Black Umbrellas ‘Craft Your Business’ program
- Seeking Funding
Background
The Black Umbrellas ‘Craft Your Business’ program is aimed directly at entry level business development where entrepreneurs that have established skills in a specific service or manufacturing/production oriented environment can receive capacity building in the form of support infrastructure, access to capital, ability to utilise the program platform to develop and empower themselves to meet any need or challenge that they face.
The outcome of the Black Umbrellas ‘Craft Your Business’ platform is the establishment of successful sustainable SMME businesses that can flourish on their own.
This dynamic enterprise development program platform is the result of a partnership between The Black Umbrellas, The South African Institute for Entrepreneurship (SAIE), Greater Good South Africa (GGSA) and the South African Social Investment Exchange (SASIX).
Enterprise Development
Enterprise Development in the South African context aims at assisting and accelerating the development of the operational and financial capacity of BEE small business. Thus, the primary beneficiaries of enterprise development are the small and medium enterprises owned and controlled by black people.
Enterprise Development is seen as an integral part of economic upliftment and poverty eradication and as such has been accepted as a key code in the Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment Scorecard listed as CODE 600 in the charter.
As such, corporate South Africa is being encouraged to support enterprise development programs and in return they will benefit from additional BEE points on their corporate scorecard.
Objectives of the Black Umbrellas ‘Craft Your Business’ program
The ‘Craft Your Business’ platform is delivery based, focusing directly on fledgling entrepreneurs and their development as they run and grow their businesses.
The objectives of the ‘Craft Your Business’ program are as follows:
- To create a stable infrastructure and environment for selected entrepreneurs to access and utilise, supporting their enterprise development and capacity building needs. The following broad areas will be provided for:
- Infrastructure
- Administration
- Support Services
- Capital
- Transport
- Training in the form of the introduction of nuggets of focused learning that can assist in meeting a specific business need
- To enable fledgling entrepreneurs to access capital in the form of loans against contracts, administered by the ‘Craft Your Business’ platform through Black Umbrellas. This will enable more effective access to project linked capital that can be used to grow and develop these enterprises.
- To build a diagnostic platform that enables an entrepreneur to identify where they are operating in relation to their business needs.
- To develop and utilise an appropriate nugget-based learning and resource kit that appropriately provides interventions to secure the long-term viability and sustainability of these businesses.
- To design and provide more advanced training interventions to enable entrepreneurs to gear up to be ready to perform in more demanding and bigger markets.
- To enhance skills which will enable participants to move beyond survival to an added measure of wealth and income generation.
- To enable participants to capitalise on newly identifiable entrepreneurial opportunities and business skills to grow both their own skills and businesses.
- To establish joint marketing opportunities of being a part of ‘Craft Your Business’, assuring all customers of a certain level of skill, backup and service.
- To establish and integrate mentorship through The Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Profiles
| Profile | Description |
|---|---|
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Athwood Construction company is run by Sylvester who lives in Athlone and has 12 years practical experience as a Civil Engineer. Contact Sylvester on 076 633-2786 |
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Mr. Aubrey Mofama has worked in the bricklaying, plastering, tiling, painting, carpentry, paving, plumbing and electrical field. He resides in Langa. Contact Aubrey on 076 636-3100 |
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Chester has 20 years painting experience. He has a team of six guys working for him. He lives in New Cross Roads. Contact Chester on 082 752-7501 Contact Brian Hilliad on 082 406-5781 for a reference. |
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Fetile runs Fetile Services which specialises in building, carpentry, renovations, electrical and plumbing solutions. Contact Fetile on 083 738-7295 Contact John Murray on 082 904-2809 for a reference. |
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Gladman lives in Khayelitsha. His company does tiling, paving, painting, plastering and bricklaying. Contact Gladman on 072 234-5236 Contact Gerald on 021 785-5580 or Fritz on 082 514-4884 for a reference. |
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CJ & Z Renovations and Maintenance CC is owned by John who has experience in the building, plastering, tiling and renovating fields. He lives in East Stock Road Phillipi. Contact John on 082 082-5735 Contact Mr. Prinsloo on 083 979-6740 for a reference. |
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Leslie has been working in the building supplies field for 25 years. He has his own business, Community Building Services. He lives in the Thembani Village in Khayelitsha. Contact Leslie on 082 933-0066 Contact Dileka on 072 766-3887 for a reference |
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Louis heads up Securifit in Athlone. He welds gates and burglar bars. He also attended a College in Cape Town where he studied arc and gas welding. Contact Louis Buqa on 073 775-9789 Contact Mava on 083 595-5705 for a reference |
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Sharl runs Green Forest Construction which provides a wide range of services from construction, plumbing and tiling to general trading. He lives in Kuils River. Contact Sharl on 083 632-5689 |
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Zolisa is a qualified carpenter with 18 years of experience. He also has bricklaying, carpentry, painting and alterations skills. He lives in Gugulethu. Contact Zolisa on 021 633-8011 Contact Murray & Roberts for a reference. |
| Picture not available | Orlando specializes in building construction, waterproofing, roofing, tiling, ceilings, painting and skimming. He lives in Kensington with his wife. Call Orlando on 073 258-7106 |

















