Given that the main portion of my fall research involved access to banking in South Africa, I found today’s theme of small business quite interesting. We began our day at MonkeyBiz, a shop that sells hand-made, beaded figurines and gifts. After this, we travelled to Original T Bag Designs, a shop that sells hand-made products made out of used tea bags. These two shops were quite similar in a few different ways. First off, both a small, local businesses in Cape Town. The city is full of chain stores (both high-end and low-end) but we, as a group, had yet to visit a smaller retailer like the ones we saw today. Secondly, both of these stores employ lower-income craftsmen to make the products they sell. I found MonkeyBiz’s model quite interesting. They are willing to teach anyone the art of making their bead products. Once someone is proficient in the art, they can make whatever type of design they want and the store pays them directly for it before selling it. This gives local women a way to earn money while using their creative skills.
I decided to speak to the managers of each of these stores to get an idea of how they manage their money among their employees. MonkeyBiz goes as far as to set up bank accounts for their artists where money is deposited when a product is completed. They also have a “burial program” in which artists can put their payments towards future burial costs for themselves or their family members. Original T Bag Designs uses a similar method, depositing money into bank accounts held buy artists. I was happy to hear that both businesses used a traditional banking system to pay their artists. Many similar businesses use cash to pay employees which may lead to poor use of the funds.
I then decided to ask the managers what they thought of the level of financial literacy held by their employees. Both initially said that their employees know the basics of how bank accounts work. However, due to their low-income status, many are not able to save much of their money because they need to pay for immediate essentials. In turn, long-term investment is not a common practice among the artists.
All in all, I loved seeing the work done by local artists and entrepreneurs alike. Both shops have taken the initiative to use local talent to bring income into areas where it is hard to find. It also is clear that both businesses value trustworthy methods of paying their employees. Larger, more profit-seeking companies may instead use ways that do not promote safe use of money.