SMMEs are the present, the past. I believe the first business ever was an SMME, and the last business in operation on Judgment Day would also be an SMME. SMMEs do not have the time to spend deciphering government forms written in ancient bureaucratic language. They are instant businesses that are basically founded on hunger, WhatsApp groups, and a stern face when confronted by bye-law officers. Their storefront is a status update. Their marketing strategy? Emojis and flash sales at midnight. Their business hours are ‘whenever we feel like it.’ It’s hustle and heart, not spreadsheets and audits and overbearing managers and menacing boards. They are the economic mosquitoes –impossible to swat and everywhere. Behind every business plan (if you could call it that, as it resides in the business owner’s brain) is a WhatsApp group, a cousin who’s ‘good with graphics,’, an uncle who is a procurement officer, and a dream powered by a guarana-infused Redbull.
The human resource is a classic case of doing more with less. In fact, it is actually doing more with less. Picture this: family members double as HR, marketing, and security. So, if you are unlucky enough to have a relative who runs a small business, you could one day be called to provide some expertise in adding figures and subtracting expenses with no pay whatsoever. Your muscles could be engaged to out-harass a stubborn or violent customer. You don’t even have to have won any fight previously. I remember when my uncle had a small business, and I was the cash-in-transit officer responsible for depositing money at the bank. Back then, there were not many cash-in-transit heists, and half the hood knew I was the one doing the bank deposits. In fact, I was so poor at my job that whenever people asked where I was going, I would tell them I was going to the bank to deposit the previous day’s takings. I was part of the staff with no rewards.
