Johannesburg, 17 Nov 2015
In today's world, every aspect of our life is run by technology, and smart technology for that matter. Gone are the days where you had to do everything manually. Today, at a touch of a button only, you can basically do everything you need. Social has become a given for business marketing.
"Companies are spending a lot of money on marketing, and marketers are spending a lot on technology, but what kind of technology you buy depends on your type of business." But because social media became infused everywhere, it's easy for your marketing campaigns to get lost. What else can business do to reach people? It is for this reason that SMEX brings to life a more convenient way of marketing and growing your business.
SMEX is a social networking site for small businesses to connect, share their services, market products and trade among each other. This new platform will enable small business owners from anywhere in the world to register on the platform, enable them to market their companies and trade with other small businesses. Big businesses or corporates will also be allowed to register on the system as buyers on the platform; this will allow big business to procure from credible small businesses. Trading or sharing services among small business will be in a form of financial and non-financial transactions.
Choose technology that works for you. Some of the features that will be available on SMEX:
* Trading between small businesses;
* Opportunity sharing between businesses;
* Connecting and networking between businesses;
* Online 100% Web-based quotations system; and
* Online tendering business.
The platform is a marketing tool for entrepreneurs and small businesses to advertise their services to other small businesses. This will be in the form of a business social networking platform.
All registered companies or small businesses will post their opportunities, bid for existing opportunities from other businesses, and tender for some quotations or opportunities shared by government departments and corporates. This reduces the tedious process for SMEs to tender or respond to RFQs from government opportunities.
GlassCode understands the complications involved in downloading forms from different Web sites, printing them out, completing them and posting them back to different municipalities. With this platform, not only will you save time, but save a lot of money in printing costs, travelling costs, etc.
SMEX will have access to all the latest quotations, RFQs and tenders as they are released by National Treasury on a weekly basis.
"There are only three things businesses and entrepreneurs care about in their businesses: Does it save time? Does it save money? And does it make money? These are the primary bases on which SMEX was founded, to save and make money for businesses," said Mpho Majenge, GlassCode data solutions.
The financial and non-financial transaction that will be facilitated on the platform are as follows:
a) Financial transactions
If company A is an accounting firm and company B is an IT company: Company A is looking for a company to develop its Web site. It can search through listed and vetted company profiles, contact the listed IT companies or company B on the platform. Company A will then contact company B for its services and transact on the platform. Company B will then be notified of the request. All company transactions will be logged on the platform and a ranking system will take place.
b) Non-financial transactions
Company A is an accounting company and it would like to develop a Web site, but company B is a Web site development company and it is in need of accounting services for its finances. The platform would then allow for the two companies to exchange their services by contacting each other through the platform. Once the deal is concluded, SMEX will then record the transaction between the two companies, allocate those points and rank them on the Web site. Accounting SMEs trying to source IT services from an IT SME: The trade can be facilitated in one of two ways; the accounting provider might be in need of a Web site and the IT company might require accounting software.
c) Online tendering system for small businesses
Tenders advertised by government departments and other corporates which are specifically looking to for the development of small businesses will be available through SMEX. SMEX will have a platform to facilitate the tendering process for small procurement deals online. Different stakeholders, mainly procurement specialists, can log on, view shortlisted candidates and make recommendations. SMEX will facilitate the initial tendering process of making sure the required documents are attached, like tax documents, BEE forms, etc. All these documents will then be forwarded by means of a workflow to the relevant stakeholders. Tenders not submitted with the required documentation will be notified in time and disqualified after the closing date.
"This is an exciting time for all business owners; we are very excited to finally launch a product that will connect all business owners and entrepreneurs. As small business owners, we find it very difficult to connect, procure or trade with other businesses, and SMEX is the bridge for that gap," said Sivuyile Mndawe, CEO and Co-Founder."
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