The historic Vilakazi Street in South Africa is now eerily quiet. With the lockdown, small entrepreneurs here like Sifiso Moyo are pondering new ways to resuscitate life into the precinct.



Sifiso Moyo is the co-founder of The Box Shop in one of South Africa’s most historic tourist hubs.



The lifestyle and retail outlet he founded with his business partner, Bernard Msimango, is on Vilakazi Street, known for being the only street that has famously housed two Nobel Peace Prize winners, Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, in South Africa’s township of Soweto in Johannesburg.



Even before South Africa’s president Cyril Ramaphosa announced the national lockdown from March 27, Moyo says he had been seeing dwindling visitors to the street and The Box Shop.



South Africa had confirmed its first Covid-19 case on March 5.&nbsp;



“The street is literally on lockdown. All businesses, especially formal establishments, have ceased operations, however, businesses that will survive on Vilakazi Street post the pandemic are those that didn’t invest [much] in attracting and appealing to international tourists,” says Moyo.



The Box Shop will need to start dropping prices, he adds, to attract more locals to the outlet.



“We need to position the street as a destination that is futuristic, cutting-edge and tourism-friendly, especially to the locals. So we are strategizing, decreasing our prices, marketing ourselves aggressively to the locals and addressing ourselves as a destination of choice.”



Moyo predicts it will take four months for global tourism to return to normal, but will South Africa be one of the preferred destinations?



“We at The Box Shop and some operations on Vilakazi have positioned ourselves so well that we appeal to the locals too, but looking at the economic impact of the virus, we have less cash circulating in the market and that affects all of us. So as a precinct, we have to start thinking differently,” he says.



The Box Shop has taken the lead in integrating technology into its operations, developing an app for the upcoming Youth Day; a South African public holiday in June. The app shares the Vilakazi Street experience and allows people to book tables and make advance payments for the event.



All this, only if the coronavirus has been brought under control by then.



For the period of the lockdown, the shop is not trading, and Moyo says they too are applying for a relief fund from the government.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



“We are feeling the effects, we really need subsidy from government, otherwise there is a threat that the entire precinct might shut down and it will need to be resuscitated and re-established which will mean all the 20 years of effort that has been put in to develop the street will go down the drain,” he laments.



For now, responding to the situation using technology and some clever marketing seems to be the only way forward for most small businesses like The Box Shop.

Founders of The Box Shop Bernard Msimango and Sifiso Moyo; pic supplied

A Famous Street Falls Silent: Luring Locals Only Way After The Lockdown

It was
recently reported by ratings agency S&amp;P Global that the coronavirus
outbreak has plunged the world into a recession. On the home front, a sudden
surge in COVID-19 cases in the country resulted in the President of South
Africa imposing a 21-day country-wide lockdown, starting from Thursday, 26 March
2020. Combine this with the fact that the country also recently announced to be
in its third recession since 1994 it’s safe to say that many businesses are
beginning to feel the effects of the pandemic.



The impact of the coronavirus on small
businesses is likely to be substantial, especially for local businesses who are
already feeling the pinch, as financial and market uncertainty can easily
translate into an emotional crisis that can overwhelm our systems. However,
help is on the way as the Department of Small Business Development announced
that a Debt Relief Fund has been set up to assist small, medium and micro
enterprises impacted by COVID-19.



While this
relief is welcomed, it is still vital for leaders to step up. The
world has been through crises before, but during these significantly difficult
times, the economic impact may be as severe or possibly worse. As such, those
in leadership positions must use past crises as examples and apply what was
learnt to keep the country on course and minimise the impact of the pandemic.



Karl Westvig,
CEO at<a href="http://www.retailcapital.co.za/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"> </a><a href="http://www.retailcapital.co.za/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Retail Capital</a>, has pinpointed the visible areas that are affected
and outlined a few pointers to help small business owners weather the storm.



Liquidity



The first
victim of panic is liquidity – banks, asset managers and funders stop lending.
When they cannot calculate the potential risk, they will not lend.&nbsp; Therefore,
it is critical to shore up cash by drawing down on available facilities and
suspending any unnecessary investments. Reduce expenses and manage cash flow
daily.



Get Your Best
Team on It



When a
business is growing, we tend to shift our best people into roles linked to
growth and new initiatives. In a crisis, these people need to move into the
highest priority roles. These roles would include collecting from customers,
raising facilities or engaging key clients.



Morale and
Communication



People need
leadership. This would include authentic and regular communication about the
situation, what the business requires and how this will be achieved. You can’t
control the circumstances, but you can control the response and actions. This
will create more certainty. 



Hands-on



Events evolve
quickly and every day is critical. Leaders must be hands-on. They have to be in
touch with customers, suppliers, funders and staff. They have to collect data
on everything – the mood, the financial metrics, even customer stories. Some of
the best information is anecdotal, not just big data. 



Policies



It’s tough to
lead when you don’t understand all the underlying levers. These can change in a
crisis. What worked in a stable environment can go out of the window in an
instant. The best approach is to start again, listen to customers and then
adapt your policies within your framework.



“This is not a manual on how to handle the current crisis, but hopefully, the points mentioned above can add to what you are already doing. In simple terms, it is easy to be overwhelmed, so tackle a few things very quickly and with commitment. This will create certainty and lead to action. The alternative is paralysis,” concludes Westvig.

Businessman holds SMEs Small to Medium Enterprises.

