Small businesses fear consequences of latest round of load shedding

Load shedding, a word we have come to know all too well in SA. So familiar in fact that we have a regular Power Alert Advert that runs daily from 5pm. Load shedding is even used in advertising from the Santam “One-of-a-kind” ad to the SPAR “Better Together” ad which try to highlight the ‘positives’ of Load shedding.

In many ways we have learned to live with the fact that Load shedding is a part of our daily lives even if we haven’t had any recently. You may be celebrating this relief but Load shedding is far from over. Eskom has said it is still monitoring the situation and will implement Load shedding if necessary. Our power grid is fragile and constantly at risk and this will only be alleviated once all pre-existing plants have undergone comprehensive maintenance and new plants have been completed. The future of our energy supply is uncertain and alternative energy although necessary is not an option for immediate relief.

It’s one thing living with Load shedding on a personal level when we can light candles, turn on the gas and order takeout but for a business Load shedding can have serious impacts especially for smaller businesses.

Ethel Nyembe, Head of Small Enterprise at Standard Bank, said: “While big companies have the infrastructure, client bases and capital to cope, many small businesses, which have the potential to be active players in the South African economy, do not have the financial muscle and resources to overcome these challenges.”

According to Arthur Goldstuck, MD of World Wide Worx, the impact of even short periods without power was greater on SMEs than it would be on larger companies that likely have generators and other fall-back options and due to this there has been a dramatic shift in what SMEs consider to be the biggest external threats to their businesses.

“With power failures cited by 71% of respondents, the issue rates at almost exactly double the importance of crime, which came in a distant second, at 36%. This category is obviously driven to a large extent by those concerns that are highest in the public mind – SMEs have in the past attributed their sleepless nights to crime, the high cost of fuel, or even interest rates. These results came even when power failures were featured in the survey during the first load shedding several years ago, but load shedding still came well below crime at the time,” he says.

Productivity is vital for any business and Load shedding hits productivity hard which impacts profit. Load shedding is estimated to cost our economy between 8 to 10 billion rand a month understandably as Eskom currently provides 95% of our power.

Here are the Top Impacts Load shedding has on Business:

Loss of Production

Stock spoiling

Damage to electronics & machinery

Theft and burglary

Lighting

Battery life

Loss of Profit

On the positive side there are ways to minimise the impact of Load shedding:

Keep up to date on the Load shedding schedules

Solar Power/Alternative energy solutions

Generators/Gas

Surge protection

Back up your data

Back-up batteries/UPS

The fact is, there is no way to avoid Load shedding but by thinking smart, creatively and calmly could give your business the power to minimise the impact of Load shedding.