Surviving South Africa – Post-COVID 19 Lockdown

In this post, I am trying to explore ways of Surviving South Africa – Post-COVID 19 Lockdown. I don’t have all the answers and my idea is to try and spark some positive ideas that we can share and help our people survive and thrive.

• Where to Start
• What Am I Responsible For
• Start With Your Own
• Do Business With Your Own
• Be Proud Of Your Heritage
• Build
• Unity Is Strength
• Pride
• Start
• Some Business Ideas
• How to Start a Small Business at Home

There are thousands of Websites and YouTube videos telling us how bad it is during the COVID 19 lockdown and how bad it is going to be after the lockdown has been lifted but I have yet to find one that tells us about Surviving South Africa – Post-COVID 19 Lockdown.

We probably won’t get rich any time soon but we can surely survive and thrive. I have listed a few businesses and home industries that one could try to restart one’s economic future.

Where to Start

This is a controversial question. A question that invokes emotional responses and one that should be carefully considered. To this end, I do not believe that I should consider myself “responsible” for what I cannot control.

There are however things that I can control, things like:

• How I treat others,
• Who I associate with
• What I believe in
• Who I do Business with
• Who I decide to support
• My attitude towards work, others, life and more.

What Am I Responsible For

As with all things, one needs to prioritise things, especially your responsibilities. One needs to have a compass in life and your responsibilities should be your “True North”.

You need to Decide where things fit in and what you are going to pay attention to. Things like:

• God
• Family
• Self
• work
• community

Start With Your Own

Education

I believe that my first duty is to my immediate family. I have a responsibility to them to provide food, shelter, security, and education ( religious, cultural and life skills).

South Africa is a multicultural country and besides, White, Indian Chinese and coloured, we have the blacks who are a multitude of cultures/tribes.

As a result, I do not believe that I can rely on the education department of the country to educate my children in my culture. Wait, I’m old! My kids are already adults and most have kids of their own so it is my grandkids that I need to be concerned about!

How can someone from another culture teach my kids or grandkids my culture and beliefs? How do my descendants learn my values and beliefs from another culture? It is just not possible!

Is there an ulterior motive to tearing down our Afrikaans schools and universities, to destroying our cultures? Is there such a thing as the new world order or is it just plain communism?

It certainly makes one think, does it not? We certainly need to pay more attention to our children’s education at home. How often have we commented adversely on the youth of today, but whose fault is it that they have not been taught the correct way? Can we blame the school teachers whose hands are cut off?

If we have to comment on today’s youth, then we did not pay sufficient attention to what they were being taught as youngsters! Let’s not make the same mistake with our grandkids. I still believe in the teaching:

“spare the rod and spoil the child”

Religion

When I was a scholar, we had religious education every week. It was mandatory and everyone attended but then, schools were dedicated to a certain culture. Whites had the English and Afrikaans schools, and so each culture generally had its own schools and were taught their specific religion.

Religion has lost its place in schools generally and it is all the more important that we pay attention to it at home.

If the Creator has pride of place in our home, then we are already well on our way to winning the battle.

Look After Your Own

I wanted to say post-COVID-19 but I am not sure that there really will be a post-COVID-19 if I listen to all the “Medical Experts”. It certainly sounds like it is here with us for the foreseeable future. With this in mind, the need to look after our own now is all the more pressing.

Millions of people, worldwide, will be looking for work once the lockdown is over, and this is in an ever-shrinking job market. Those of us with jobs will be looking after more and more family members, friends and members of our communities.

Do Business With Your Own

In this age, with ever-increasing BBBEE, BEE and corruption, it is becoming more important to support and do business with your own community. It is becoming almost impossible for white-owned businesses to survive unless they “GIVE” 51% of their business to a Black person ( Mind, it needs to be a well-connected ANC Cadr, not just any Black Person) to meet the BBBEE requirements. This is so that you can do business with the State or any business that does business with the State.

We need to seek out white-owned businesses to support so that we can keep our community alive. This will enable us to have community businesses that can employ our children and keep our communities economically functional.

The State has shown, beyond any doubt, that it will not be helping any white to start a business nor will it help a white-owned business survive the COVID-19 pandemic. If we want to have any sort of future, we need to help ourselves. This means:

• Supporting white-owned businesses
• Employing whites in our businesses – even for the most menial jobs
• Crowd-funding our own to enable them to start a business. This is common practice in some communities and it works. It keeps the money in the community and helps the community prosper.

There are a number of sites advertising:

• jobs for whites
• white-owned business services
• buying directly from the farmer

and it is probably time that we truly start supporting these sites and businesses if we, as an Afrikaans/white nation wish to survive in South Africa.

