The BBSDP is a cost sharing grant scheme whereby financial support is granted to private sector firms involved in manufacturing, service and retail industries. It can provide grants to a maximum of R100 000 per eligible firm over the life of the BBSDP.

(1) MINIMUM MANDATORY REQUIREMENTS

In order for an enterprise to qualify for BBSDP funding it must satisfy all the mandatory requirements as set out in section 2. Because of the limited nature of funding, matching grant support will not be automatically extended to all enterprises that qualify in terms of the criteria outlined in section 2.

(2) ELIGIBLE ENTERPRISES

In order to qualify for the BBSDP grant, a business must comply with the following requirements:

• Majority of shares must be black owned
• Its management team must be predominantly Black
• It must have a turnover not exceeding R12 million
• It must be operating and trading for more than one financial year
• It must exhibit good growth potential
• It must comply with statutory requirements (e.g. registered with SARS and provide a Tax Clearance Certificate)
• Businesses operating in any sector of the economy can apply for a BBSDP grant

(3) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS

Eligible projects should aim at enhancing the sustainability of a business through competitiveness, capacity building and productivity improvement.

Projects that qualify for BBSDP grants may be classified into one of the following four categories:

1. Projects aimed at upgrading the capability of the management team of the enterprise through generic management training programmes.

• Executive management development programmes
• Finance for non financial managers
• Preparation of bids for corporate and public sector tenders

2. Projects aimed at improving the effectiveness of the management systems of an enterprise.

• Production planning and control systems
• Quality improvement systems, e.g. ISO 9001 and ISO 14000
• Financial management systems
• Human resources management systems
• Long term business planning
• Productivity improvement

3. Projects aimed at imparting specialized, enterprise specific skills to employees.

• Welding courses
• Computer maintenance and repair

4. Projects aimed at assisting the entry of the business into targeted markets:

• Development of marketing plans
• Design and limited printing of marketing materials
• Web site design etc.

(4) ELIGIBLE EXPENDITURE

The BBSDP will offer a cost-sharing grant on an 80-20 percent basis, meaning that the BBSDP would offer grant assistance to cover 80% of the enterprise training cost and the enterprise would contribute 20% of the cost.

The maximum grant that can be offered by the BBSDP is R100 000-00 (One Hundred Thousand Rand) for example:

If the BBSDP approves a project whose total cost is R125,000 the grant will be calculated as follows:

R125,000 X 80% = R100 000 BBSDP GRANT

An enterprise can apply for multiple projects provided that the accumulative grants awarded to the enterprise does not exceed R100 000.

The following expenditures are not eligible for BBSDP cost sharing grants:

• Rent, staff and hardware costs
• Capital and working capital investment
• Any activity that is already funded by another government scheme or parastatal or that
  receives any other financial support from an entity other than the business

(5) NETWORK FACILITATORS

Network Facilitators are individuals who assist enterprises in compiling BBSDP proposals and/or supervise the delivery of projects that have been approved under the BBSDP.

The role of a Network Facilitator includes the following tasks:

• assisting enterprises in completing the BBSDP application
• compiling business plans for the enterprise
• ensuring that the applicant complies with the mandatory requirements of the BBSDP
• supervising the quality and delivery of BBSDP projects

(6) SERVICE PROVIDERS

A Service Provider is any individual who renders a service to an enterprise as outlined in section 3 above. A Service Provider providing services to an enterprise under the BBSDP scheme cannot be a Network Facilitator for the same enterprise.

Enterprises may contract Service Providers to provide certain services that have been approved by the BBSDP as outlined in the contract between the dti and the enterprise. A Service Provider must also submit a Tax Clearance Certificate to the dti.

(7) HOW TO APPLY FOR FUNDING

• Submit a completed application form
• Submit a detailed business plan
• Submit a Tax Clearance Certificate
• Provide 3 proposals and quotations for each activity you are applying for
• Submit a business profile for each approved supplier