To Sell in South Africa You Must Develop a Brand

There’s no question on South Africa’s being the best place in Africa to do business, however, it’s not easy too!

Well, it’s very easy to set up your small business in South Africa, if your business idea is something that is delivering some value to the population. Do check if your idea matches something in this list of best small business ideas for South Africa.

So, you have a great business idea and a super product or service for the South African market, but if you cannot develop a brand and do not have brand loyal customers, you will ultimately fail!

Brand loyalty is high; very high in South Africa, Just have a look at the food and beverage and banking sectors in South Africa and you will find how things go there. 

Also read: South Africa is the Gateway to Africa for Your Business

Setting up Public and Private Shareholding Companies in the UAE

I have received a lot of queries on my Linkedin regarding a quick guide on setting up business in the UAE. Well, I will always recommend getting in touch with a business setup agent as they are the experts and can guide you in the right way, but a little do I know must also be shared publicly.

So, if you have a kick ass business idea that you want to launch in the UAE, do check this list of most popular small business ideas for UAE and make sure you have something that is in demand here.

Now coming to the setup, I discussed details about general partnerships vs joint venture companies in the UAE here. and now I will share some points on Public and Private shareholding companies.

The law makes it a must for companies engaging in banking, insurance, or financial activities should be run as public shareholding companies. Foreign banks, insurance and financial companies, however, can establish a presence in the country by opening a branch or representative office.

UAE is a big money market and so a there's a big clientele. So, Shareholding companies are suitable primarily for large projects or operations, since the minimum capital required is Dh. 10 million (US$ 2.725 million) for a public company, and Dh. 2 million (US$ 0.545 million) for a private shareholding company.

For the shareholding companies, it's a must that the chairman and majority of directors must be UAE nationals and there is less flexibility of profit distribution than is permissible in the case of limited liability companies which I will discuss later.