Building a small business on your own can be hard. It’s difficult to know just where each hour of work and precious cent should go to maximise growth. Product testing, marketing, website costs and infrastructure – these are not cheap and may be hard to put together all at once when starting out. This is why many turn to external investors for help.

But each new person brought into a company brings their own expectations for the future of that business – which can lead to complexity. Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of bringing in investors versus building your business alone.

A balance sheet is a vital financial report for a business, providing a snapshot of the company’s financial health by detailing its assets, liabilities and owners’ equity. These are also used to calculate important financial ratios. 

A balance sheet is essential reading for all stakeholders, including businessowners, managers, lenders and investors, as it offers valuable insights into a company’s financial standing and can help improve management decisions.

A new year is often a time to rethink your strategy. One option you may not yet have considered is going into partnership with a charity or non-profit organisation.

Apart from an opportunity to do good and help those around you, partnering with a non-profit organisation has been shown to actually boost the business that supplies the aid. Here are our reasons why you should be partnering with a non-profit in 2025.

“Together, government and business can drive the messages that matter most, which are those of resilience, opportunity, and shared prosperity.” (Minister of Finance, January 2025)

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has invited the public to share suggestions on the 2025 Budget he is expected to deliver on Wednesday, 19 February.

Go to National Treasury’s “Budget Tips for the Minister of Finance” page and fill out the online form.  

• 07 February – Monthly PAYE submissions and payments
  
  
• 25 February – Value Added Tax (VAT) manual submissions and payments
  
  
• 27 February – Excise duty payments
  
  
• 28 February – VAT electronic submissions and payments, Corporate Income Tax (CIT) Provisional Tax payments where applicable, and Personal Income Tax (PIT) Provisional Tax payments.