How to survive loadshedding
Times are tough for everyone in South Africa right now. They are even tougher for small and medium business owners, as they navigate the difficult journey of entrepreneurship while trying to contend with the extra challenge of remaining fully operational amidst severe power cuts by Eskom.
In 2022 alone, the country was plunged into large darkness, with 208 days of loadshedding out of 365. The trend continued in January 2023, as the situation grew significantly worse. The IMF has revised its projections for the expected growth of the SA Economy to 1.2%. It says loadshedding is a major factor that has a negative impact in higher forecast.
But in spite of all of these challenges and everything in between, the show has to go on. It must be business as usual if you're an entrepreneur whose livelihood is dependent on running a business.
Here at TEES electrical, we've been busy speaking to entrepreneus and finding out how they are maneuvering their way around the current energy crisis. These are some of the comprehensive observations and insights we were able to gather.
Here's what you can do;
1. Increase productivity in the hours when there's power
By now I'm quite sure you've already downloaded the Eskom Sepush app and can view the loadshedding schedule in your area daily. Great stuff! Now what you need to do, or improve on, is maximizing productivity in those hours when the electricity is there.
Say the power is scheduled to go off at 12:00 abs return at 14:00, if your work day starts at 08:00, you have a full 4 hours of uninterrupted electricity supply. Try to squeeze in as much as possible in those hours. Whatever that is left can be picked at 14:00 when power returns.
It's not the most ingenious idea, but it needs to be employed for its pragmatism.
2. Cut back on your spending and downgrade where possible
Times are tough and the economy is sluggish. Saving up every penny and learning to spend frugally is the best move one can make right now, not only in business, but in life generally. If there are some expenses that you feel you can do without in your daily operations, then you need to consider cutting them off or trimming down on expenditure.
3. Invest in an alternative energy source
The necessity for an alternative energy source has never been more crucial like right now. As the power cuts continue to aggressively mount, we need to find innovative ways to increase our productivity. This can only happen by ensuring that we have a backup in the form of a generator, high powered inverter or solar panels. The money that you save from cutting down on unnecessary expenditure can be used for this purpose.
And what's great is that you don't have to do this on your own. You can simply converge with other like-minded people who may share a similar business interest as you. If your interests are aligned in the business space, you are more likely to use a generator at the same time when there loadshedding. You can share the costs of petrol to make it easier.
4. Rent out extra space if you have
Every cent counts. If you have a back room and/or a garage that is not in use, now is the perfect time to think about renting it out. People are looking to cut costs wherever possible and the idea of getting a smaller place seems practical under the current climate. Place an advert online for that room or garage and see the response you get.
5. Look into invoice financing
Invoice financing is a type of short term loans that allows factoring and discounting, which can enable your business to borrow against submitted invoices. This challenge is one of the biggest contributors to SMMEs' demise, as big public entities don't pay on time and one ends up resorting to microlenders (e.g mashonisa) who normally charge exorbitant interest rates, with one of the conditions being the placing of assets as surety. This type of arrangement usually has a negative impact on the productivity of one's business. If most people can be made aware of such financing options, then that would simplify the process of acquiring the necessary working capital that is affordable and also a fraction of a mashonisa cost.
In these tough times, we have to look out for one another in every way possible. We are all we've got. The businesses that we have are constantly using the model of social entrepreneurship to address social challenges in our communities, and therefore we ought to help one another to ensure that we continue to deliver and we leave all of our customers satisfied. We also need to be open to suggestions and ideas from others. A whole is greater than the sum of its parts. If you have any ideas that might help you and others to navigate this difficult situation better, then please share that. We need to work together.