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This page has economic forecasts for South Africa including a long-term outlook for the next decades, plus medium-term expectations for the next four quarters and short-term market predictions for the next release affecting the South Africa economy.

Read more at https://tradingeconomics.com/south-africa/forecast

By: Debbie Dragon

Starting your own business is not for the faint of heart. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, half of all small businesses will fail before reaching their fifth anniversary. With a 50% chance of failure, individuals starting a small business have many challenges to overcome for long term success. For the 50% who succeed, owning a small business can provide financial security for the business owner and their family. Unfortunately, for those who do not succeed, failure represents the loss of not only future financial security, but in many cases, financial insolvency in the present. Recognizing the signs that your business is headed in the wrong direction may help mitigate the financial loss. Here we look at signs it may be time to call it quits and possibly salvage some of your financial stability.

What Makes A Business Fail?
There are dozens of reasons why a start-up or small […]

By: Adam Colgate

Employee creativity and innovation are essential for the success of any business, particularly in times of economic turmoil. There is a clear connection between employee engagement and innovation according to a 2006 Gallup poll. Engaged employees are more creative and more willing to accept innovative ideas from others. Most CEOs value creativity, and employees who are allowed to be creative are more engaged with their current positions. A company’s culture can either foster or stifle innovation. Fortunately, business leaders are able to shape a more creative work environment if they follow a few basic guidelines.

Maintain an open dialogue between employees and upper management
Dialogue will effectively motivate and engage employees. Always allow employees to present their ideas before important decisions are made. Provide feedback to employees, even when their ideas are not used, so that they know that they are not being dismissed.

Read more @ … http://www.businessdictionary.com/article/510/ways-to-foster-innovation/

By: Leo Sun

The following is a classic story, often used by socialists to highlight the “evils of a capitalist society” – the small town grocer gets mercilessly taken out by the new Wal-Mart in town. The small town grocer may have an established customer base and friendly relations with the community, but it simply can’t match the low prices offered by Wal-Mart. Being a large national company, Wal-Mart has the sprawling global resources and is willing to sacrifice margins to take out local competitors. In the end, customer loyalty means nothing and the grocer goes bankrupt, decades of hard work decimated overnight. This is a well-known anecdote referring to the impact of globalization on small businesses. Once you start up a new business, you plunge into an ocean populated by a few smaller fish, which compete with you for food, and lots of bigger ones, eager to eat you alive. […]

By: Ryan May
There was a time when the concept of creativity was only associated with writers, painters, musicians and similar people in artistic professions. But with the ever-increasing necessity of cultivating a unique brand personality, the need for creative thinking has transitioned from the arts into everyday business. In addition, the act of producing a product that distinguishes itself from competitors in a marketplace where differences are often hard to come by demands a high degree of creativity both in innovation and marketing.

As a result, it’s now become commonplace for companies – both large and small – to adopt policies that foster creativity and thereby promote innovation.

But what is meant by creativity? And how can it be harnessed effectively?

Defining the Creative Environment
Creativity is the mental and social process used to generate ideas, concepts and associations that lead to the exploitation of new ideas. Or to put it simply: innovation.

Read […]