Research organisation World Wide Worx says January will see it launch the most ambitious survey yet into competitiveness among small businesses in SA.
The SME survey will launch on 16 January and seeks to poll more than 6 000 small and medium enterprises through the Internet or by telephone. It will focus on determining the impact of IT and financial services on these companies.
"SMEs are held out by everyone to be the engine of future growth for the South African economy," says Arthur Goldstuck, MD of World Wide Worx. "But what is providing the fuel for that engine?"
The survey is being sponsored by Hewlett-Packard, Absa, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Netsurit, which will provide call centre infrastructure for the project.
The sponsors hope the survey will give them some insight into what they see as a market of growing importance.
"The SME market has been targeted as a growth area by many companies worldwide, but existing business models do not create a sustainable value-add for this sector," says Gary de Menezes, channel manager for HP SA.
"The real challenge as a financial service institution is to understand the specific needs of this market segment and provide them with relevant financial solutions," says Anesta de Jager, head: products, business banking services for Absa.
The survey will run for three months and the findings are to be released in May 2003.
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