Business Support Services

Services of all sorts are a vital component of the Western Cape economy. All services sectors have been experiencing growth in recent years. The financial-services sector remains the most influential, but general business-support services is not far behind in an economy that needs a range of varied services such as IT support, bookkeeping and accounting, and security.

Within the business-services sector, information and communications technology (ICT) is growing in importance in the province. There are about 3 000 companies in the Western Cape, of which 200 are IT and software companies operating in Cape Town. Together they employ about 7 500 people. Areas where growth is anticipated within this sector include multimedia, mobile technology, online tourism and consulting.

Franchising is growing in popularity as a means of delivering specialist services. The Standard Bank Factor 2008 found that South Africa has 531 franchised systems operating with about 30 000 outlets.

The economic downturn has encouraged companies to think carefully about what their core business is, and to concentrate on that. This has created opportunities for franchises in a range of activities from personnel recruitment, data capture, printing and financial services to cleaning and maintenance.

ONLINE RESOURCES
Cape Town Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry: www.capetownchamber.com
Services Seta: www.serviceseta.org.za












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