On Thursday 10 October 2019, a report on the state of tobacco industry interference in tobacco control in South Africa was presented to the Minister of Health. Although South Africa was a tobacco control leader in the 1990s and early 2000s, today the country is falling behind. There have been several amendments to tobacco control legislation over the years.

However, to better protect public health, certain areas of the legislation need to be strengthened. These include, amongst others, removing the display of tobacco products at the point of sale, making all indoor public places 100% smoke-free, controlling smoking in certain outdoor areas, banning vending machines that dispense tobacco products, including graphic health warnings on packaging and regulating electronic delivery systems.

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In these harsh economic times, taking advantage of any and every opportunity in retail to tap into the social, cultural or festive events that lead up to the festive season can help achieve sales targets. In an article in Biz-Community Eben Esterhuizen, a FMCG specialist and CEO of OnShelf Pharma believes that planning for Q4 and the Christmas buying season includes having a sales calendar and planning promotions to attract shoppers – be it on-line or in-store.

Whilst we may bemoan the fact that almost every week there is a day dedicated to one thing or another, and that some are promoted simply to push sales, to retailers it is yet another way to get feet into stores, orders online and sales in the bag. Read More

The Services Sector Education and Training Authority (Services SETA) invites suitable levy-paying entities to apply for discretionary grant funding. The application window will open on 14 October 2019 at 08h00 and will close on 31 October 2019 at 16h00. This is an incredible opportunity for franchisors who pay levies to the Services SETA to benefit from leadership funding opportunities. If you are a FASA member and would like to learn more about tapping into this empowerment opportunity to grow your network using available government funding and assisting with job creation and training then contact Nico Botha on his email nico0836601458@gmail.com he can assist with the application process. Read More

The Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport: South Africa (CILTSA) will be acquiring funding for its Candidacy Programme for 30 employed women, commencing June 2020. The Candidacy Programme will enable people who are in Supply Chain, Logistics, Transport, Distribution and Warehousing to acquire an internationally recognised, professional designation ie., ‘MILT’. Successful candidates will be awarded the designation once they have completed the programme. They will then be expected to join the Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport and expected to do Continuous Professional Development (CPD) on an annual basis, in order to stay up-to-date with industry developments.

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In response to the article, Are Franchisors undermining their franchisees with unreasonable demands? that focused on the challenges that face franchisees in these trying times when their franchisors impose unreasonable expenses such as store re-vamps in accordance with their contracts, Tony Da Fonseca, MD of the OBC Group and immediate past chairman of FASA sets the record straight and shows how revamps, done the right way, can have positive results for all.

“As a franchisor who takes his role seriously, I was slightly taken aback when reading an article that appeared in a recent edition of the FASA newsletter. Flighted under the heading, “Are franchisors undermining their franchisees with unreasonable demands?” It implies that franchisors force their franchisees to incur expenditure they can ill afford.

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Congratulations to InspectaCar’s Pertunia Sibanyoni, finalist for the Positive Role Model Award, C-Suite, at Gender Mainstreaming Awards 2019.

FASA member Pertunia Sibanyoni, CEO of InspectaCar, was the 4th placed finalist in the Positive Role Model, C-Suite category, in the Gender Mainstreaming Awards 2019. Pertunia is passionate about mentorship, empowerment and women leadership. She is a trailblazer, a change maker and a force to be reckoned with.

The Gender Mainstreaming Awards, now in its 7th year, acknowledges those companies and individuals who have actively worked towards gender diversity at executive and board levels. These companies have successfully transformed their boards while ensuring that aspiring female directors are judged on their corporate governance skills and experience, and not their gender.

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When traveling around South Africa – be it in urban or rural areas – it is often said tongue-in-cheek, that South Africa’s national flower is the plastic bag. Are we really that bad and are we doing something about it? According to the latest South African recycling statistics released by Plastics/SA, the country has a dynamic and well-supported recycling industry which is improving year-on-year.

According to Anton Hanekom, Executive Director at Plastics/SA despite the struggling national economy and increased electricity tariffs to shifts in waste regulations and industry strike action, the recycling and plastics industry in 2018 (the year surveyed), great strides were made including:

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We are living in an era where Customer Experience (CX) plays a significant role in the success of a brand/business. It is now a topic of discussion in many boardrooms and CX has become a strategic measure on most business plans. FASA service providers The Franchise Firm is holding an interactive session of Customer Experience Journey mapping on Tuesday 15th October 2019 highlighting the moments of truth and the moments that matter. Find out more about the dynamic CX Mapping process that will allow your teams to view your CX journey from the Customer’s Point of View.

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Financial management naturally tends to slip down the list of priorities for business owners when the economy is booming, finance is cheap and clients are plentiful. But when the tide turns, your ability to control your finances, especially your cash flow, becomes probably the most important survival tool available to the entrepreneur. Veroshen Naidoo, area manager at Business Partners Limited, one of FASA’s members, suggests ten ways for business owners to improve their finances during a downturn:

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The 1990’s, with its transition to a new democratic dispensation, was interesting in that after years of sanctions and being cut off from the outside world, experts expected an influx of international franchises. While that tsunami never happened – besides McDonalds’s that injected another level of professionalism – the few that did, according to franchise consultant Eric Parker, ‘wanted to participate, but without paying their school fees and suffered the consequences as they could not stay the course and left broken dreams in their wake.’

Local entrepreneurs, spurred on by the wave of optimism sweeping the country, allocated cash and other resources to the development of home-grown franchise concepts from scratch. The nineties saw franchising come of age, both in quantity and quality in sectors as diverse as health and beauty, business to business, home services and education.

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