SP Success Stories Free State

Business Consulting Services – Voucher

Service Provider Success Stories 2010

The Business Consulting Services Voucher programme had conducted a survey with accredited Services Providers who were active on the programme.

Communication were sent to all active service providers and based on the responses received, further interviews were conducted hence the following profiles were:

SERVICE PROVIDER : BOPA LESEDI

Bopa-Lesedi first heard about the voucher programme when UYF was launching the programme in Bloemfontein in 2005 then they applied and later in the year they were approved to render business consultancy services to the voucher programme clients.

• The services they were approved for were:
• Business feasibility
• Business registration (cc)
• Business plan
• Marketing strategy and plan
• Book keeping and financial administration
• Payroll system
• Due Diligence
• Financial and accounting system
• Business improvement

Of the 9 services Bopa-Lesedi was approved for, they were more active in business plans, marketing plans, business feasibilities and cc registrations. Bopa-Lesedi has assisted approximately 1145 clients through the voucher programme.

Impact of the Voucher Programme on Bopa Lesedi

The voucher programme has had a positive impact on the growth of Bopa-Lesedi. In 2005 there were only two business consultants that were employed by the company. In 2009 as a result of demand of the voucher programme there were seven consultants employed.

Bopa-Lesedi acknowledges that the voucher programme played a bigger and positive role in the company’s cash flow as the UYF was their biggest income stream. Due to the good service that they were delivering to their clients, word of mouth from the satisfied clients helped to market their services hence the high number of clients they were servicing.

Since its participation in the voucher programme, Bopa Lesedi has assisted 1145 voucher clients. About 25% of these clients (200) have had immediate impact in their business as a result of the voucher intervention. The impact was in the form of clients accessing loans, businesses growing, increasing their market share and registering businesses.

For some clients the impact came later in the years as due to lack of experience and better understanding of the industries they were interested in, they were advised to attend courses first that would inform them of the operations and dynamics of industry or the business they are interested in. This helped the clients as they managed to come back later after they have finished the recommended courses and managed to use the product developed through the voucher programme (business plan or due diligence) to start and operate their businesses successfully.

Some cases were beyond Bopa Lesedi as despite the advice that they gave to clients, there were other external forces that led to the failure of the business or lack of growth or sustainability in the business. These were factors such as the recession, financial mismanagement by client and lack of commitment from the client.