One of the main reasons that some – if not most – taxi operators have been in business for over three decades but have not grown their businesses is due to poor financial management. And the fact that the taxi sector is disjointed, with rival operating organisations constantly involved clashes over routes, meant efforts to address the most basic matters of running a business are not the main priority.
To help taxi operators manage the most important aspect of running a business, credit management, SA Taxi, a certified developmental credit provider and the only independent financier of minibus taxis, says it is rolling out a five-year campaign focused on educating operators about credit management.
To facilitate the credit education campaign, SA Taxi is working in close collaboration with the National Credit Regulator and the Credit Ombudsman as well as the various taxi associations in order to provide operators with information that is aligned with government’s objective of creating a society able to manage credit responsibly. It will be conducting credit education workshops specifically tailored for the taxi industry.
On why his organisation has decided to get involved, SA Taxi Director of Corporate Affairs, Bonisile Makubalo, says: “South Africa is grappling with the conundrum of being over-indebted as a society while acknowledging that businesses need credit in order to function effectively.”
SA Taxi has established that most of the vehicles in the taxi industry are founded on the owners’ personal ability to access credit in order to buy vehicles. “ What they do find challenging is managing their credit when cash is tight, when one or more vehicles is incapacitated and, therefore, not generating revenue, when they are running multiple accounts, or when they need credit in order to expand their business in some way,” Makubalo says.
