Not every business needs the same answer
By Sarah Mthintso, Executive Director, SAB Foundation
Over the past few months, I have had the opportunity to participate in conversations about entrepreneurship and economic development beyond South Africa.
In Mexico, I met with colleagues from other foundations across the AB InBev group, sharing some of our experience from South Africa and hearing about approaches being taken in other markets.
More recently, I participated in the stars Switzerland Symposium, where this year’s theme was Unknown Unknowns: Prepare for Resilience! I joined a discussion on emerging powers and the economic changes shaping different parts of the world.
The circumstances facing businesses in different countries are clearly not identical. Yet these conversations were a useful reminder of something that is equally true within South Africa.
Context matters.
We often speak about small businesses as though they form a single group with broadly similar needs.
We discuss access to finance, mentorship, skills development, market access and technology, all of which matter. But the usefulness of any intervention depends significantly on the business receiving it.
A founder trying to secure a first regular customer does not face the same challenge as a manufacturer preparing to fulfil a national contract. A rural business dealing with logistics operates in a different environment from one competing for corporate procurement opportunities. A social innovator trying to secure institutional adoption may need something different again.
Recent South African research reinforces just how varied these realities can be.
The 2026 State of the SMME in South Africa report, based on a survey of 800 businesses, found that constraints differed substantially by location. Urban businesses in the surveyed group were more focused on finance and procurement access; small-town businesses faced challenges around suppliers and customer reach; while rural businesses often had to address logistics before other growth constraints could even be considered.
It is difficult to respond effectively to that diversity with a standard package of support.
We see a similar pattern in our own work at the SAB Foundation.
Businesses and social innovations come to us at very different stages. Some need stronger financial systems and operational discipline. Others already have these foundations and need capital, customers or additional capacity. Some social innovators, meanwhile, may need validation, partnerships or an institution willing to adopt the solution.
This means the question cannot simply be: What support do entrepreneurs need?
We may need to become much more specific.
What is preventing this particular business from progressing? Is the constraint inside the business or outside it? Does the founder need capability, capital, customers, stronger systems or some combination of these?
These distinctions matter because more support does not automatically mean better outcomes.
A business may receive training when its greatest constraint is working capital. Another may receive funding before its systems are strong enough to manage growth. A capable entrepreneur may complete another general business programme when the business actually needs access to a particular market or technical expertise.
The intervention may be valuable in itself and still not address the constraint holding the business back.
This is not an argument against funding, training, mentorship or broad-based enterprise support. Each has an important role.
It is an argument for greater precision.
For those of us working in enterprise development, that begins with understanding the business before determining the intervention.
It also means being more thoughtful about how we measure progress. The number of entrepreneurs trained, businesses funded or mentorship hours delivered tells us what support was provided. It tells us less about whether that support helped the business address the challenge it was facing.
The more meaningful question is what changed afterwards.
Did the business become financially stronger? Did it secure customers? Did operational capacity improve? Was it able to employ more people? Did an innovation move closer to adoption?
These outcomes will not look the same across every enterprise.
That is precisely the point.
South Africa needs a diverse base of entrepreneurs and businesses operating across different sectors, communities and markets.
Our support for them should recognise those differences.
Perhaps the next phase of enterprise development is not simply about providing more support.
It is about becoming better at matching support to the reality of the business receiving it.
We need to stop asking what “SMMEs” need as though there is one answer, and start asking what will help this business become stronger from where it stands today.