ENDEAVOR WHITE PAPER 2013
According to the recently released CEN-
SUS 2011 report, the average age of a
South African is 25; and with more than
70% of South Africa's youth population
economically inactive, the country and
its economy potentially face an unsus-
tainable future.
SAB KickStart has for the last 17 years
afforded young South Africans a plat-
form to start and grow sustainable busi-
nesses. The programme, which provides
outcomes-based business training, men-
torship and grant funding to carefully
selected young entrepreneurs, is today
a shining example of the role the private
sector should play in creating high-
impact and sustainable entrepreneurs to
address job creation.
The discussion further highlighted that
while funding is crucial for a business to
grow, a more important requirement in
most cases was mentorship. With good
mentoring, entrepreneurs are more
likely to solve the problems of funding
or growing their businesses on their
own terms. In essence, the panel said,
entrepreneurs need different mentors
for the different phases of their busi-
nesses. That is why a network of highly
committed and experienced mentors,
such as the one deployed by Endeavor, is
of crucial significance.
SAB KickStart has for
the last 17 years afforded
young South Africans a
platform to start and grow
sustainable businesses.
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