Part 8 of 8 · Decide and execute
Choosing Between Them, and Your First Hundred Days
Choose on three constraints in order: how long you can survive without income, what credential you can realistically obtain, and what relationship or skill you already hold. Capital comes fourth, which is unusual, and it is why Pretoria rewards patient founders more than well-funded ones.
Part 8 of 8100% through the guide
Section 8Match the business to your position
| If this describes you | Start here |
|---|---|
| Under R200,000, need income within three months | Academic editing and research support (10), technical and proposal writing (16), or language services (4) if you already hold the accreditation |
| Under R500,000 but can wait 6–12 months | Language, interpreting and transcription (4) — the best capital-to-moat ratio in this guide — or immigration advisory (8) |
| Existing diplomatic or international relationships | Diplomatic relocation (5) or state function catering (7). This network cannot be bought and is the whole barrier |
| Scientific or laboratory background, R2m+, patient | SANAS testing laboratory (13) or calibration services (14) — the longest gates and the smallest competitive fields |
| Engineering or automation skill | Industrial automation and robotics maintenance (18) or prototyping (15) |
| Manufacturing experience and R3m+ | Tier-2/3 component manufacture (17), entering through TASEZ and AIDC supplier development |
| Teaching or training background | MERSETA skills academy (20) or a private bridging college (11), depending on capital and patience |
| Access to R5m+ and development finance | Purpose-built student accommodation (9) or bonded warehousing (19) |
| Established SMME wanting institutional revenue | Public estate facilities management (2) or conference and protocol services (3) |
Section 9The four tests before you commit
Run all four
- 1The credential test. Name the exact credential, its issuing body, its published criteria and its realistic timeline. If you cannot name it precisely, you do not yet understand the business you are entering.
- 2The runway test. Calculate months of personal and business survival without revenue, then compare it to the credential timeline plus three months. If the credential outlasts your runway, either fund the gap from adjacent work or choose a different entry.
- 3The working capital test. For institutional clients, assume payment at sixty to a hundred and twenty days. Multiply your monthly cost of sales by that period. That is the cash you must have or finance before the first order, not after it.
- 4The ten-call test. Phone ten buyers inside your target institutions and ask what they currently buy, from whom, and what frustrates them. Ten calls will tell you more than any market study — and if you cannot find ten buyers to call, the market is smaller than you think.
Section 10The compliance baseline
| Requirement | Why it matters here |
|---|---|
| CIPC company registration | The entry point to everything. Sole proprietors are excluded from most institutional and OEM procurement |
| SARS tax compliance status PIN | Required for every public sector order and most institutional vendor registrations. It expires — diarise renewal |
| Central Supplier Database registration | Mandatory for supplying any organ of state; your MAAA number must appear on every invoice |
| B-BBEE affidavit or certificate | An exempt micro-enterprise affidavit is free below R10m turnover and affects scoring on almost every tender and OEM supplier assessment |
| City of Tshwane business licence and land use rights | Required for food, health and several trades. Confirm zoning and municipal account status before signing any lease |
| UIF and Compensation Fund registration | Required on first employment; the letter of good standing is a precondition of most institutional contracts |
| Sector credential | CIDB, PSIRA, SANAS, IATF 16949, DHET and CHE, SETA and QCTO, SARS customs licensing — identify yours on day one and start it immediately |
Section 11Funding routes that fit these businesses
- SEDFA — the merged sefa, Seda and CBDA entity — provides direct lending from roughly R50,000 to R15 million, business development support, and a credit guarantee scheme for viable businesses lacking collateral.
- TASEZ and the Automotive Industry Development Centre run supplier development programmes for entries 17 to 20, combining qualification support, procurement access and in several cases funding. For the automotive group this is the single best entry point.
- The dtic incentive schemes, particularly manufacturing competitiveness and black industrialist support, directly relevant to entries 15, 17 and 19.
- The Gauteng Growth and Development Agency and the Innovation Hub, which support technology and enterprise development in the province and are under-approached by early-stage founders.
- Invoice discounting and purchase order funding, the correct instruments for Group A and any business selling to government. They resolve the sixty to a hundred and twenty day payment problem without adding permanent debt, and should be arranged before the first large order rather than after it.
- Asset finance, appropriate wherever the asset secures itself — laboratory instruments, calibration standards, machine tools, vehicles and warehouse handling equipment.
Section 12The first hundred days
| Period | What you do |
|---|---|
| Days 1–15 | Run the ten-call test on your two shortlisted businesses. Identify the exact credential each requires and download its criteria. Eliminate one on evidence |
| Days 16–30 | Register the company, apply for tax compliance status, register on the CSD, obtain the B-BBEE affidavit. Begin the sector credential application the same week — it is the long pole |
| Days 31–50 | Build an eighteen-month monthly cash flow that explicitly models the accreditation period with no revenue from the accredited activity. Identify what you will trade during the gate |
| Days 51–75 | Secure the first customer commitment in writing, contingent on accreditation where necessary. Approach supplier development programmes if you are in Group E |
| Days 76–100 | Arrange funding against that commitment, including a working capital facility if you will sell to government, and only then commit to premises or equipment |
ClosingStart a business today
Pretoria’s economy is often described as sleepy, bureaucratic and overshadowed. All three descriptions are commercially useful rather than insulting. Bureaucratic means procurement is formal, budgeted and repeatable. Overshadowed means the competition that would exist in Johannesburg has gone to Johannesburg. Sleepy means the gates that deter impatient founders have deterred most of them.
What remains is a city where a credential is worth more than capital, where six institutional buyers with statutory budgets cannot leave, and where the field of competitors thins by roughly fourteen per cent for every month you are willing to spend qualifying. That favours a specific kind of person: patient, methodical, willing to read a criteria document and follow it for a year.
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