Side Note: Yes, you read correctly, I have used the term Afrikaans and white, and that in one sentence. I am an unashamedly proud, White, Afrikaans male, commonly known as a Boer!

Be Proud Of Your Heritage

If we want to succeed as a people, we need to be proud of who we are. We cannot be apologetic for who we are. We never:

• murdered other nations
• stole land
• owned slaves
• incarcerated and starved our subjects or citizens as other nations did to win wars over land, cattle or gold in Southern Africa.

A nation that is ashamed of itself can never survive and we have nothing to be ashamed of.

Build, Build, Build

The Afrikaner has never sat back and felt sorry for him/herself. When we fled our original countries, we started afresh and built homes, farms, schools and businesses. we never sat back, burned, destroyed, expected or demanded. We built.

We need to do this again. We need to build our own businesses, schools, churches and communities. We need to support each other build each other up and move our people ahead.

Unity Is Strength

There is a narrative going around that we Whites/Afrikaners cannot stand together and I am astounded at how many of our people believe this and are openly repeating it. I find this hard to believe. We have fought so many wars and battles and won and yet we seem to forget that we fought them as one people. We have always fought as one and we will again.

“Hard times make strong men, strong men make good times, good times make weak men, weak men make hard times”.

Where To Now

We know we are getting nothing from the Government so don’t look to them. Look to yourself, your community and your people.

Start with yourself. Make sure you are right with your God. See to your family and your community. If you see someone needing help, help. If you need help, ask. Help does not mean that someone must do it for you but that they might help you do it. There is a difference between help and charity.

We all have a skill of some sort and we should use them. If you have a business, employ your people where you can, help others build businesses and employ our people.

Pride – The Greatest Setback

In these times, our pride can really be a problem. We might have been managers and executives before COVID-19 but now, the greatest thing we have to manage is our family’s survival, and if that means taking a menial job to put food on the table while we live in a tent, so be it. I have done that and I and my family came out the other side stronger and more resilient.

Losing everything does not mean the end, it means a new beginning.

Start Small And Grow

Starting a business or a home industry does not have to cost you a fortune. Start small and use, where possible, what you have. Earn an income with what you have and grow as the finances allow it.

There will be cases where you need finance to start but if you do not have the money, look for help or start another small business to raise the finance to start your original business plan.

Some Ideas

Online Work From Home Business Ideas

1. Online Dating Consultant – As an online dating consultant, you would get paid hourly for helping others create a profile on a dating website, source possible matches from other channels and offer a degree of personalisation that Dating Sites cannot. If you are a people person and enjoy matchmaking, this could be your niche. We need an honest, God-fearing site for God-fearing men and women. No sideline nonsense
2. Freelance Website Developer – If you enjoy the internet, developing and maintaining websites for small businesses, clubs and NGOs could be the spot for you. From designing the site, graphics, SEO) and more, this could keep you in the market. There is a certain amount of skill required Which you can learn quite quickly and easily and with this skill set, you just need to get your name out there. What better way than to establish your own website, demonstrating your skills? Hone your skills with family and friends and let them critique your work
3. Freelance Graphic Designer – Not everyone is artistic and able to create great graphics and presentations and there is a demand for this skill. Many businesses and Website designers will make use of graphics designers. There is a multitude of projects that would use your services. build a great portfolio and get know.
4. Freelance Writer – If you have a way with words, this could be your in. There is always somebody out there who is prepared to pay for blog posts, magazine articles, website copy and lots more. Have a good portfolio of your workpieces, even if you create a few sample pieces to have on hand, they’ll help exhibit your skill and attract business.
5. Translator – Handy with languages? Build yourself a niche in a specific field such as law or medicine and become the go-to translator in that specific niche.
6. Ecommerce Store Owner – Turn your hobby into an online business. Do you make Wooden toys, Do Fabric painting, croche baby blankets or make jewellery? Start an online store to sell your wares. Heck, you could even sell other people’s products. If you belong to a club or guild that produces items, start an e-commerce store and sell their products for a fee.
7. Photographer – Conduct photo shoots for your family and friends to gain experience if you are a novice. As you build a nice album of your work, ask your family and friends for referrals and build up a client base. This is mostly a word-of-mouth business, so create a Facebook page where you can tag recent clients, which will show up in their friends’ newsfeeds as well. The Alternative is, if you enjoy freelancing, to create a significant collection of good quality photos which you can then sell over and over online. This takes a bit of research but could be worthwhile.
8. Travel Planner – The COVID-19 Pandemic has certainly dented the travel industry badly and I believe there will be a lot fewer travel agents. There will still be a lot of people wanting to travel for holidays so this would be a golden opportunity to help people with their travel plans. People love those “Out of the way” holiday destinations so if you know your local end even wider destinations, this could be for you. Don’t forget the Photographic safaris and bird-watching crowds.
9. Tutor – Do you have teaching skills? Why not provide a Tutoring service online? By doing this online, you could reach far more people and you could hold group or private classes. Even better, create online lesson workbooks that you sell or create a membership site that gives access to these workbooks for a fee. This would work for training manuals for anything, woodwork, ironing, stain removal welding and the list goes on.
10. Affiliate Marketing – Have you ever watched a movie and told family and friends how good it was and then they went and watched it. That is exactly how affiliate marketing works, except you get paid for telling other people. You write articles about products and tell people how to use them, where to buy them and how good they are. if someone follows the link from your page and buys the product, the company pays you. There are millions of people doing this and making good money, Just like e-commerce stores and Dropshipping.

