CONTENTS 01 INTRODUCTION 02 AREA OVERVIEW 03 ENTREPRENEUR OFFERING 04 PLATFORMS 06 RIVERSANDS COMMERCIAL PARK 05 CONFERENCE CENTRE
Riversands Incubation Hub is a groundbreaking initiative with the scale to have a real economic impact by supporting small businesses, fostering job creation and alleviating poverty. At capacity, Riversands will be home to 150 small businesses with many more entrepreneurs supported through the business support services offered. Vision & Mission Vision We are inspired by a vision of: A South African economy growing and thriving through increasing numbers of successful small businesses, whose ownership reflects SA s population demographics, creating jobs and opportunity for all. Mission To provide and facilitate access to a rich range of entrepreneur development and business growth support services that talented committed entrepreneurs both existing and aspiring can access to help them create and grow their businesses.
OWNERSHIP The Riversands Incubation Hub NPC was registered as an NGO in April 2014; the organisation was founded to support black-owned small businesses and catalyse entrepreneurial activity. The beneficiaries of the Riversands Incubation Hub (NPC) include entrepreneurs based on campus, entrepreneurs in other business support programmes and the broader community who benefit from the many training and skills development initiatives offered available at the hub. Legal structure An operational service level agreement exists between the Riversands Incubation Hub NPC and the Riversands Industrial SMME Trust which was formed in September 2013. The Incubator s land and buildings are owned by Century Property Developments Pty Ltd. A 24 years minimum, extendable lease agreement exists between Century and the Trust. There is no lease amount charged in the lease as part of Century s commitment to the project. introduction Riversands Incubation Hub is a large-scale business incubator established in 2015 through a private-public partnership between Century Property Developments and National Treasury s The Jobs Fund. Riversands is Century s primary corporate social investment initiative. Established, start-up and micro-enterprises are accommodated at Riversands for a period of up to three years at subsidised rental. The Riversands team puts SMEs at the heart of everything it does, always with the goal of helping individual businesses grow and thrive. The primary intention of the Hub is to create a vibrant ecosystem and provide a rich set of business development and support services that catalyse business success. The Hub: Incubates a range of SMEs from start-ups to established businesses Has an ongoing selection programme, ensuring steady pipeline of entrepreneurs Provides non-qualifying SMEs with business and skills training programmes Stimulates an interest for entrepreneurship Riversands is a practical university of entrepreneurship, offering training, mentorship and support to entrepreneurs in all facets of developing a sustainable business. The potential economic impact of the Hub is enormous - in time it will grow to become the largest and most ambitious small business incubator on the continent. partnership opportunities We provide an open, opportunity-rich environment set up to create maximum sustainable economic and social value for all stakeholders. We take a flexible approach to partnership, offering a number of ways for organisations to participate. We would like to tell you more about Riversands and how we could work together. Based on our discussions we develop a tailored approach to suit your partnership requirements. If your schedule allows, we invite you to a tour of Riversands to better appreciate the scale and potential of this initiative. Sponsor Riversands offers many sponsorship options for companies to sponsor small businesses or skills development. Your support could be as simple as enterprise development spend; either entrusted to us to allocate as needed, or as prescribed by your company. Riversands manages the process and provides the necessary verification so that your company receives maximum BEE Scorecard points. For larger sponsorships, we can create customised enterprise and supplier development programmes that carry your company name. Procure From catering to car branding we offer a wide range of small businesses that you and your company could buy from. For larger procurement requirements, tell us what you re looking for and we ll help you source it from SMEs in our programmes. Mentor We are actively looking for experienced business people to volunteer as industry mentors and area specialists to SMEs within our programmes. We welcome applications from experienced and committed individuals from all industries. Support There are countless other ways to support small businesses. This could include specialist training, access to business resources including equipment, transport, materials supply as well as loans and funding opportunities. 100% IMPACT Riversands does not retain a management fee or percentage of corporate sponsorship but covers its own operating costs through other sources. This means that 100% of funds sponsored go directly to small business development. Riversands is a registered not-for-profit company.
location North of Fourways, Riversands is located in the soon to be developed Riversands Commercial Park. Being situated in a larger commercial park will give small businesses high visibility to the larger firms within the park. The development is strategically situated on the R511 corridor with transport arteries North, East, South and West. With over R1.4 billion already committed in road infrastructure, this area is earmarked as a development corridor within Gauteng. Riversands is close to affluent residential areas of Dainfern, Steyn City, Fourways and lower-income township Diepsloot. The Hub can be accessed through the Erling Road interchange off the main arterial route William Nicol with other access routes to be opened up shortly. DIEPSLOOT Diepsloot is one of Johannesburg s newest townships. It was established in 1994 as a relocation area from informally settled households from Zevenfontein. In less than 20 years Diepsloot has grown into a bustling neighbourhood covering approximately 5 km² with a population of approximately 350 000. Diepsloot remains a marginalised residential node with almost no access to jobs within the vicinity. This forces people to travel vast distances and thus makes them uncompetitive as a work force. In some cases more than 50% of a person s salary is spent on transportation. Riversands Incubation Hub, which is within walking distance of Diepsloot, should provide jobs as well as access to training and other opportunities to residents from this township. Despite its socio-economic challenges, Diepsloot is a vibrant neighbourhood with residents determined to make better lives for themselves.
