Start and run a South African business — registration, websites, payments, tax and growth — from a team that has built hundreds of SA online stores.
The short answer: Every serious business needs a separate bank account from day one — mixing personal and business money wrecks your bookkeeping, your tax return and, for a Pty Ltd, your legal protection. But here’s what most comparisons get…
The short answer: For most new South African online stores, Payfast is the default — no monthly fee, the widest payment-method coverage, and native plugins for WooCommerce and Shopify. Yoco wins if you also sell in person and want one…
The short answer: A first Google Ads campaign that doesn’t burn money follows six rules — start with Search ads only (people actively looking, not browsing), one tightly-themed campaign around your single best money keyword, exact and phrase match keywords…
The short answer: Email is the only marketing channel you own — algorithms can’t throttle it and platforms can’t ban you from your own list. Start free: MailerLite, Brevo, Mailchimp and similar platforms all offer free tiers that include automations,…
The short answer: the cost to start a business in South Africa is your once-off setup costs plus enough cash to pay the monthly bills until sales catch up — usually at least three months. Registration itself is cheap: a…
The short answer: SEO is making your site the best answer to what your customers already search — and for a small SA business it comes down to five moves: (1) target specific local phrases (“wedding cakes Durban North”, not…
The short answer: Shopify is easier and faster to launch but costs more forever — the subscription is billed in US dollars, and because Shopify Payments is not available in South Africa, Shopify adds an extra transaction fee on every…
The short answer: Buy a .co.za domain — it outperforms .com for South African trust and local search — from a reputable SA registrar, and pair it with shared hosting from an SA provider for a business site or WooCommerce…
The short answer: Registering a private company (Pty Ltd) with CIPC costs R125, or R175 if you reserve a name first (R50 for the name reservation, submitted electronically). You do it online at eservices.cipc.co.za or bizportal.gov.za. You’ll need certified ID…
The short answer: A workable SA online business idea passes four tests: (1) people already pay for this (you’re improving, not inventing demand), (2) you can reach the buyers affordably (a specific community, platform or search term — not “everyone”),…
