With the common theme of 2006 having been the shortage of skills, funding, support and resources for many of South Africa's entrepreneurs, is there any reason to believe that 2007 will be better?
This story by Dave Mars from Business Day may be the first indications that 2007 could be better.
What do you think?
---------------------------------------------
STORIES abound of South African inventions with export potential that end up being developed and commercialised overseas. Invariably the reasons given for the migration of local intellectual capital include a business environment that is not conducive to innovation, a lack of venture capital and the skills shortage, not to mention distance from the world's major markets.
But this does not have to be the case. German national Peter Till argues strongly in favour of SA as a favourable environment to develop products for export, even if the path he has followed to get his Target Light on shelves internationally has not been entirely free of potholes.
The product, an innovative position-indicating device for trailers, caravans and long vehicles, has a dual purpose: it acts as a side- marker, shining a beam of light on the road so other motorists can see exactly where the vehicle ends, and it assists the driver to see potential obstacles when reversing at night.
Till, who decided to emigrate to SA to develop his idea and manufacture it here for export after visiting on holiday and falling in love with the country, is in partnership with Mkhuseli Mabindla, a South African friend from Hout Bay in the Cape.
Mabindla has taken charge of marketing, while Till focuses on finetuning the production process.
Till says he was planning initially to develop and produce the Target Light in Germany, but soon realised there were just too many hurdles to overcome. Bureaucracy involved in quality and safety standards in Europe has become daunting and "you do not feel you have a chance to succeed as a small inventor".
"To bring it to a point where you could actually sell the product and make some money requires endless testing and costs."
By contrast, Till's experience in SA has been far more positive from the side of the authorities, although it has not been plain sailing as far as securing international patents is concerned, and the domestic shortage of skilled and reliable toolmakers has meant a constant battle.
"SA is an easier business environment for an entrepreneur. People have the right attitude, they are far more positive than in Germany. I have been encouraged all the way."
Real & New, the company Till set up to market the Target Light, almost hit the rocks two years ago when its application for a US patent was rejected for the second time.
"They said: 'You want to patent a light? Sure, but you are 100 years too late.' We had to make substantial changes to the application."
Till received his US patent after changing the nature of the application to present the product as a new concept in vehicle lighting rather than a technical breakthrough, but it set him back more than R200000 and delayed production.
The funding shortfall was eventually eased when the trade and industry department's small and medium enterprise development programme agreed to provide R600000 in three tranches. This, along with personal loans, allowed Real & New to start tooling up for manufacture and Till to work on issues such as product quality.
However, the partners' problems did not end there. Some of the tooling was found to be substandard, and starting from scratch cost yet more time and money.
"I have met many South African inventors with great ideas who just cannot get around the skills problem. People are being forced to take their ideas to China just because there are not enough people in this country with the technical skills."
Then there were delays getting the prototype to comply with domestic regulations governing the rear lights on vehicles, a hurdle that was eventually cleared by changing the description of the Target Light to "side-marker", an established category, rather than trying to introduce it as a new kind of reversing light.
Till is full of praise for the South African Bureau of Standards, even though they gave him a hard time.
"They are strict in applying the regulations, but also flexible enough to help you find solutions. South Africans are incredibly good at making a plan. I always felt the SABS wanted me to succeed."
Mabindla says the Target Light's biggest selling point is the enhanced safety it offers, and the marketing strategy is focused on this. While the product has already been shown to potential buyers in Germany and elsewhere, and a preliminary order has been received from Australia, the intention is to concentrate on establishing it in SA before putting resources in marketing it overseas.
Local trailer manufacturers have been targeted to begin with, and a large manufacturer, MultiTrail, has started fitting the product to trailers at the top end of its range.
Mabindla says there are about 800000 registered trailers in SA, and the next stage in the marketing effort is to enter the domestic vehicle accessories retail market. A set of the lights is expected to retail for between R250 and R300.
"Many vehicles other than trailers could benefit from being more visible at night and from having a reversing aid," Mabindla says.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright © 2006 Business Day.
