IMPLEMENT EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT IN YOUR BUSINESS

Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.

- John F. Kennedy

With businesses increasingly becoming more diverse, more remote and more fractured, leaders need new and different skills to manage these diverse teams. Leadership training has also been shown to be crucial in retaining employees and keeping staff turnover low.  Despite this, leaders themselves largely admit they are not qualified to lead hybrid teams and most companies acknowledge their leadership development is woefully lacking. Here’s how you can implement effective leadership development at your business.

WHAT YOU SHOULD DO

The world of work is changing, rapidly. With more teams made up of diverse people from a wide variety of locations, leadership these days has become less about personal relationships and more about managing across distance and effective organisation. Leaders in this world need skills they had never considered previously, and companies need to train them.  Despite companies spending hundreds of billions of rands in leadership training globally, 63% of millennials feel their leadership were letting them down and only 27% of leaders believe they are equipped to lead hybrid teams.

Here’s what you should be thinking about when implementing leadership development in your organisation:

01

ANALYSIS AND ASSESSMENT

In order to build leadership capacity for the future, the first thing you should do is look at your organisation’s unique values, challenges, and priorities. Are you looking to increase profits, cut costs, improve employee retention or mitigate risks? Remember, your analysis needs to focus not only on what’s happening now, but on the coming changes in your industry and your goals for where you want to be in the future.

Doing this will then allow you to take a closer look at the skills of your leaders as they currently stand and determine which leadership skills are most lacking.

02

RESEARCH

The next step is choosing which leadership training organisations to partner with. There is currently no shortage of leadership development resources, speakers and organisations that offer training. The resources you work with should be vetted, relevant, and applicable to learning goals you established in the analysis phase.  In order to ensure you are getting the best possible course you should evaluate the course material and format and research the course instructors. Who is offering this course? Do they have the requisite experience?

When it comes to making a difference, instructors with a strong educational foundation and relevant qualifications will always trump the charismatic author with multiple tattoos and a matric. As your accountants, we are able to help you build a training budget, which can help prioritise training and ensure you get the most impact from your spend.

03

INVOLVE YOUR SENIORS

You and your senior leaders understand leadership in the context of the company better than most and as such should play a mentorship role in the development of future leaders. Training engagement has been shown to increase dramatically for attendees when it is their leader who is among the teachers, so don’t be afraid to engage your team as an active part of the process.

This will also help you too. By taking part you will also be aware of the course content and can more easily spot teachable moments during the day-to-day running of the company, reinforce the lessons in their mentorship sessions and better spot those who are implementing the lessons in their own personal development.

04

INFORM YOUR EMPLOYEES

position that talent for future company development. It is no good simply offering training without also informing those who are to attend of the reasons for why the training is happening.  Attendees need to understand the future company goals and recognise the skills they will need to perfect if they want to be part of the future leadership of the company. This way you’ll give them the motivation to engage with it as thoroughly as possible. Nothing inspires people quite like seeing the personal benefits.

05

IMPLEMENT THE TRAINING

Training should be simple. Whether you choose to do it all in one go, or over time fitted into a general working life, the courses need to be manageable in terms of time and effort. This means you are going to need to consider each individual attendee as well as your company’s operational needs. The easier you make it for everyone to be involved, at the lowest loss to the company, the more the return on investment will be.

06

FEEDBACK, EVALUATION AND IMPACT

Training has no benefit if the lessons of that training are not implemented. It’s important to schedule feedback sessions with attendees to repeatedly follow up on the lessons in the training. Depending on your goals you may even be able to build the training impact into the attendees’ KPIs.

Some training sessions and companies will even incorporate evaluation and feedback into their sessions so you as a leader can analyse who is performing well in the course and who needs added focus. All of this will help you to adjust future training content and goals and ultimately ensure you get the most long-term impact and leadership growth. 

Five things you need to do after the CIPC Hack

FIVE THINGS YOU NEED TO DO AFTER THE CIPC HACK

The Internet is a worldwide platform for sharing information. It is a community of common interests. No country is immune to such global challenges as cybercrime, hacking, and invasion of privacy

- Lu Wei, the head of the General Office of the Central Leading Group for Internet Security and Informatization from August 2013 to June 2016

On the 1st of March 2024, South Africa’s official regulatory body for registering companies, co-operatives, and intellectual property rights (including trademarks, patents, designs and copyrights), the CIPC, put a notice on its website about a hacking incident on Thursday, the 29th of February 2024.  Since then, additional information has come to light, which indicates this may be worse than the agency believes. Here are the five things you need to do after the CIPC hack.

