Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) is intended to develop and grow the economy of South Africa by supporting job creation, and increasing our global competitiveness. It also has the potential to reduce the burden on entrepreneurs and help to create a more skilled workforce. However, when implemented correctly, B-BBEE can contribute to building and developing your business into the economic powerhouse it deserves to be.
“First and foremost, B-BBEE should be considered an investment in the future of your organisation,” says Angie Lanham-Love, CEO of Lanham-Love Consulting, a B-BBEE Consulting firm that prides itself on innovatively embracing and integrating transformation to the point of business growth and development. “This is why we at Lanham Love Consulting take the strategic approach to B-BBEE.”
“One of the best possible ways to invest in B-BBEE for your business is to focus on the Skills Development aspect of the B-BBEE scorecard,” says Lanham-Love. “Upskilling your workforce, from the entry level to the C-Suite, is just good business. Creating a team of employees who are properly trained, with critical skills to draw from, will give your business an overwhelmingly competitive edge in your field.”
“In addition, implementing B-BBEE through Employment Equity practices can serve to make you even more competitive,” says Lanham-Love. “Increasing the diversity of your workforce is an excellent way to introduce new, creative and innovative ways of thinking into your business that should serve to make you a force to be reckoned with. A workforce more representative of the South African market will also equip you to better serve that market.”
“By increasing your B-BBEE Level, you also set yourself up to benefit from the Preferential Procurement aspect of the B-BBEE Scorecard,” says Lanham-Love. “A higher level on your B-BBEE Scorecard can also benefit your clients, as it in turn contributes to their scorecard. A higher level will therefore make you the preferred supplier, meaning more business for you.”
“B-BBEE is multifaceted, and intended to be cohesive,” says Lanham-Love. “Each element is interrelated and impacts the overall B-BBEE score of a business, just like improving one area of your life tends to uplift and improve other areas. This is not accidental. While B-BBEE can be an expensive, time-consuming exercise, the benefits must outweigh the costs – on the micro level of the internal processes of your business, as well as on the more macro level of the community and the market that you serve, and the even more macro level of the country as a whole.”
“Lanham Love Consulting loves helping companies and businesses realise just to what extent they can benefit from B-BBEE,” says Lanham-Love.
Lanham Love Consulting, a 73.57% Black Owned Level 2 BEE Exempt Micro Enterprise dedicated to creating solutions that result in additional benefits and increased compliance across multiple elements of the scorecard, would love to speak to you about your specific B-BBEE needs. Contact us today for a considered, strategic and holistically beneficial approach to B-BBEE.