Skills shortages and red tape hobble business

ED RICHARDSON SA’S SKILLS shortage and red tape are stressing business in South Africa, according to the 2006 Grant Thornton Business Owners Survey. For the second year in a row these two challenges were singled out as the greatest constraints to the expansion of medium-sized businesses. Some 45% of business owners in South Africa now cite regulation and red tape as the biggest constraint to the growth of their business, up from 41% in 2005. At 44%, the second greatest threat for South African business owners was the lack of a skilled workforce, up from 36% in 2005. But, we are not alone. “Medium-sized businesses around the world are suffering under the strain of red tape – it is a disease of modern business,” says Leonard Brehm, national chairman of Grant Thornton South Africa.