Brainstorming Problems in Providing Services in These Three Areas

Workshop participants engaged in general brainstorming session, identifying particular problems in providing services or conducting work in each of these three main categories.

Problems identified were as follows:

1. Policy, Advocacy and Legislation
   • Police harassment of street vendors (muti sellers)
   • Poor conditions and facilities of street vendors and home-based workers
   • Legal environment tailored big business and organised labour and not conducive to small entrepreneurs
   • Security issues
   • Tension between immigrant and South African vendors
   • Gender-specific discrimination in areas like property ownership and inheritance impede women's ability to access credit.
   • In general, gender bias in legislation and women's unequal status in South African society makes it more difficult for women to succeed in enterprise
   • Concentration of entrepreneurs in limited areas (for example a saturation in retail)
   • Lack of formal employment opportunities force people not interested or suited to entrepreneurial activity into the SMME sector

2. Enterprise Development - Starting Your Business
   • Lack of entrepreneurial spirit
   • Security issues: particular groups are more vulnerable - for example informal traders are subject to exploitation, and alliances are exclusive and expensive for small traders
   • The length of time (i.e. long) needed to incubate a business
   • Over-trading
   • Lack of proper business planning
   • Lack of creativity
   • Problems sourcing funds to start businesses
   • Lack of diversity
   • Lack of communication and co-operation
   • Problems identifying and accessing markets
   • Lack of knowledge about the legal environment
   • Low levels of literacy
   • Lack of experience and skills on part of business support service providers
   • Organisations don't do the work they need to do to identify good service providers
   • Good service providers often lack capacity
   • Physical infrastructure is lacking

3. Improving Your Business

   All items identified under 'Starting Your Business' and in addition:

   • Access to markets
   • Inability to expand business because of lack of skills
   • Fears about losing control of business
   • Problems moving from worker to manager
   • Problems identifying partners
   • Gender-specific realities that govern business decisions (particularly as they relate to access to finance)

After identifying problems, workshop participants briefly reviewed possible information solution scenarios. This exercise was intended to introduce participants to the process envisaged for the working group sessions.

In addition, participants were asked to identify critical problem areas. This was not a systematic prioritization exercise but was intended rather to assist Women'sNet in focusing its information and communications strategy. The areas participants identified as critical are reflected above in bold.

Exploring the Women'sNet Women and Enterprise Resource

During the lunch break, workshop participants who had not visited the Women'sNet website specifically the section on women and enterprise, were given an opportunity to do so in the SANGONeT training room.

Developing Information and Communication Strategies

After lunch participants broke into three working and were asked to spend an hour defining what a 'perfect' women and enterprise resource should include in light of the problems identified in the general brainstorming session. Each group dealt with one category of enterprise support.

Nominated spokespersons from each group then reported back to the main group. Recommendations from each working group follow.

1. Policy, Advocacy and Legislation (PAL)

   This working group put forward a methodological approach to using information tools to change the political environment under which the SMMEs operate.

   • Approach the collection of information from both a "PAL" and constituency perspective.
     Using information tools like a databank (or database) capture information in the following areas:
     • Literature reviews and recommendations around best practices
     • Tracking policy dialogues
     • Entrepreneurial opportunities

   • Information Packaging and Management
     • Policy recommendations and proposals
     • Strategic alliances (networking for example with universities and the private sector) and frameworks
     • Course development

   • Presentation of Information (for implementers, policy developers, constituents)
     • Internet bank
     • Training
     • User-friendly booklets/pamphlets
     • Sector, size-specific and regionally based information
     • Lobbying, representation, participation
     • Mass media for example radio programmes and press releases

   • Identify Information Gaps and Misrepresentation
     • Conduct surveys in producing primary research
     • Ensure gender sensitivity in research methodologies

   • Measure Impact
     • Case Studies
     • Sites for interactivity

2. Developing Enterprise

   Suggested Approach to Information:
   Information should be readily accessible and reach grassroots communities, by for example making this information:

   • User friendly
   • Available in local languages

   What Type of Information is Needed?

