Cape Town & Swaziland: Entrepreneur Development

Introduction

Social enterprise and small businesses are vital to help the economy and to bring income into families. This internship will place you in local organisation in Eswatini (formerly named Swaziland) which has a network of social enterprises / small businesses which it supports though business training, coaching, mentoring and assistance with market access and routes to export their goods. The organisation particularly particularly seeks to support women, who traditionally are more marginalized in the employment market. In Cape Town, we would look to place you directly within a small business looking for support to grow and develop.

Whether you are looking to gain experience to add to your CV, need to fulfil University requirements or just have experience to contribute, we like to make our internships as beneficial for each intern as possible. That’s why we want to know in advance if you have a special interests, expertise or goals to achieve whilst your completing your internship with us.  To some degree the internship can be customised to best make use of your skills and meet any requirements of your own.

There are various areas areas in which interns could be involved.  If placed with our partner organisation in Eswatini you could be involved in outreach work and marketing of the services, to bring new entrepreneurs on board and help explain how they can benefit.  You might be able to share ideas on growing the ways in which business support can be offered and looking for new funding options. You may be involved in developing or delivering training workshops relating to marketing, pricing strategy, product line development, website design and support, and the expansion of social networking outlets. In terms of business development, you may advise on logistics and production support, designing and implementing new business practices and systems, improving human resources via staff development and relationship management, and contributing to the development of sound financial practices. Particularly if you choose our Cape Town location, you may be connected directly with participating small or medium sized businesses in order to offer assistance directly in areas that you have knowledge and experience in, such as areas of business administration or even creative product design and innovation, you might be able to help develop the artistic product line and assist with photographing the people and the products. You may be able to make suggestions for growing sales and creating more opportunities attracting new customers, such as offering guided tours.

Interns may be asked to help out with some more mundane day to day tasks, processing data, making tea and taking notes at any appropriate meetings, before being able to get involved in more interesting tasks once more familiar with the organisation.

Support the local community and develop your skills while enjoying the vibrant life in Southern Africa, and exploring the beautiful surroundings!

Daily Life

Our Team Member will greet you upon your arrival in Johannesburg South Africa and transfer you to your accommodation.

On your second day you will participate in an informative presentation briefing you on everything you need to know about the country and the culture, what to expect and how to contribute effectively during your internship. This will also include some great tours to get your acclimatised to your new destination!

On your third day, you will start to get to work! You will meet with your internship host and begin to identify their challenges. Together you will develop a strategy for the next 4 weeks, developing sustainable solutions that will empower the entrepreneurs business and help them bring their business to the next level. In most cases, this process will have begun with a remote meeting in advance of your arrival.

The weekends will be yours to explore your destination and relax!

Travel & Accommodation

The shared dorms where you will sleep have communal bathrooms, and bed linen and pillows are provided. There are also communal living spaces, kitchen and terrace are waiting for the volunteers to enjoy together. There are three meals a day provided and they can be eaten together on the communal decking area in the summer or in the dining room during the winter.

The self-service breakfast offers a selection of cereals, bread, fruit, yogurt, spreads. Depending on your programme schedule/location you may have a hot lunch at the lodge or prepare your own lunch and bring it to the project to eat.  Dinner is a cooked meal. The types of dishes include pasta, stir-fry, curry and stew. A vegetarian diet and most food allergies are taken into consideration.

Requirements

• Minimum age 18
• Minimum 4 weeks commitment
• Be able to communicate in English
• Be open minded, patient, adaptable and willing to embrace the challenges of the project
• Have a positive attitude towards living in a rural setting and working in a team
• Good mental and physical health – an appropriate level of fitness
• Necessary flights & visas
• Full travel & medical insurance – full assistance will be providing in arranging everything should you choose our Placement Support Package

Costs

* Currency conversions are approximate.
** All payments incur a 5% bank transfer fee.
*** Places are confirmed with a 15% deposit

What’s Included:

Project Fee includes food, accommodation, airport pickup, orientation, in-country support and project activities.

What’s not included:

Flights, insurance, visas (if applicable) and vaccinations. Full assistance will be provided in getting all these arranged if you choose our Premium Support.

Premium Support Upgrade

We understand there’s a great deal to plan and organise for your trip. When booking a Placement, many of our participants choose to purchase our Premium Support Upgrade to benefit from the expertise, knowledge and experience of our Project Coordinators.

We can provide the personal advice you need to ensure your trip is organised with excellence and planned with efficiency; ensuring the very best experience possible. Read more about how we can help you.