It is sad to see the last Edition of Gauteng Business newspaper on the shelves this week. We are proud to have been one of the few avid readers of Gauteng Business. We wish Ryk van Niekerk and his team well in their future ventures.

I agree with Ryk, the small business owner today tries to save money, by employing the cheapest and easies options as result of uninformed decisions. This was clearly outline in a study by Lourens van Tonder of Lohesi in which it was reported that 70-80% of businesses in South Africa do not reach the age of 42 months, as result of unsupported business decisions.

Some of the main causes of these business failures could be found in the following statistics.

• 36.8 % of surveyed businesses did not have a business plan in place, yet on a scale of 1 to 5 (1=strongly disagree and 5 strongly agree) the business owners scored the importance of having such a plan at 4,1.
• 1.8% of business plans ended up in file 13, and only 52.6% of business plans were used to support business decisions.
• 29.8% of business plans were never revised and 38.6% of the business plans never included a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats)

It is this blatant disregard for the proper planning in business that leads to downfall and liquidation. Had these businesses taken the time to compile a proper business plan, they may have seen the pitfalls at the onset and not once they have progressed to the point of no return. The main obstacle for these small businesses is sufficient capital, or rather the lack thereof. Through proper planning and a comprehensive business plan you will be able to obtain finance for any venture, the right amount of finance.

The irony of it is...had more business owners been more diligent in seeking the information needed to ensure their business survival, we would have seen the continuation of Gauteng Business