It’s time for a repayment holiday!
As part of our continued commitment to support small businesses across South Africa, we’re doing everything we can to help you end off the year on a high note while also setting up your business for growth in 2021.
Just as major bank payment holidays are coming to an end, we’d like to offer you a repayment holiday until January 2021.
When you apply for business funding with Lulalend before the end of November 2020, you will get to enjoy a repayment break and only start paying from 11 January 2021. That could be up to two months of completely free capital!
As always, our qualifying criteria stays the same to give you access to funding.
- Annual turnover of over R500k
- You’ve been in business for more than 12 months
- Your business is located in South Africa
If you qualify you’ll have access to the following:
- Access to up to R1,5 Million in funding
- Funding within 24 hours
- No early repayment penalty fees
- Fast and easy online application
Apply for business funding before 30 November and only start repaying from 11th January 2021. Enter promo code HOLIDAY when applying to qualify.
What’s more is that during the repayment holiday, you can rest assured that no interest, monthly charges, or any other fees will be accrued. Giving you extra peace of mind to focus solely on putting your business in a better position to grow and succeed in 2021.
Make the most of 2020, and put your business in a secure spot for 2021.
Offer applies to first time Lulalend advances only.
Helping SA’s SMEs Re-open For Business
Lulalend’s new countrywide SME support campaign will offer small businesses free marketing exposure, financial management tools and support to digitally transform their business as they attempt to re-open following the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.
As a growing number of small businesses begin to shift online to meet changing customer behaviour resulting from COVID-19, Lulalend, SA’s first online funder for SMEs, has launched its Open for Business campaign.
The campaign will provide:
- Marketing support: including exposure across Lulalend’s high profile digital platforms
- Digital capability assessment: free audit by Lulalend’s digital marketing experts
- Access to cash flow forecasting tools: a snapshot of an SME’s short-term financial future
- Mentorship: connect over lunch with an inspiring mentor from your industry
The free marketing support will promote SMEs on Lulalend’s blog to help increase their exposure and improve vital search engine rankings. Businesses will also be promoted across Lulalend’s social media platforms under the Open for Business banner. SMEs can list their businesses here.
The campaign comes as internet traffic has continued to rise by 15% since President Cyril Ramaphohsa announced the lockdown in March, according to Seacom, the network service provider. These increases have included hikes in video consumption and standard web browsing.
A study from Nielsen also showed 29% of people were shopping more online since the start of the outbreak.
Michael Rampjapedi, digital marketing manager at Lulalend, said SMEs featured on Lulalend’s blog will be able to grow traffic to their sites.
“The most important benefit is the visibility, especially for a new site. You’re getting free traffic to your site. And that’s immediate, cost-effective, exposure.”
Rampjapedi said there will also be long-term benefits for a business’ search engine ranking.
Linking to the Lulalend site improves a new site’s domain authority: a group of factors that influence a site’s ranking.
Meanwhile, Lulalend’s cash flow forecasting tool will allow an SME to view a monthly breakdown of it’s expected turnover and estimated expenses for the next six months.
The Open for Business campaign will also be regularly providing valuable content to help businesses operate effectively during the pandemic, such as this Back to Business guide.
The guide, which was produced in partnership with the National Small Business Chamber, covers topics including:
- Marketing your SME during COVID-19
- Increasing your cashflow
- Communicating with your team
Within Lulalend’s SME community there have been many stories of entrepreneurs adapting their businesses overnight and finding new ways of doing things to cope with the impact of COVID-19. Lulalend is offering business owners the chance to meet and learn from these inspiring individuals.
And can stay up to date on the campaign by subscribing to the Lulalend newsletter here.
This Inspiring South African Female Entrepreneur Wants to Change How Business is Done
When Yashmita Bhana was three months pregnant, she scaled Mount Kilimanjaro, raising R500 000 for charity. It’s the kind of challenge Yashmita, the founder of the Nihka Technology Group, has always moved towards.
Statistics show women make up 34% of South African entrepreneurs. And research finds these women business owners experience unique challenges.
Yashmita has been an entrepreneur for almost 20 years. Like many business owners, her journey is filled with achievements and setbacks. There is one recurring theme throughout her story, and it’s a trait she shares with many entrepreneurs: the determination to recover no matter the setback.
She studied Civil Engineering at Wits University, where she was the only woman in her class.
After obtaining her Masters in engineering, Yashmita started a company with a friend. The business was a success.
In 2007, Yashmita gave birth to her second son. She had severe postnatal depression and stepped away from the company to recover. When she returned, the business was falling apart.
“When I got back a couple of months after having the baby, all our money was gone. Millions. The business was in debt.”
But things were about to get worse.
“The very same day I found this out, my husband gets retrenched from work. There was no money to pay salaries. I sold my car to pay my people. Months passed and our savings got used up. My husband couldn’t find work. I was still too depressed. We were almost out on the street.”
Then, one day, Yashmita had a moment. She walked in the kitchen, emptied the contents of her second last tin of baked beans and started counting.
