How To Scale Up Your Business š
Following our program with the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition. The officials of SAYTA visited the Eastern Cape Regional Office of DTIC to engage further on the opportunities available in trade and in particular for young people.
Sort Out Your Compliance
A recurring theme in the conversation with the EC regional manager of DTIC; is that primarily compliance is a big hindrance for young entrepreneurs within South Africa. This did not only limit in scaling up to participate in the global market but also meant that locally they are handicapped when it came to beneficiation. It is critical to note that compliance is an incremental journey and cannot be solved through a blanket approach. The agreed template that would clearly diagnose the level of intervention needed for young entrepreneurs was to categories them into two levels:
- Local Procurement - Entrepreneurs compliant and ready to trade within the provinces of South Africa.
- Global Procurement - This includes entrepreneurs that have the capacity to compete in the global market.

Opportunities Available for Young Entrepreneurs
We also engaged on the departments goal for young entrepreneurs and their progress so far. From this we were able to get much more clarity of the various agencies under DTIC and how everything merges together to assist in transforming the business landscape of South Africa. The office then made us aware of their flagship Export Readiness Program whereby they partner with the Eastern Cape Development Corporation; a particular observation was the lack of young people in that space which needs was addressed. We closed the meeting on a high note and further collaborations between the office and SAYTA was more that needed.
Strategic Goals of DTIC
The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition have declared to continue the strides made by the 6h administration under Minister E Patel. This includes the call to reindustrialize South Africa as to ensure economic growth in labor absorbing industries as to address the unemployment crisis in South Africa. We also fully agree with the sentiments shared by the 7th Administration Head, Minister Parks Tau as it relations to the transformation and prioritization of BEE implementation.
As SAYTA we are fully behind this posture, and we are eager to see more inclusion of young people in the trade. To find more about the department's services click here.
Until next time, on Trade Sundays.