Home Business Ideas

Off-Line Businesses

1. Provide Ready Cooked Meals – This service is very popular amongst Families where both parents work. You offer a menu with 2 or three choices Provide Ready Cooked Meals for every weeknight. The clients pay monthly, order their meals weekly and collect them from your premises at night. In most areas, you will need health department approval but it is very good business.
2. Sewing And Alteration Specialist – Another winner with working families and single people. People drop off their clothes etc. for repairs ( hems taken in, buttons replaced, tears repaired etc.) and pay you to repair them or make them certain items.
3. Resume Writer – Besides being a difficult and time-consuming job, A lot of people do not have the skills to create a proper CV that will get the recruiter to take a good look at it. That is why so many people hire help to assist them with the creation of professional CVs, carefully crafted cover letters and quality Portfolios.
4. Videographer – Video production requires you to have the equipment upfront or it could be quite expensive to start. This is also what makes your services so valuable, not a lot of people have Video cameras or the skill to edit the footage and add suitable audio and captions etc.. You will need to have a website with several selections of your work available for interested viewers. It does require travelling, Computer and editing software ( plenty of free software available).
5. Handyman – There are many people entering this field now so I am not sure that it is the best field at the moment. You must either be very good or very cheap. Either way, it is a tough market but it is doable if you have the time and expertise.
6. House Cleaning Service – With a low entry cost and a fairly common skill set, house cleaning can be a great way to start a business – soon. If you have a team of two or three other ladies, you could do two or three houses a day as a team. I would consider advertising to homes in my neighbourhood first. By getting into a few small businesses as clients as well would really make it worthwhile as they’ll usually bring in a higher paycheck for much the same amount of work.
7. Woodworker – Do you have a passion for crafting beautiful furniture, Toys or other home goods out of wood? There is a huge demand for that. Create a brochure with photos of some of your best work and advertise on Facebook etc. A website would work well for this.
8. Tour guide – Know and love the local history of your city or Province? How about becoming a tour guide. You’ll need to conduct mountains of research to enable you to do the job well. Set yourself apart by offering tours that speak to a specific niche of your community’s history. Some tour guides offer historical walking tours of their town’s most haunted spots while others curate guided foodie tours for guests to get a true taste of the city.
9. Virtual Personal Assistant – So, you don’t want to be tied to one office or person all day! If you’re an organised, highly detailed person, the life of a personal assistant could be for you.
10. Event Planner – So you are a highly organised person that pays attention to the smallest detail but being a Personal Assistant is not for you, well, maybe being an events planner is for you. Imagine organising huge events, planning large catering events and workshops and all on someone else’s dime. Let others benefit from your experience, for a fee of course.
11. Daycare Owner – Working couples really rely on daycare and these facilities and services are in high demand. Start a daycare that meets your community’s needs. You will have to meet the local authorities’ licencing requirements.
12. Online Marketing Agency – Many business’s online ventures fail because they lack the required skill set. Marketing on Google, Facebook YouTube etc. is in huge demand and is relatively cost-effective. You will need suitable internet access and a PC or Laptop. You have a variety of project options:

• Writing,
• SEO
• Transcription
• Design
• Illustration
• Coding
• Consulting

How to Start a Small Business at Home

1. Select your small business idea.
2. Start as a home business or hobby.
3. Develop a business plan.
4. Decide whether you’ll be a registered company or sole proprietorship.
5. Open a business bank account.
6. Do you have the equipment and software?
7. Monitor and confirm if your business idea works well from home.
8. Expand and set up an office once you have confirmed your business’s viability.
9. Now work, work and work some more!

