More than 100 SMEs have so far put themselves in line to win a free listing on the JSE's AltX exchange, consulting services and business software and consulting services to the value of more than R14 million.
The Go4Growth competition is the first of its kind and the R14 million prize is also the largest of its kind yet offered in South Africa.
Derek Kudsee, director of SAP's SME business in Africa, comments: "We've learnt very quickly that there is certainly no lack of ambition among SMEs. It's very encouraging, then, that so many growth-oriented SMEs - of different shapes and sizes - are so keen to take the next leap forward.
"The fact that entries come from a broad range of industry sectors is a further very encouraging indicator of the health and ambition of South Africa's SMEs.
"As the Go4Growth competition entries close only towards the end of September, we are expecting many more SMEs to join in the drive for exponential growth," says Kudsee.
The entries have shown there is keen interest coming from well over 20 different industry sectors, including IT, engineering, transport, industrial and medical, as well as companies of all sizes ranging from one employee right through to companies with 500-plus employees.
Go4Growth is supported by four partners: leading business software provider SAP, the JSE, Exchange Sponsors (official sponsors of the AltX), and business consultancy firm SAP BusinessEdge.
Graham Perry, SAP BusinessEdge director, says there are no entry requirements that have to be met in terms of company size. "The Go4Growth initiative is aimed at growth, and the ultimate winner will be the company that shows the most commitment towards that. Another critical emphasis should be around the fact that the company should also be established with a trading history, although this is not a requirement for an AltX listing," he says.
The competition entry process is straightforward, with the entry forms easily found on the www.go4growth.co.za Web site. From there entrants will be required to complete the first part of an enterprise situation assessment.
Once this has been completed, consultants analyse the data and entrants are requested to go through to the next part of the process in which a business diagnostic survey is submitted and once again analysed.
From this point, a short list of the top 20 entrants will be compiled and then invited to attend a one-day workshop. At this workshop, the top five finalists will be selected, with the winner to be announced at a gala banquet in mid-November.
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