The Business Place is a network of walk-in centres for entrepreneurs - with relevant support and information services clustered under one roof. It has emerged as a leading small, medium and micro enterprise (SMME) development service in Southern Africa.

We have a strong (but not exclusive) focus on the youth. Anyone who wants to start or grow a small business or micro enterprise is welcome.

We create an inspirational, enabling environment that stimulates creativity, innovation and opportunity in order to unleash individual potential.

The Business Place’s cluster principle

The Business Place branches are located at accessible venues, bringing together relevant, affordable services under one roof.  We bring together business, community based organisations and NGOs that serve a common target market. Each partner has the opportunity to contribute to strategy and overall philosophy.

"The location could not be better. We aim for client convenience. The Business Place makes that possible through the range of tenants located here." - Joburg Branch tenant

What can we do for YOU?

At The Business Place we help with the “how to’s” and “next steps” for anyone who wants to start, improve or expand a business.
 
We currently have nine branches – each of which is an independent and owned by a diverse range of local stakeholders with a common purpose. More branches will be opened soon. Look at the contact us and branches pages  for more information.

Among others, our branches offer numerous practical training opportunities for entrepreneurs.Information about these training programmes can be accessed via the Branches page.

Our aims

The Business Place was designed

• to make life easier for entrepreneurs and encourage entrepreneurship.
  
• stimulate local business, keep people in their communities and
  
• assist local communities to reduce dependency on the government.

Partnership and relationships are important to us:

• We engage with all interested parties with a common purpose.
• We do not duplicate, but rather facilitate, connect and build solid relationships.

We believe partnership is about more than funding: therefore we believe in pooling scarce resources and leveraging the skills and resources of our partners. Contact Us if you want to become involved.

We recognise that each client is unique, that each has his or her own learning style and that each is at a different stage of business development.

Where did the concept originate?

After research findings showed that there was little coordinated support for emerging South African entrepreneurs in the micro and informal business sectors, Investec Bank decided to establish The Business Place. While Investec’s core strategy is to build big business, it recognizes that stimulating a vibrant entrepreneurial society at all levels is crucial for economic growth in the country and the region.

The Business Place Model

The following recent statistics from a recent impact study among 247 of entrepreneurs on the database in Johannesburg alone revealed positive results illustrate the impact of The Business Place.

• Joburg Branch sees an average of 5 000 visitors a month.
• 79% felt that the Information Centre is friendly, accessible and helpful of the sample, 30 new business were started in the last year, and 103 existing businesses were assisted.
• These businesses generated 311 full-time jobs and 159 part-time jobs.

Other branches report similar successes. The minimum estimated total turnover for businesses assisted is R17 784 000.

We live our values by being people who are energetic, dedicated, open minded and flexible. The people at The Business Place are dynamic individuals who are reliable and have a high work ethic.  Mostly, we are genuinely concerned with the success of our clients.

Timeline until 2007