ENTREPRENEUR OFFERING PLATFORMS The Riversands Incubation Hub is a practical university of entrepreneurship, offering training, mentorship and support to entrepreneurs in all facets of developing a sustainable business. Premises Riversands is an upmarket business and light industrial park with mini-factories, workshops and retail spaces ideal for young and growing businesses. Our highly attractive lease terms and offering are designed specifically with entrepreneurs in mind. Upcycling platform Twelve micro sewing businesses have benefitted substantially from guidance and incubation at Riversands Incubation Hub. Thanks to a partnership with Coca-Cola South Africa, Riversands set up a platform and co-working space for these talented manufacturing entrepreneurs and helped them grow stronger more sustainable businesses. The project includes training in technical skills, market knowledge and additional markets for the products produced by each entrepreneur. Off-take agreements are in place across corporate partners, local and international retailers and an online store. A key element of the project is the upcycling aspect. Products produced by the micro businesses reuse discarded billboard fabric extensively as well as fabric made from recycled plastic cold drink bottles. Horticultural and landscaping platform There are 150 mini-factories, retail, office spaces and horticultural and landscaping display spaces available for SME businesses and partner companies. These spaces provide an integrated manufacturing, training, commercial and retail environment in which entrepreneurs have ample opportunity to trade. Spaces available vary from 50m² to 200m² - as the business grows, entrepreneurs may move to a bigger unit without incurring penalties. Business Support Services Entrepreneurs, both on and off campus, may take advantage of the range of business support services on offer to help them develop their businesses. These include: Market visibility Training workshops Monthly Business Club Networking events SME administrative back office support service A typical commercial lease requires collateral, a financial track record and prediction of space needs for three to five years ahead. If things don t go as planned, a long term lease can be a financial liability that may cripple an entrepreneur s ability to learn from failures and try again. Our offering is designed to avoid all these pitfalls. Riversands has unique garden and office spaces available for 14 small businesses in the broad gardening and landscaping space. While two of the spaces are now filled, the Hub continues to review applications from green-fingered entrepreneurs who want to join its on-campus acceleration programme. The call for applications applies to: Anyone who has a gardening or landscaping business either commercial or residential Small-scale organic farmers Specialists in garden furniture and décor Individuals in the agro-processing industry Horticulturalists particularly those specialising in innovative vertical gardens, gardens in a square metre box or permaculture (to name a few). The 14 entrepreneurs selected will benefit from a professional address, an office with favourable rental terms as well as a stateof-the-art horticulture and training landscaping area. Tooling platform The National Tooling Initiative Programme (NTIP), a joint venture between the Tooling Association of SA (TASA) and the dti, has set up a facility at Riversands to develop graduates into entrepreneurs. The facility will meet the considerable demand for re-machined tools, particularly in the automotive industry. The entrepreneurs based at the new facility at Riversands will be chosen from graduates who have completed the three-year NTIP programme, which follows a German university curriculum. Those technical graduates with entrepreneurial leanings, will be given the opportunity to explore small business ownership while meeting actual orders in the workshop. The workshop at Riversands has been set up to accommodate large orders as well as having the capacity for administration and training. The project should revitalise the tooling industry locally while replacing imports and therefore improving the local economy.
conference centre Riversands Incubation Hub offers large-scale conferencing, exhibition and training spaces. We offer venues for each business occasion - whether it s a conference for over 400 people, an outdoor event or a board meeting. Venues include small boardrooms, medium and large conference rooms and auditoriums seating up to 480 delegates. An outdoor amphitheatre caters for large-scale events such as concerts, family and market days. riversands commercial park Riversands Commercial Park is set to become the preferred commercial development in Northern Johannesburg. Already, in its concept phase, it is attracting high-end business developments in an ever widening scope. A secure complex, it will offer a variety of commercial precincts allowing for retail, office, warehousing and light industrial businesses. The project builds on the massive success that Century enjoyed at Waterfall Estate where the urban design was deemed to be near flawless. Riversands Commercial Park will catalyse economic growth in the North while providing more than 27 000 new permanent jobs (based on the scale of the Park). Our on-site restaurant, run by an SME operator, offers a wide selection of conference options from cocktail snacks to threecourse customised menus. Every Rand spent on hiring the conference facility directly supports South African small business development. A unique offering, this is truly conferencing with a conscience.
For programme admission enquiries: MPHORAMAISA Manager: Registrations 011 012 4611 For partner and sponsorship enquiries: VICTORIAWILLIAMS Head: Marketing 011 012 4617 victoriaw@riversandsihub.co.za For conferencing enquiries: MAHOMEDBASHIR Head: Finance and Operations 011 012 4607 For media enquiries: ANNEVICENTE Head: Public Relations 011 012 4602 annev@riversandsihub.co.za Website: http://www.riversandsihub.co.za l Tel: +27 (0) 11 012 4600 l Email: info@riversandsihub.co.za Facebook: facebook.com/riversandshub/ l Twitter: twitter.com/riversandshub/ l YouTube: Riversands Incubation Hub