It has been driving me mental over the past 24 hours. I have been obsessing over the Budget Speech – you know you’re adulting when…
I’ve never been great at story sums but the mathematics makes so much sense to me.
How do we – as South Africans – encourage more people to start businesses. In fact, if we facilitate 1m people to start a business and each of these people only employ 10 people – that equates to 11m people placed in positions that previously didn’t exist.
1,000,000 South Africans starting new businesses that hire 10 people, each, within 5 years. How do we make this a reality? @GoodThingsGuy
— Mike Sharman (@mikesharman) February 22, 2017
I started to jot down these thoughts via tweets, which I will share below, but the recommended path, including the relevant carrot or incentive that would hook me as a business owner, is akin to one of our largest insurance brands and how it encourages its clients not to claim for small, admin-intensive items over a three year period – the Outbonus.
This is how I arrived at the Entrepreneurship Outbonus. Below is the series of tweets in a single thread:
1.Never loved story sums but this has been bugging me for more than 24 hours. How do we encourage 1m people to start businesses to employ 10
— Mike Sharman (@mikesharman) February 23, 2017
2. That is effectively 11m jobs. This cannot be achieved with government budget of R3,9bn over 3 yrs. How do us citizens inspire entreps?
— Mike Sharman (@mikesharman) February 23, 2017
3. Education and Entrepreneurship are crucial for us to reduce unemployment numbers. Accelerators and incubators aren't 'mainstream'
— Mike Sharman (@mikesharman) February 23, 2017
4. Surely there's an incentive to encourage new startups that operate for 3-5 years min, who employ 10 plus. With a Tax Outbonus of sorts?
— Mike Sharman (@mikesharman) February 23, 2017
5. Imagine you know that you can get ALL the tax you have paid over 5 years back if you have created a sustainable small business. I'm in!
— Mike Sharman (@mikesharman) February 23, 2017
6. And you cash out the 'Tax Outbonus' an additional 12 months later, so you are encouraged to have a handover period; keep the biz thriving
— Mike Sharman (@mikesharman) February 23, 2017
7. Money makes money in business & once you're hooked on the drug of entrepreneurship, you will start your next project, fuelling more jobs
— Mike Sharman (@mikesharman) February 23, 2017
Please share your thoughts and let’s continue the conversation as this is something I am really obsessed with solving.
And if any of you have any contacts in the Finance Ministry, I would love to chat to Mr Gordhan about the Entrepreneurship Outbonus.
Here’s to creating more jobs in SA, and slashing poverty, one startup at a time!
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