News in Brief
Young Entrepreneurs get a start with the Global Start-up Workshop
Students from across South Africa are gearing up for the international exchange of ideas which will launch South Africa in a new entrepreneurial light globally.
The MIT Global Start-up Workshop is a student run and student organised global conference. The South African team is keen to expand the impact of the 2009 conference beyond the delegates who attend. To achieve this goal the team is looking at a "Reach Out" initiative that will allow students to participate on two levels.
Conference activities will include tourism services, marketing and public relations, logistics as well as pre and post conference tours. In addition, the team will run a campaign with various student organisations and Universities that will serve as a selection process for student delegates to participate in the conference from 25-27 March 2009.
The main focus of the "Reach Out" programme is to connect with rural communities through satellite broadcast centres around the country.
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Consumer Protection Bill causes confusion
According to Parliament's trade and industry committee, the franchising industry would be thrown into disarray by the Consumer Protection Bill that would make franchisors liable for the products and services supplied by franchisees.
The industry covers sectors of the economy from food and retail chains and restaurants to financial services providers, video outlets and real estate agents and is seen as an incubator for entrepreneurial talent.
Given the complexities of the bill and the host of unintended negative consequences, Business Unity SA urged that it be sent back to the department for further work. The bill has caused a great deal of uncertainty in the industry, which was governed by contract between franchisor and franchisee. It would make these contracts subordinate to law.
The council believed it was inappropriate for franchisees to be included in the definition of a consumer as this would make franchisors responsible for all the claims made by consumers in terms of product warranty and strict liability. It would also allow franchisees to do as they pleased without bearing the consequences.
Aspects of concern were that the bill seemed to infer that a franchisee could cancel a franchise agreement at any time on 20 days' notice, leaving the franchisor unrepresented for a long period.
The bill would also allow a franchisee to choose their own suppliers despite the fact that franchising was built on brands and often included prescribed supply networks.
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Business communications made easy with SMS messaging
In an attempt to find the best means of communication for small business owners, the trend now being offered to franchises is SMS messaging. It is proving to be the best way for owners to stay in contact as it allows them to expand their business reach and create internal operational efficiencies.
SMS messaging offers franchise operations the opportunity to send out individual or group messages in a few seconds and deliver these messages to the cellphones of a targeted list of contacts. With a bulk SMS costing less than a standard SMS, communications can be done in an affordable way.
Sending messages to one or many contact's cellphones ensures that you can keep customers, supplier, staff and business partners in the loop with relevant and up-to-date information about a business process (such as a delivery), products and services.
SMS messaging can enhance your business communications in three ways:
- it provides a specific channel for the franchisor to send notifications to the franchisee;
- it increases operational efficiencies;
- and it can be used to market products and services to customers.
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