1. Select your small business idea.

Whether you choose an option from the list above or have another idea in mind, it is important to have the expertise, training, drive necessary to be successful. Never run a woodwork business? Go and work for one (in a different product line, for free). Explain to the owner your intention and ask for tips. If you are not going to be his competition, you will most likely get the help you need.

2. Start as a side business or hobby.

It is best to see if can you get your business off the ground as an evenings or weekend side job? You can make some mistakes, test the market, and understand whether your idea has potential before you quit your nine-to-five job or lose your investment.

3. Create a business plan.

Once you know your idea has the potential to succeed, it’s time to build a business plan. Not sure where to start?

Your business plan should include the following elements:

• Executive summary — A high-level overview of your company and market placement.
• Business model — Outline what your business does, who your business serves, and how your business is structured. You should include a description of what products and services you offer, and how they meet the needs of your customers.
• Market condition — A summary of pertinent competitor information. Determine the strengths and weaknesses of your closest competitors.
• Products and services — Use this section to describe your products and services in detail, and outline what differentiates your product from others in the market.
• Operations and management — Outline your business’ organization structure, key roles, and responsibilities.
• Marketing and sales strategy — This section should describe how you will market and sell your product. Include information on your ideal customer, how you plan to position your offering, and your sales strategy.
• Financial plan — Create a detailed outline of your business financials. Include your start-up costs, your initial financial productions, and how you anticipate generating funding.
• Appendix — Once the above pieces are complete, end the document with an appendix summarizing your business plan.

Business plans should identify what makes your offering different from competitors. They should also be short and actionable. And your business plan should evolve with your business.

4. Decide whether you’ll be a Registered Company or sole proprietorship.

Two common legal structures for small businesses are Proprietary Limited Companies and sole proprietorships.

An a PTY (ltd) is a more complex business structure than a sole proprietorship and can include individuals, corporations, and other companies as members.

Sole proprietorships are businesses owned and operated by one person, and are not identified as a separate entity from the owner by the government. While a sole proprietorship is the simplest business structure, sole proprietors are personally liable for their business.

5. Open A Business Bank Account.

Once you have a legally formed business, open a bank account specifically for your business. Having a business bank account is necessary for keeping your personal and business finances separate which can help you gain an accurate picture of your business’ cash flow and financial health. Additionally, keeping your personal and business finances separate makes bookkeeping and tax preparation easier.

6. Decide Equipment And Software.

Starting a business is no small feat. It can be costly and stressful, especially if you have never done it before. I would strongly suggest that you approach an experienced person for advice. It can be done on your own but you need to do the research. Due Diligence is key.

Make sure that you have the necessary equipment or the money to purchase it. Do not rush out and buy, buy, buy. use what you have where you can and only buy what is absolutely necessary. The automated and nice to haves must wait until the company can pay for it out of it’s profit.

Customers/clients are key. They cost money and effort to find and it is much cheaper to keep them than to find new ones. It is also, in most cases, easier to sell to an existing/old customer, especially if they are happy with your product or service and it has not cost you money to find them again.

Keep a record of all your customers /clients. For more on how to collect your customer’s details Contact Me here.

7. Monitor and confirm if your business idea works well from home.

Trying your business from home helps you to determine if the business is viable before spending large amounts on

• premises,
• equipment,
• labour and more.

8. Set up an office.

while running your business from home, you will need an office area, even if it is a corner in your living room or putting a desk in your bedroom for a space that inspires you and creates the conditions for success.

If you conduct client-facing work requiring you to be on video calls, no one wants to see your rumpled sheets in the background so pay attention to the background. You can also check out local coworking spaces for memberships that give you access to conference rooms, desk space, and more. I have found coffee shops work well.

9. Get to work!

So you think that you have done all the hard work? Well, I’ve got good news for you … it’s only going to get harder. But most entrepreneurs will agree that the payoff for being your own boss, making your own hours, and working on projects you’re passionate about will pay dividends for the rest of your life.

Imagination, Persistence And Determination

So you now have a few ideas on what Surviving South Africa – Post-COVID 19 Lockdown will take. Do you have what it takes? Remember your priorities, and make use of the groups on Facebook, WhatsApp, and Telegram to support your own people or to request help and ideas.

If you have any ideas or can offer help or links to groups that help”Our People”, please leave them in the comment below.

If you need help developing a business, please feel free to use the “Contact Us” page.

“It is better to have prepared and never to need it than to be unprepared and be in desperate need of it”.

Be Aware. Be Safe. Be Prepared!

Home