Deadline: 15-Jun-23
Are you a craft + design entrepreneur ready to scale up in 2023? Can you benefit from bespoke training and mentorship specifically for creatives + a boost of up to R23 000 in grant funding? Yes? Then this new CDI programme is for you.
The CDI has opened a new call for applications for its SCALE [Supporting Creatives + Accelerating Local Enterprises] project, supported by the National Treasury’s Jobs Fund.
The programme in its first round of applications saw a high percentage of women and youth (entrepreneurs under 35) apply and the CDI is calling on more women and youth nationally to get support in this new intake of 100.
The project aims to provide growth-oriented informal enterprises looking to grow their revenue, increase their personal income or employ new staff, with grant support, access to markets, training, and mentorship.
Funding Information
- Support offered through this project covers the most cited main areas of need identified by individual business owners in this segment: access to markets, finance, and capacity development.
- This second cohort of 100 selected entrepreneurs will start on the programme in July 2023.
- A Business Assessment may be done with each successful applicant, which will assist in creating a roadmap.
- There will be 3 months of specially designed training (via online learning), the facilitation of participation in the CDI’s market platform PEEK, and the development of an intervention/action plan development for the up to R23 000 grant disbursements.
- Successful applicants will also get administrative support to the value of R5 000 and a total allocation of airtime/data to the value of R3 000.
- The final 6 months of the programme consists of mentoring, the grant disbursements and financial reporting with an additional 6 months of tracking to determine impact.
- The grant will be unlocked as the business owners achieves specific milestones and can be used for the purchase of equipment and/or other professional services.
- Successful participants will be required to report to the CDI team on a monthly basis and be willing to participate in monitoring and evaluation processes.
- The programme has been designed with an understanding that as a small owner-driven operation, you need to be hands-on in your business constantly and time is valuable. SCALE works with you, and for you to give you the best possible chance of growth.
Obligations of the Beneficiary
- The Beneficiary must:
- Intend to grow their business revenue, owner’s salary and potentially be able to create jobs.
- Be willing to complete a business assessment with a CDI staff member.
- Attend all the webinars identified to support them with the growth of their business. The minimum number of webinars that must be completed will be 10 (ten), within the (3) three months timeframe provided. Missing a webinar will mean that you will be unable to progress to the grant phase of this project.
- Must have a smartphone with at least a 2MP camera or willing to buy one for R2,000 or less from the R23,000 grant funding.
- Prepare profiles and product information and descriptions, including providing quality pictures to register on the CDI online market platform (PEEK). Should the quality of the pictures be not sufficient to be uploaded to the PEEK platform, the business will need to hire a photographer to take photos that meet the platforms requirements; this expense will come from the R23,000 grant funding. At least one product must be registered on the PEEK platform to progress to the grant phase of this project.
- Attend an Action Plan webinar, and complete and submit an Action Plan that will be reviewed and approved by the project’s Steering/Investment Committee. This plan should cover a 6- month period and should include activities that will be aimed at unlocking growth and increasing revenue. The Action Plan must consist of a list of the activities, budgets, expected targets and timelines that must be completed and met within the specified period. The CDI will provide businesses with the template to be used for the Action Plan. The Action Plan should ideally spread the use of the R23,000 grant over a six-month period. In some cases, where this might not be practical, exceptions can be made depending on the businesses needs and targets. The Action Plan must be approved by the project’s Steering/Investment Committee to progress to the grant phase of this project.
- Must be willing to develop and implement the mentioned Action Plan within 3 (three) months and meet all other qualifying criteria, before being able to access the R23,000 (twentythree thousand Rand) grant funding.
- In addition to the grant, R250 (two hundred and fifty Rand) of airtime will be provided each month for 12 (twelve) months to facilitate access to the internet to explore growth opportunities, to provide access to CDI online platforms PEEK, LEARN and the mandatory online mentoring sessions.
- Provide monthly income and expense statement for 18 (eighteen) months from the date that this contract is signed. Participants must also provide access to their bank statements and must be willing to sign up for a mobile speed point to the value of R1,000 (one thousand rands) to assist in capturing, processing, and reporting of their credit sales.
- Attend at least 8 (eight) mentorship sessions and 4 (four) group mentoring sessions. You will need to sign an attendance register for sessions attended and attend the entire session. A combination of one signed mentorship report and one monthly income and expenditure statement will unlock R5,000 as compensation for administrative support. Any late reports or missed mentoring sessions will see this amount being withheld.
- Attend at least 2 (two) eLearning modules during the mentoring period. Failure to complete these sessions would impact on the release of grant payments.
- Submit reports after attending market access opportunities. This would mainly cover the financial performance of the event.
- Must submit all required reporting documentation and take part in all evaluation activities.
Criteria for Selection
- The business will need to meet the criteria of their definition of an informal business first, namely:
- Turnover under R1m plus one or more of the following:
- Less than 10 employees, including business owner.
- Business does not have to be registered, however must at least have been in business for over a year.
- Business does not have to be registered for UIF, SARS, PAYE. However, must be aware and compliant with Department of Labour regulations such as the Basic Conditions of Employment Act should they have employees.
- Business need not have audited financial records, formal employment contracts or payroll. However, must provide and demonstrate some form of financial systems i.e. bank account statements, cash flow records and or books recording all business transactions which should be certified by an accompanying police affidavit.
- Business owner earns less than R4,000/month (National Minimum Wage).
- The informal business must have or be willing to do/acquire:
- Complete all the required business development modules.
- Register on the PEEK market platform to sell their products.
- Actively partake in the mentorship programme.
- A laptop or smartphone or willing to purchase one to complete programme requirements.
- Develop a financial system and report monthly financial statements.
- Must have a bank account or be willing to open one.
- Consent to TryFetch API or the use of Yoco speed points as evidence of turnover.
- Develop an intervention plan for the use of their grant funding and report on activities and budgets linked to timelines and agreed upon business targets.
- Preference will be given to individuals/businesses that meet the following criteria:
- Townships, informal settlements, rural, and peri-urban areas across South Africa.
- Youth, black and women-led businesses.
- Craft, design, and light manufacturing sector.
- Turnover under R1m plus one or more of the following:
For more information, visit CDI’s Scale Programme.