   • Database of accredited training and service providers in the enterprise sector
   • Database of organisations that can 'incubate' your business
   • Database of business opportunities in South African and internationally
   • Map of entrepreneurial activity (capturing who entrepreneurs are and what they are doing)
   • Information about exhibitions and marketing opportunities
   • Mass media approach (for example community radio) to share information about access to markets
   • Information about literacy trainers including when and where training is available
   • Testing/screening methodologies to test for entrepreneurial aptitude

3. Growing Your Business

   Information Approach:
   Information in this category must address an entrepreneurs need to decide whether to improve/expand her business and how to do it.

   Need a blueprint to help entrepreneurs to make decisions about, for example:

   • Expanding in the existing market
   • Diversifying products
   • Starting a second business

   Blueprint would lay out the steps in making these decisions and take an entrepreneur through this process, detailing among other things:

   • Competition
   • Potential and demand for a particular product
   • Existing opportunities
   • Resources needed
   • Profiles, success stories and failures
   • Other opportunities which may complement your existing business
   • Steps to help entrepreneur assess whether or not s/he should e
   • Steps to help entrepreneur choose how to grow - for example to move from the street to a shop

   The blueprint should also include specific guidance on how to improve a business, with information about specific resources that could assist an entrepreneur in expanding her business. For example, information about:

   • Formal systems, for example keeping records, etc
   • Management skills training
   • Human resource training if an entrepreneur is employing more staff
   • Legal advise
   • Mentors

   In addition, an entrepreneur needs information about where to get these resources and what they cost.

   General information suggestions:

   • A model for developing a business plan
   • How to access finance
   • Women's legal and contractual rights
   • Access to women role models
   • Listing of women peer groups/support group associations
   • Database of institutions supporting enterprise where these groups are rated according to their performance in the areas of gender sensitization and affirmative action

Networking and Communication Strategies Using the Internet

The group spent a short period of time suggesting networking activities that they felt would be valuable resources for people in the enterprise sector. Discussion was not limited to Internet-based networking opportunities. Recommendations for networking forums included the following:

• Issue specific electronic forums including chat rooms and list servs. Topic areas suggested included: tourism, IT, management issues, opportunities - business, funding, tendering, etc.
• Support groups and business groups
• An 'online' problem and advice/troubleshooting service
• SMME conferences for providers, organisations and entrepreneurs
• Event and report back network
• Workshop information network

The Way Forward

Establishing a Women'sNet Women and Enterprise Reference Group

Workshop participants discussed the stakeholders who should be represented in such a body and suggested that they should constitute the foundation of such a group.

Service Providers

• Tender Advice Centre (Ntsika)
• Enterprise Development Unit at the University of the Western Cape
• Beehive
• Women's Leadership and Training Programme
• Targeted Assistance Unit (Ntsika)
• Association for the Career Advancement of Women
• Zenzele
• National Association for Women's Empowerment
• CSIR

Business and Financial institutions

• Khula
• Local Business Support Centre representative

Parastatal

• CSIR

Entrepreneurs

• Total Information Services
• Beehive

Representative Bodies

• SEWU
• Women's Leadership and Training Programme

Academic and Research Groups

• Enterprise Development Unit at the University of the Western Cape

Organisations engaged in work on policy frameworks

• Khula Enterprise Finance Ltd
• Ntsika Enterprise Promotion Agency

Organisations working to diversify business opportunities

• Women in Construction (Development Bank of Southern Africa)
• Zenzele

Workshop Evaluation

To conclude the first day and because some women were not participating in the Internet training the following day, the group informally reported how they had felt about the day.

Comments made included the following:

• That the workshop had been a valuable networking opportunity
• Many participants said that they had learned a lot from hearing about the work other organisations were engaged in, as well as the problems experienced, and that this information would help them in their work

Day Two: October 1, 1998

Eight of the thirteen workshop participants attended the second day of the workshop that was dedicated to an introductory-level Internet training.