5 Tips For SMEs To Counter The Covid-19 Crisis

In the midst of what many are calling the flexible workspace revolution, franchisees are looking towards the serviced office market for lucrative new opportunities. Projections show that three in ten buildings on every high street could offer a new franchise opportunity, with flexible working, or coworking as it’s often called, emerging as a booming industry.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><a href="https://franchise.iwgplc.com/?utm_source=Forbes_Africa&amp;utm_campaign=EN_Franchise_Brand&amp;utm_medium=Display&amp;utm_content=Article_1"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="684" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Ldn-Br-0069-1024x684.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-40993" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Ldn-Br-0069-1024x684.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Ldn-Br-0069-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Ldn-Br-0069-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Ldn-Br-0069-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Ldn-Br-0069.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a></figure>



A booming industry With businesses and individuals increasingly using flexible working spaces, the co-working industry is estimated to be growing by 24% each year. A recent study of 18,000 business leaders in 96 countries by IWG, the parent company of leading workspace providers including Regus and Spaces, revealed that the majority of business leaders (89%) believe flexible working is helping their businesses to grow and stay competitive. In addition, 80% felt that adopting co-working, and enabling their employees to work anywhere, has helped them recruit and retain top talent.



 Likewise, with a huge 50% of workers predicted to be working remotely for most of their working week, by 2022, forecasts suggest that the global mobile workforce will reach 1.87 billion people. This presents a unique opportunity for those in the franchise industry to jump on what is a rapidly growing trend.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow"> Partnering with IWG gives business owners the ability to participate in this growth story and take advantage of the huge demand for flexible, contemporary workspaces – one of the most exciting growth markets in the country.<cite> Mo Nanabhay, Franchising Director &#8211; Africa </cite></blockquote>



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



<figure class="wp-block-image"><a href="https://franchise.iwgplc.com/?utm_source=Forbes_Africa&amp;utm_campaign=EN_Franchise_Brand&amp;utm_medium=Display&amp;utm_content=Article_1"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="684" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/City-Point-029-1024x684.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-40983" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/City-Point-029-1024x684.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/City-Point-029-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/City-Point-029-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/City-Point-029-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/City-Point-029.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a></figure>



<div class="wp-block-button"><a class="wp-block-button__link has-background has-vivid-red-background-color" href="https://franchise.iwgplc.com/?utm_source=Forbes_Africa&amp;utm_campaign=EN_Franchise_Brand&amp;utm_medium=Display&amp;utm_content=Article_1">Find out how you can take advantage of the work-space revolution</a></div>



 As more people look to work flexibly, the demand for places for them to do so is growing; and as the corporate real estate market continues to grow, global real estate giant JLL estimates that up to 30% of corporate real estate could be flexible workspace by 2030. 



 The growing franchise opportunity This makes the serviced office market one of the most exciting growth markets in the world. Simply put, it is the next franchise frontier. And the industry founder, IWG, with its thirty years of experience in the, serviced office market and brands to match every requirement and style like Regus and Spaces, is now offering people a chance to get involved. In September 2018, the company announced they would be leading the UK’s first serviced office franchise partnership with franchising experts, ACCA Office Ltd. Since then, four more businesses have partnered with IWG, including Kash Office Limited, AMA Workspaces, SME Properties Limited, and Q-Boid Limited. These franchise partnerships will see sites opened across the country over the next couple of years. In Asia, the company has agreed to sell its Japanese business to Tokyo-based TKP Corporation for the whole of Japan. 



<figure class="wp-block-image"><a href="https://franchise.iwgplc.com/?utm_source=Forbes_Africa&amp;utm_campaign=EN_Franchise_Brand&amp;utm_medium=Display&amp;utm_content=Article_1"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="684" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/St-Marys-Axe-025-1024x684.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-40982" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/St-Marys-Axe-025-1024x684.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/St-Marys-Axe-025-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/St-Marys-Axe-025-600x401.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/St-Marys-Axe-025-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/St-Marys-Axe-025.jpg 1766w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a></figure>



 IWG is present in almost 3,300 locations, 120 countries and 1,100 town and cities across the world – and it’s this experience that makes IWG the ideal franchise partner for those wanting to take advantage of the booming demand for serviced offices worldwide.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow"> “Our years of experience in the industry and our well-established global network has taught us that building a quality flexible workspace offering requires trust and support. We work closely with our franchisees to ensure that they have a framework to find the right location and design, backed by the strength of our operational and marketing support and the best customer service that IWG is known for.”<cite> Mo Nanabhay, Franchising Director &#8211; Africa</cite></blockquote>



<figure class="wp-block-image"><a href="https://franchise.iwgplc.com/?utm_source=Forbes_Africa&amp;utm_campaign=EN_Franchise_Brand&amp;utm_medium=Display&amp;utm_content=Article_1"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="481" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Ldn-Br-0002-1024x481.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-40981" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Ldn-Br-0002-1024x481.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Ldn-Br-0002-300x141.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Ldn-Br-0002-600x282.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Ldn-Br-0002-768x360.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Ldn-Br-0002.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a></figure>



 To find out how you can take advantage of the workspace revolution, contact IWG’s franchise team via <a href="mailto:franchise.africa@iwgplc.com">franchise.africa@iwgplc.com</a> or visit <a href="https://franchise.iwgplc.com/?utm_source=Forbes_Africa&amp;utm_campaign=EN_Franchise_Brand&amp;utm_medium=Display&amp;utm_content=Article_1">franchise.iwgplc.com</a>.

Tag: small business

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA

A Famous Street Falls Silent: Luring Locals Only Way After The Lockdown

5 Tips For SMEs To Counter The Covid-19 Crisis

Franchise’s newest target: the flexible workspace revolution