The 2005 Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Survey was officially launched in Johannesburg yesterday. It will see 6 000 companies interviewed over the next two months.
The survey, which is sponsored by Standard Bank, M-Web Business and Microsoft, will investigate whether SA is a welcoming environment for entrepreneurs, says World Wide Worx MD Arthur Goldstuck.
"In the past three years we have gained crucial knowledge about what it is that makes SMEs tick. For instance, we know by now that IT plays a major role in keeping small businesses competitive, and we know that government efforts in this direction have had limited impact on SMEs.
"The question that now arises is whether the South African business environment in general makes it easier for small businesses to get off the ground, to grow and transform when needed," says Goldstuck, who is also the principal SME survey researcher.
The survey will also attempt to uncover the role of black economic empowerment, the importance of access to expertise, finances and resources, and IT`s role in the competitiveness of SMEs, says M-Web Business GM Andr'e Joubert.
"With government`s recent deregulation of the telecommunications market, the Internet will continue to be one of the biggest catalysts for the growth of small and medium businesses. Market forces such as a general economic upswing and bandwidth price reductions are driving more SMEs to adopt the Internet as a critical business tool."
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