South Africa has no shortage of entrepreneurial spirit. Every day, individuals take the brave step of starting businesses, often navigating significant personal, financial, and economic risks to pursue an opportunity or solve a problem. We rightly celebrate the courage, determination, and resilience it takes to launch a business from scratch.
However, while much attention is given to helping businesses get started, far less focus is placed on supporting them as they move beyond the start-up phase. Once the hard work of establishing a business is done, why do so many struggles to maintain momentum and grow into larger, more sustainable enterprises? This is where South Africa’s scale-up support gap becomes evident.
This scale-up challenge receives far less attention than it should. The capabilities that help an entrepreneur survive the early stage are not the same as those needed to grow a business. Scaling is often treated as a natural next step, but growth is not automatic. It has to be deliberate, structured, and aligned to what the next stage requires.
One of the biggest constraints to SME growth is that many entrepreneurs remain stuck in start-up mode for too long. In the early days, the founder typically does everything — acting as CEO, salesperson, buyer, and problem solver.
That is necessary at first, but it becomes a constraint when the business needs to grow beyond the reach of a single person. At some point, the founder has to move from working in the business to working on the business by building teams, systems and decision-making structures that reduce reliance on one individual.
There is also a risk in mistaking opportunity for readiness. A small manufacturer producing 500 candles a month from a garage may secure a major retail contract for 30,000 units. On paper, this looks like a breakthrough. In reality, it can place the business under severe strain if the capacity to deliver is not in place.
Access to market is therefore not the only determinant of growth. Opportunity without readiness can expose every weakness in a business. If the owner takes on debt to fulfil a large order but cannot deliver efficiently, the expected income may not materialise in time, leaving the business overextended and vulnerable to cash flow pressure. In some cases, it can lead to closure.
Scaling is not just about more orders — it places pressure on production, premises, stock management, cash flow, staffing, delivery, and customer experience.
Scaling also changes the competitive environment.
When a product proves successful, competitors respond, larger players enter the market and margins come under pressure. A business that wants to scale must therefore be close to its numbers, with a clear understanding of its cost base, pricing, margins, capacity, and differentiation. Growth without this clarity can increase activity without strengthening resilience.
For these reasons, businesses that scale successfully are those that build capacity before growth arrives. Capacity is not only about physical expansion, but also about systems, processes and repeatability. A business may feel too small to invest in these areas, but they are the foundations required to support sustainable growth. Scale also requires a broader view of the customer. Growth does not come only from selling more of the same product, but from understanding the full customer journey and identifying where additional value can be created. A spaza shop that sells bread, for example, grows by recognising what customers need alongside it and responding accordingly, rather than focusing on volume alone.
Entrepreneurs do not operate in isolation. Their partners play a role in determining whether they can scale. For banks, this goes beyond providing funding. The greater value lies in helping business owners assess whether they are ready to scale, and supporting them with the insight, tools and networks needed to do so responsibly.
South Africa has many businesses with proven potential, but too few are supported through the transition from start-up to sustainable growth. Closing this gap is not only about creating more businesses. It is about building stronger, more resilient ones that can employ, supply, and contribute meaningfully to the economy.
Written by Omelele Mmbo, Business Development Head at FNB