As politicians, business leaders and world leaders rack their minds and try to find solutions for the growing economic problems such as youth unemployment and a general lack of entrepreneurial culture in the country, local Bramley resident Tony Smith has created a solution to the country’s entrepreneurial problems.
He has written a handbook about entrepreneurship using his decade’s worth of retail and small business development and consulting experience. The book, Entrepreneurial Development Initiative, is a practical textbook on retail and home enterprise management.
Mr Tony, as he is affectionately known, was a training and development manager for Spar South Africa. He retired nearly three years ago and not sure what he would do after his retirement, his son Roger suggested he write a book.
Tony said, “What I wanted to say is political statements made by politicians and leaders in our society is not enough, we are ignoring our youth, and all our leaders are saying we need to do something about youth unemployment and job creation but we are losing ground in our society.”
With youth unemployment sitting at 56 per cent, there is a melting pot of frustrated youth whose talents and skills are not being utilised, he added. Instead of job creation, we should focus on how the youth themselves can be employers.
Entrepreneurial Development Initiative is a simplified textbook and with many economic books seen in the light of complicated terminology, this book bridges the gap, catering for start-ups to established businesses.
The book also provides essential basics of management. Roger said it was like an A-Z combination of how to start a business,
“What we’ve found in incubation hubs and in company training, is that they just look at management but what about the middle man, the person who has the guts to start a business,” he said.
They tested the book by having a case study with about 20 Grade 9 learners at Liberty Community College in Kew. They gave one hour weekly classes for a month and during that time they taught learners the basics of how to start a retail business, how to set your pricing, the understanding of market and gross profit and the measuring and understanding of business.
Tony said the reasons people should purchase the book were those looking into starting a business or to improve their understanding of the economy. He added, “How to manage your business, to revitalise our economy, enhance job creation, upskill and train our youth and empower our people.”
Details: Contact Tony and Roger Smith on 011 786 8027/ 082 498 5563, to order your copy, email info@businessbasics.co.za
