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Lions Den Project
Why did the Municipality embark on this Project?
The eThekwini Municipality in partnership with the City of Leeds (UK) has launched a brand new competition with a total of R250 000 in prize money. The competition is called the Lion’s Den, and is sponsored by companies based in Leeds and is targeted at emerging entrepreneurs in the eThekwini region. It will offer capital funding for the brightest business ideas most likely to succeed. The municipality as a whole has a Sister City relationship with Leeds, in executing economic development in the respective cities. The project therefore is one of the joint efforts between Leeds and eThekwini. It has been sponsored by Leeds based corporates. The Business Support Unit (BSU) is playing a lead role as this project is in the interest of SMME development and that is ultimately Business Support Unit’s mandate. What is the Project about? There are three categories to the competition. These are: a) An established small or medium sized enterprise in need of capital for a new venture. This business will need to be in operation for at least a year. Here there are two awards of R50 000 each. b) Micro businesses with a new idea, which are in need of a small amount of capital to get their scheme off the ground. Here, there are 10 awards of R10 000. Entrants to this category need to be new businesses operating for less than a year. c) A chance to win R50 000 of fresh capital in the form of an equity shareholding in your new business. The objective of the competition is to encourage sustainable entrepreneurship, innovation and competitiveness amongst entrepreneurs in the eThekwini region. The intention is to encourage SMMEs to formulate business plans that are viable, indicating that they have given considerable thought into ensuring a successful business enterprise. The project is an effort of the contribution in addressing the access to finance challenges that are faced by SMMEs. Thirteen SMMEs stand to win prizes collectively valued at R250 000. The following are the three categories at which the prizes will be awarded:
What process was followed? Applicants submitted the prescribed entry form together with a detailed, three-page business plan. Entries have been short- listed, and successful candidates will be invited to present their cases to a panel of judges who will choose the final winners. Judges will consist of officials from the City of Leeds, eThekwini Municipality and sponsors. The competition was launched last year at the 2006 SMME Fair in September. From there it was publicised through different forms of media inviting interested applicants to participate. Because the coordination of the competition is so remote between Leeds and eThekwini, there was a need to have two adjudication committees set up. There was the Durban based effort comprising of representatives from different institutions and the Leeds panel that included the sponsors themselves. The local panel consisted of individuals with reputable experience in SMME development. What were the positive effects of the project? SMMEs play a significant role in the local economy, and it is hoped that the winners will develop their enterprises, increase their income level and create more jobs. The competition will also enable the municipality to identify some shortfalls, skills and knowledge shortages in unsuccessful candidates. This information will enable the Business Support Unit to formulate relevant intervention strategies to close that loop. There is also the intention to bring on board local private sector representatives on similar projects. Leeds City Council is very supported of this exciting competition and are interested in seeing lots of budding entrepreneurs enter this competition. The sponsors are companies dedicated to small business development and they have offered a significant amount of money to the winning entrants to encourage their business efforts. In this regard, the project team are looking at getting feedback through evaluation forms from all the applicants and spectators. This in turn will enable a thorough assessment of this initiative and to plan future programmes. What were the most important lessons learned? This was a pilot and first time competition and there were some “teething problems.” Upon review it can be seen that this project generated much interest and excitement and there is certainly a need for such an initiative. The project team would like to draw in more interested potential sponsors in sharing this same vision and thus this can lead to the development of an annual event. We also learned that the publicity campaign should attempt to attract more applicants. There should be a preliminary briefing session prior to applications to educate the potential applicants to better understand the intention and requirements of the competition. Many emerging and existing businesses need massive capacity building in different aspects of the business plan components. Contact Person Winile Mntungwa mntungwaw@durban.gov.za |
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