On the 1st of March 2024, the CIPC admitted it had been hacked. The CIPC said in a statement that, “Our ICT technicians were alerted, due to extensive firewall and data protection systems in place at the CIPC, to a possible security compromise and as a result, certain CIPC systems were shut down immediately to mitigate any possible damage.” While they referred to the incident as “an attempt” to hack their systems they also added, “Unfortunately, certain personal information of our clients and CIPC employees was unlawfully accessed and exposed.”

A few days later MyBroadband.co.za said they had been contacted by the hackers who allegedly proved they had access to the site since 2021 and the CIPC could be understating the damage done. Whether the claims made to MyBroadband are accurate or not, the possibility this hack has leaked private information from many or all of South Africa’s registered businesses and presumably given outside access to company registrations which potentially allows the hackers to make alterations to core business areas. Together with a long-standing issue at SARS that periodically sees clients receiving an email or SMS stating, “unauthorised changes were made to your personal details on eFiling”, it is clear that South African businesses need to be aware of the risks of online attacks at key government organisations and more importantly, know what to do about them.

HERE ARE THE MAIN CONCERNS

Private information leaked
According to reports, the hackers may have gained access to the private credit card information used to make payments to the CIPC. MyBroadband quotes the alleged hackers as saying the CIPC was “processing and storing credit cards in the clear.” While most banks require access to an app as verification, the exposure of CVVs and expiry dates of cards is a risky proposition. When combined with other information stored on the site, such as the names, addresses and signatures of directors there is a real risk that company clients and contacts may be open to being scammed through fake profiles or other contacts generated by malicious third parties.

Access to Company registrations
If, as is alleged, hackers have gained unfettered access to the company registrations section and the login details for multiple clients, companies risk potential changes in their core information. Directors can be changed, addresses altered and critically, key documentation can be downloaded.  The latter is of great concern as these documents could allow a fraudster to open bank accounts in a company’s name. After that it becomes simple to contact clients saying that bank account details have changed, and even offer them the proof that they are speaking to legitimate company representatives. From there money could easily be siphoned into these phoney accounts and it may take weeks or even months to uncover.

WHAT YOU SHOULD DO

With every company vulnerable it’s critical to take a number of steps immediately to mitigate the risk and potential damage.

01

CHECK BANK ACCOUNTS AND CARDS

Monitor your bank account and card transactions even more closely than before for any signs of suspicious activity. If any unusual activity does occur, report the incident to the bank immediately and consider cancelling any bank cards that may have been exposed on the CIPC website and ordering new ones.

02

WARN YOUR CLIENTS

You may want to consider adding a warning to emails and client correspondence that asks them to treat any notices supposedly from your business of changes to bank account or personal details with caution due to the CIPC hack and SARS login leaks. The warning should carry the caveat that should they receive any bank detail change correspondence they should check with you directly before making alterations to payments.  

03

CHANGE USERNAMES AND PASSWORDS

Change all login details. Assume your current passwords have been compromised and check whether you have used them on other sites as well. Even if this is not the case, it’s wise to change all your important passwords periodically, particularly those for bank accounts or other financial institutions.

04

WARN YOUR EMPLOYEES

Alert all employees that any emails, calls or other communication from banks, insurers or fraud divisions should be treated as suspect. Instruct your employees to authenticate communications directly with those departments immediately (using contact details they know to be genuine) rather than give away any information to an unverified person. This is good practice anyway in light of surging cyberfraud generally, but the CIPC hack makes it essential.

05

REMAIN VIGILANT

We as your accountants are happy to help advise you on how to monitor the credit bureaus and banks to track any illegal accounts, which may be opened in your name and discover suspicious changes in the invoicing and payments. A client who usually pays regularly suddenly stopping is now cause for an immediate follow-up.

Don’t stop being cautious.

These sorts of hacks can often come back to haunt a company months after they happen. Assume you will need to be careful for at least a year as the hackers work their way through their haul and try to make the most of it.

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