Capital Equipment News April 2018

BUSINESS INSURANCE

Bridging the insurance gap for SMME s

Small capital equipment-driven businesses are often confronted by some unique threats and risks, which also call for a dedicated insurance cover that speaks directly to their unique set of challenges. With that in mind, MiWay’s business insurance is specifically designed to bridge the insurance gap for small commercial vehicles and yellow metal equipment owners, writes Munesu Shoko.

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MiWay Business Insurance is specifically targeted at small capital equipment-driven businesses

MiWay’s key target market is those fleet owners with between five and 20 vehicles or pieces of equipment

Due to the innovative nature of its Business Insurance, MiWay reports significant growth of its portfolio in a very short space of time

MiWay has also partnered with industry organisations to support SMMEs with the necessary risk management education

T hat there is a renewed focus on growing small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) in South Africa is no overstatement. The government has prioritised entrepreneurship and the advancement of SMMEs as the catalyst to achieving growth. SMMEs are recognised as the building blocks of the country, and without their contribution, sustainable growth cannot be achieved. In the construction contracting fraternity, the vigour to drive SMME development is very apparent, with the infrastructure project roll out very much designed to favour small and upcoming contractors. However, available research shows that approximately 70% to 80 % of small businesses fail within five years of their existence, and the reasons are multiple. SMMEs face

plentiful challenges on a daily basis that seem to consume the vast majority of their productive hours. These range from legal compliance issues, bureaucratic red tape to lack of resources and necessary knowledge. Attending to these issues often means that small business owners are left with very little time to concentrate on growing their businesses. Speaking of lack of knowledge, one of the key challenges for this group of customers is that while they are often confronted by some rather unique threats and risks, they either lack the necessary basic knowledge on the significance of risk management, or there is generally no insurance products on the market that suits their unique needs. This is mostly the case for capital equipment-driven businesses,

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