Business High Five: Online hangouts for South African business owners

The coronavirus lockdown is in full swing in South Africa. Some of us are still working remotely, whilst others are unable to work at all. It’s uncharted territory, and we’re all still working out how we make this time meaningful. 

Maybe you’re trying to set boundaries between your ‘home’ life and your ‘work’ life, which both play out in the same space at the moment. Maybe you’re trying to replace endless scrolling on social media with some meaningful content or channels for self-improvement. 

Here are five online platforms which may give you the value and experience you are looking for, while you’ve got the time.

Connect with community

The guys at Ideas Cartel are an innovative bunch. While COVID-19 might have halted their shared office space and hotel business, it hasn’t stopped them from offering support and resources to entrepreneurs. As a member of their Cartel Connect community, you can access workshops, talks and classes which range from fitness to practical business skills. Membership costs R99 per month.

Stay up to date

The National Small Business Chamber (NSBC), a non-profit organisation which offers support and networking opportunities to SMEs, has set up a dedicated COVID-19 online centre. Here you’ll be able to find content from the media relating to small businesses at this time as well as a notice board of upcoming webinars and events. 

Learn something new

Whether you are looking to sharpen your skills in a particular area or learn something new, there are loads of courses available online. Udemy has a range of educational courses for you to choose from – whether you want to learn how to play the piano or build a website. There are even some discounts on some of their courses to make learning even more accessible over this period. Get Smarter also offers online short courses from credible universities and institutions. This is your chance to up your knowledge in areas like leadership and management or master specific skills ranging from topics like global health delivery to digital marketing analytics.  

Mentorship

Never trust a skinny chef… well there’s never been a better time to take some notes from the pros. Heavy Chef has been hosting workshops geared at entrepreneurial mentorship and knowledge sharing for years. They’ve now taken the magic online – you can live stream talks by industry leaders in South Africa from wherever you are. Innovation is the order of the day on their lineup, and business owners get hefty discounts. 

Hang up your work hat

How do you decompress once you’ve sent that last email? Maintaining some kind of home/ life balance is important. If you’re missing the outdoors or even want an activity that you can include the whole family in, check out Wild Earth. This site gives you the opportunity to go on an online safari and interact with an actual game ranger. Who knew you’d be able to experience the African wilderness from behind your laptop?

Join our SA Small Businesses Unlocked community to get the latest COVID-19 updates, insights from other business owners and content to keep you sane over lockdown.