Introduction to Training Objectives

Before starting the Internet training, workshop participants reviewed the day's training programme. Participants were encouraged to stop trainers at any point if they didn't understand a concept or needed more time to practise it. It was explained that the while all efforts would be made to cover everything on the training programme, trainers would move at the group's pace and therefore some areas detailed on the programme would not be covered. As it turned out, the only aspect of the original training programme not covered was attachments and encoding documents/files in section on Electronic Mail.

The Internet training was conducted in SANGONeT's training room - each participant worked at her/his own computer that was connected via a leased line to the Internet.

Navigating Your Computer

As participants' familiarity with computers and software varied, the first stage of the training focused on a review of computer components - the computer, monitor, keyboard, and mouse as well as the primary features on a computer's desktop. Participants, for example, practised opening programmes and moving from one active window to another. To help focus on the commands and components that would be referred to throughout the day participants labelled two handouts.

Introduction to Internet Tools

Simone Shall, SANGONeT's User Support Manager, took participants through a basic introduction to Internet, how it works and the primary Internet tools: electronic mail, the World Wide Web, Internet Relay Chat and Discussion Forums.

Jargon Sheet

In order to ensure that Internet-specific language - jargon - didn't cause undue confusion, a jargon sheet was posted in the training room and any terms not generally understood were written up with plain language definitions.

A sample of terms included in this sheet follows:

• Modem - a box attached to your computer that converts computer language to telephone language and back to computer language
• Host/Server - a computer that is permanently connected to the Internet
• Internet Service Provider - a company that provides access to the Internet
• Email address - the address of your mailbox at your Internet Service Provider
• Universal Resource Location - the address of a page on the World Wide Web

Electronic Mail

Simone Shall spent an hour with the group going through hands on exercises to demonstrate the basic functions of electronic mail. Participants practiced sending and receiving email using Pegasus mail, a free electronic mail package.

Introduction to the World Wide Web

Anna Feldman, SANGONeT's web developer, then spent a second hour with the group going through an introduction to the World Wide Web that included:

• What the World Wide Web is and how it works
• How to use a Web browser
• How to search for information on the WWW
• How to cut and paste information from a web page and save it to a text file

Critical Exploration of Enterprises Resources on the World Wide Web

After lunch, Rebecca Holmes took the group on an exercise-oriented tour of three enterprise web sites.

The following three web sites were selected because together they presented a good variety of content and use of different interactive and other features.

1. Women'sNet's (Women and Enterprise): http://womensnet.org.za/enterprise/enterprise.htm
2. Buy Afrika: http://www.buy-africa.com
3. Africa Trade & Business Bulletin: http://www.bizafrica.com

Participants were asked to conduct particular exercises at each site in order to practise skills learned earlier in the day. They were also asked to observe how the presentation of information on the website affected how quickly the information was served to them (for example - how graphics slowed down presentation).

Using Mailing Lists and Databases

Anna Feldman reviewed with the group the concept of electronic mailing lists. Workshop participants looked at an example of a mailing list that had been archived on the world wide web and then went through the process of subscribing to a Women'sNet mailing list - womensnet_news. Unfortunately technical problems prevented the group from receiving the womensnet_news welcome message.

Nhlanhla Mabaso, a member of SANGONeT's Technical team, introduced the participants to electronic databases, reviewing with the group the how a database captures information and how information can be retrieved from a database. He took the group to the SANGONeT home page (http://sn.apc.org) and then to the section "Databases at SANGONeT" where participants could explore public access databanks.

Evaluation of Internet Training

Anna Feldman conducted a brief round with the participants who had not left to catch flights, to find out how they felt about the training programme.

• All participants stated in a variety of ways that the training had been invaluable and informative
• Several people commented on that the instruction and support received from the trainers have been sensitive and constructive
• Many people said the training had filled in critical gaps in their understanding of the Internet and that they would be much more able and comfortable to use the WWW and Email
• All participants who did not have electronic mail or access to the Internet said that they would definitely look into getting 'online'

Appendices