Did you know that companies with a turnover of less than R5million per annum can be classified as Exempt Micro Enterprises? This means that they automatically qualify for a level 4 status in terms of BBBEE scorecard. This entitles a company with level 4 to 100% procurement recognition. For companies that have a turnover between R5 and R35 million all they have to do is choose 4 of the 7 elements to be evaluated on and can be a level 1 even if the business is not black owned. Three areas where businesses can score points relatively easy are Enterprise Development, Preferential Procurement and Socio Economic Development.
With a number of companies’ financial year end being 29 February 2012 attention must be given to these elements to ensure maximum points are achieved. For further assistance in maximising your Enterprise Development points kindly contact Diane Gaskin at the Business Support Centre. BBBEEE is not just about how much you need to spend to gain a number of points but there are business benefits that have a much greater return on investment than just scoring points. So the idea is not on how to to get BEE points but how to engage in meaningful and genuinely broad based BEE while improving your competitiveness in the long run. The design of the BBBEE scorecard is intended to encourage and enable companies to make strategic investments in their own sustainability and growth and at the same time transfer benefits to the wider community. This means you could select your beneficiaries from your own staff or the community within which your business operates.
Create an opportunity For instance you would like to procure from a Black Women owned company but you cannot find a suitable one. Contact the BSC as the BSC has a Database of Black Suppliers or the BSC can assist you to develop one of your staff members or any unemployed Black women to start their own company and supply you with the product or services you need. This cost would be allocated to your Enterprise Development sped (ED which is 3%of Net Profit After Tax – NPAT). Get involved in a mentorship programme that benefits small previously disadvantaged businesses who would be your beneficiaries which would result in a sustainable SMME which would meet your exact needs and have the capacity to enter the wider market and thus grow their businesses. BBBEE is not only about Black ownership and being obliged to spend some of your hard earned profit, it is good business practice to reinvest a portion of your net profit after tax into your company. BBBEE asks that some of that investment should benefit both your company and the wider community. In the case of ED for instance the company you support needs to be 51% Black owned or in the case of Socio Economic development (SED) only 75% of the beneficiaries need to be Black. The smallest exempt micro enterprise can make a contribution to BBBEE.
Contact the BSC for assistance with regard to developing an Enterprise Development strategy to increase your ED points and ensure the wider community benefits.