The reasons for the high failure rate are many and varied, not the least of which is that too much emphasis is placed on financial support and not enough emphasis is placed on coaching the owner to acquire the right philosophy, skills and knowledge to run the business.

 

Having personally experienced this fact, the founders of ESS developed a business that has had only one mission, namely

 

To make a significant contribution to business development and

employment creation in South Africa.

 In doing this provide a learning environment that supports the

personal growth and development of our clients,

our employees and our shareholders.

 

In order to achieve our mission, our Strategic Objectives are:

 

·         To coach entrepreneurs in the successful development of small and medium business.

 

·         To provide ongoing support services at affordable prices to entrepreneurs.

 

·         To improve and continually develop our training and mentorship programs to exceed the market requirements.

 

·         To develop practical strategies that allow for the creation of sustainable businesses.

 

ESS has adopted a holistic view of entrepreneurial development and as such offers a complete basket of Services within the disciplines of (i) Business Development (ii) Training (iii) Financial & Accounting Services (iv) Support Services, in order to deliver a turnkey solution to SME development.

ESS was founded from one basic, world wide fact: 

8 out of 10 small businesses fail within the first five years.

Most of the remaining 20% will fail within the next five years.

After 10 years, only 4% will survive!

 

Click here to view ESS’s Level 1 BBBEE Certificate

ESS was founded in 2002 and has progressed significantly in terms of growth, experience and understanding of the environment in which South African small businesses operate. To date, the major achievement of ESS is that it has industrialized the knowledge, methods and skills in the field of business design, business improvement and process re-engineering to the extent that it is now available to SMME’s as well. Previously this knowledge base was exclusive to larger businesses, because it was rendered by large consultancy firms, at a fee structure that was just too expensive for SMME’s. This powerful knowledge base is now available via unique methodologies to all SMME’s and they can now achieve the same sophistication in business improvement as that enjoyed by their larger counterparts, at an affordable price.

 

As with any business, success is dependent on having strategic alliances with similar organisations who have a common vision. At present our ESS is an approved service provider to the following strategic alliance partners:

 

·         Umsobomvu Youth Fund (www.uyf.org.za)

·         SEDA (www.seda.co.za)

·         KZN Land Claims Commission

·         Tourism Enterprise Program

·         Services SETAs (www.seviceseta.org.za)

Ultimately ESS is not about bricks, mortar, filing cabinets and computers – It is about people, the people who drive it, who work it and who give it its personality. ESS is a group of people who share in a passion for the process and whose collective skills have been assembled in order that the organisation can achieve its objective. As such ESS is not so much about the individuals, as it is about the team and their pooled skills and experience.

 

Key personnel include:

  

Dean Harding	C.A (S.A)	Managing Director	Durban
Wayne van der Poll	C.A (S.A)	Operations Director	Durban
Garth Voigt	C.A (S.A)	Branch Director E. Cape	Durban
Nathi Matyamza	Nat. Dip. Marketing	Training Manager	Durban
Shirlee Caffyn-Parsons	HED	BBBEE Manager	Durban
Brian Legemaate	MSc Eng	Branch Manager	Richards Bay
Wayne Robertson	A.G.(S.A)	Branch Manager	Pietermaritzburg
Pascal Lagesse	Post Grad Marketing	Branch Manager	Port Shepstone
Suzette Swanepoel	HED	Branch Manager	Newcastle
Brian Ness-Harvey	BBA, AIB	Branch Manager	Durban