by Teboho Seretlo
A recent finfind report, in partnership with African Bank , titled “finfind South African MSME Access to finance report 2025”, the report states that accessing necessary capital has always been a tremendous obstacle for a small business looking to establish itself. I am sure this statement is true not only in the South African context, but across the world, and I am equally sure that most of you can relate with personal experiences, as you have been navigating your journey.
One of the key challenges and findings of this report is the lack of funding readiness - which is cited as one the primary challenges for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
While there are many funding schemes available – from government grants to private equity and development finance institutions – many MSMEs miss out simply because they are not funding ready. So, I thought let me go and look at what I have been doing in the past few years, assisting these MSMEs in their funding applications, and discovered that actually, this funding readiness does not require a big budget, it literally starts with the basics: compliance and documentation.
Here is a checklist that can hopefully assist you with the basics. Please note that the requirements may vary from funder to funder, but if you can get these right as a start, then that will get you going.
You do not have to wait until a funding opportunity comes up. Start today by putting your house in order. Becoming funding ready is about showing that your business is structured, stable and accountable. In a tough economy, funders want to reduce their risk – and the easiest way to do that is by backing businesses that have their paperwork in place.
Being compliant may not be glamorous, but it’s bankable.
Psst: ensure your tax compliance pin with SARS is ALWAYS compliant.
Teboho Seretlo is the managing director and founder of Seretlo Investments (Pty) Ltd, a business support services consultancy which assists micro, small and medium enterprises with business intelligence support, business plans and investor pitch decks, funding applications, business cost optimization and business improvement processes. She also ran a franchised premium dry-cleaning outlet of her own for 5 years. She holds a BSc (Hons) in Maths from University of Fort Hare, Management Development Programme (MDP) from GIBS and an International Executive Development Programme (IEDP) GIBS & Rotterdam School of Management. She has over 25 years working experience with corporates such as Nedbank, Momentum, The Coca-Cola Company, SABreweries and Unilever, where she gained experience in a variety of disciplines including B-BBEE &transformation, financial management & budgeting, project management, decision-support, business strategy & analysis as well as research. She is passionate about gender issues and does volunteer work for women empowerment organisations.
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