Services Overview
Tuesday, 19 January 2010 12:07 | 
Written by Administrator | 
Planning & Strategy
Our mission is to empower African small businesses for global competitiveness by strengthening their enterprise systems and enhancing their access to quality information. Through our specialized services, we help businesses leverage on accurate, credible and thorough research towards making decisions that widen the profit margin and enhance customer satisfaction.
To this end, we partner with relevant strong institutions to provide:
- Market research services and market surveys
- Business Plans and Feasibility Reports
- Industry Research
- What are the strengths and weaknesses of our business? What can we do about them?
- What threats do we face now and in the future? How can we protect ourselves against them?
- What opportunities do the current circumstances present to us? How do we seize them?
- Where do we want to be in the next 3, 5, 10 years? What is the shortest path to that destination? What hurdles do we have to scale to get there?
- What resources will we need? How do we acquire/attract those resources - human capital, finance, technology, etc?
- What is our current capital structure? Is it the best for our business? Do we need to restructure our balance sheet? If so, how do we go about it?
Learn about our specialized strategic planning support for Microfinance Institutions
Growth Finance
Many small businesses are unable to achieve their true potential due to inability to raise the capital required to fund their operations. Our experience is most business owners try to enter the finance market totally unprepared. It is no surprise then, that they are typically unsuccessful in their attempt to raise capital, even during periods when the market is awash with investment capital.
We support SMEs in their quest for necessary investment capital by helping identify and explore different debt and equity financing options. Our comprehensive approach comprises:
- Refining your business plans and strategy documents and proposals to make them attractive to investors
- Identifying your most suitable potential partners, considering both the financial and non-financial needs of your company. We prefer to work with partners who bring not just finance, but also an enterprise development agenda. This ensures that the enterprise emerges stronger and more resilient as a result of the partnership.
- Joining your team and representing your interest in negotiations with these partners
Enterprise Support
Research indicates that 95% of businesses fail within the first few years of commencement, largely due to a faulty back office. Most entrepreneurs commit a lot of time and resources towards growing the business, only to discover their ill-equipped to serve and retain the customers they have won.
We help companies build the enterprise systems they need to delight their customers, manage their performance, optimise scarce resources and manage relationships with external stakeholders.
We start by taking you through a business diagnostics process using tested and proven tools. The insight from the diagnostics process is then applied towards developing a Systems Upgrade Roadmap, suited to your unique circumstances.
Venture Vanguard has joined a network of professionals providing enterprise support services to African SMEs. It makes money available to absorb 50% of the cost of technical improvement projects.
“Technical Improvementâ€, as defined by this grant program, includes any of the following:
1. Expansion of market or customer base,
2. Expansion of business capabilities,
3. Addition or improvement of property, plant and/or equipment,
4. Expansion of product or service line,
5. Improvement of operating efficiency,
6. Implementation of better accounting practices,
7. Increase of financial management capabilities,
8. Improvement of ability to develop financial forecasts,
9. Improvement of accounting practices,
10. Company audit,
11. Feasibility study,
12. Market analysis,
13. Enhancement of existing operations,
14. Acquisition of computer hardware and/or software,
If your business is in Africa and does sales turnover of less thatn US$250 million you could qualified for assistance under this program. Click here for more information.
Click here to find about our technology and process solutions for Microfinance Institutions.
e-Commerce
A logical extension of our enterprise support services is the e-commerce module, by which we prepare your business for global competitiveness by helping you answer such questions as:
- Is the internet relevant to my business?
- Which elements of my business need to go online?
- How do I handle transactions and payments online?
- What measures can I take to mitigate internet security risks?
- How do I migrate online?
- How do I integrate my offline and online operations to achieve seamlessness?
- How do I replicate my brand online to achieve a consistent customer experience?
- How do I keep abreast and leverage new technologies and trends such as Web 2.0, Social Engine Optimization, Social Networks, etc. to engage my markets in a cost-effective way?
- What are the costs? What are the benefits?
Training
We offer training courses for aspiring entrepreneurs who wish to start their own businesses. We also run function-specific courses targeted at owners and staff of SMEs and Microfinance Institutions. Please contact us for customized in-house courses.
Last Updated (Friday, 29 January 2010 11:59)