The rush to correct the inequities of the past stalled when the connected got stuck in the trough of excess. The shift in the codes left the little guys lagging, in the interest of ownership. The little guys were slow to start.
But no longer. Now the queues of black investor companies are forming. Longer than a voting queue, and even longer than the line outside a SASSA office. It is time for small business to take advantage of black-owned investment. It is time to keep control.
My client pays R3M every year towards skills development. One would think this would give him the points he needs to do business with the big guys. (He is a biggish guy). This is a big deal. People benefit from this money he invests. He is training people.
But it does not give him enough points. Remarkable.
If he wants to do business with the big guys (who do not have as many points as he does) then he has to become black-owned.
We have worked out a way to do this, on his terms. All legal. Neither smoke nor mirrors.
And here is the thing: he will no longer have to spend R3M every year on training people. But his customers will be happier. They will fall even shorter of his boost in the arm BEE score, with no clear vision of how they will ever match him. But they will have a box ticked.
Vive laBEE!
Of course you have heard of similar stories of madness. First, we kicked the trades into touch by closing the apprenticeship programme. Then we shifted the scope of training to the private sector. Then we encouraged people to become owners of businesses without any training or experience.
The balance of power is shifting in the BEE ownership game. Next up: business owners are able to choose their own partners, in deals to their liking. And as that pendulum swings, the flood of takers for that particular bus is swelling. Soon there will be an oversupply of desirable partners. That will enable current business owners the luxury and strength to choose the best, for one thing; but on their terms as well.
What a time to be alive!