“One by one. Do you know that there’s approximately 350 beans in a tin of baked beans?”
That moment triggered a change in her mindset.
“We don’t only have one bean, we have 350 beans to eat. And my world changed. I started to think about abundance. And because I started feeling and talking about abundance, I started opening up opportunities for myself.
“It all came down to a choice, a decision. A decision to change my thoughts from lack to abundance. You know you don’t change when you fall down, you change when you decide to get back up. I decided.”
What keeps her going even when things are tough?
“My ability to help others. I have a real passion for education.”
She’s built libraries and computer labs in KwaZulu-Natal and the Free State. Through her work with the Michael and Susan Dell foundation, she’s partnered with the Department of Education to improve children’s learning in schools.
This desire to help saw her deciding to climb Mount Kilimanjaro.
She was going to raise R250,000 for an orphanage and R300,000 to send three learners to university. But days before leaving for Tanzania, she discovered she was almost three months pregnant with her third child.
“I couldn’t back down. I had these kids relying on me. So, I climbed and sumitted Kili pregnant, the first woman in Africa to do so. It was a choice, a decision.”
A few months later, Yashmita welcomed her baby daughter into the world.
“We were gifted an incredible being of light. My little girl, Dhiya, was diagnosed with a heart defect and has Down Syndrome. I knew she did; I made a decision not to abort. And it was the right decision. Dhiya has brought a love to our lives that can’t be described, it’s so pure. But we’ve been lucky, her heart is almost fully healed and she is developing like any other little girl.”
After two decades in business, Yashmita has this advice:
“It doesn’t matter where you are today, you can change yourself. I want you to realise that you can reinvent yourself at any point in your life.”
Her biggest source of strength is her community of fellow women entrepreneurs.
“Throughout my journey, there is one really important lesson I’ve learnt. I didn’t do it alone. I was supported by some incredible women. Women are so powerful when we stand together. We are invincible together.
“A woman that trusts her path in this world does not need to prove that the other woman’s path is wrong. You follow your path and help others follow theirs. It will only enhance your own journey. I promise you this.You don’t have to be a ruthless man to succeed in business.”
She hopes to build a “conscious business” movement.
“Business based on compassion and values and sisterhood. It works, I’ve proven it.”
And what about her legacy?
“My legacy is not the libraries or computer labs I’ve built and will be building. It’s a legacy of choice, a legacy of having the freedom to make a decision. It’s a legacy of kindness and compassion.”
Trevor Gosling, the co-founder and CEO of Lulalend, said Yashmita’s story shows the unique challenges women in business face. But, more importantly, Yashmita’s story shows the special power of women in business.
“Studies have shown that when you empower women, you create a multiplier effect. You give them what they need to succeed and they grow and they take entire communities along with them. That’s why we are proud to back women business owners like Yashmita.”
For more stories and advice about entrepreneurship and business funding in South Africa, visit Lulalend.
How SA’s Successful Female Entrepreneurs Overcome Obstacles
South African women are cracking the glass ceiling: more than 60% of the country’s SMEs have women in leadership teams.
That’s according to the Future of Business survey, a joint research effort by Facebook, the World Bank, and the OECD.
And that’s not the only indicator that women are making powerful contributions to the South African economy.
Another study found 47% of SMEs are owned by women.
These are women like Mondisa Goduka, the owner of the Kids Cooking Club. Goduka’s business offers cooking and baking classes for children. But it doesn’t stop there; The Kids Cooking Club focuses on using the activity to improve the young chefs development. By creating such a compelling service, Goduka’s business grew so fast she had to turn away business until she could move into a larger premises.
Like most entrepreneurs, Goduka spotted an opportunity when others did not, and it’s the kind of foresight that will drive South Africa’s job growth.
Trevor Gosling, CEO and co-founder of Lulalend, said 2020 is a big year for SMEs.
“South African SMEs are the engine room of our economy. We have a lot riding on their success: the National Development Plan has set ambitious targets for SMEs, forecasting that 90 percent of new jobs will be created by “small and expanding firms.”
Yet, as much as they want to make a contribution to economic growth, entrepreneurs grapple with risk and uncertainty every day. Studies into SME sustainability show businesses close mainly because they struggle to gain access to finance and become profitable.
Still, most businesses tell us they don’t believe the future is bleak, said Gosling.
“Preliminary findings from our survey show an overwhelming vote of confidence, over 80% of businesses surveyed tell us they’re positive about the year ahead.”
What else does it take to be a successful entrepreneur?
We’ve asked women entrepreneurs how they built thriving businesses:
- Tell your brand story in your marketing – it will make customers (and investors) love what you do
- Network as much as possible
- Define your values and let them drive your business
- Connect and engage with your customers; build a community around your business
- Embrace technology
- Never sell yourself short: you work hard. Be proud of what you have achieved
- Pay it forward and mentor other women entrepreneurs
For more information on how Lulalend can help you access the funding you need to grow your business visit www.lulalend.co.za