Yet despite them being the de facto growth engines of most of the world’s economics, their success rate is surprisingly slim – here in South Africa, for example, an estimated 70% of new businesses fail within 18 months.

Why is this the case? Thierry Tanoh, director for Africa of the International Finance Corporation, recently commented that “their [SME] success rate is not as good as it could be simply because of a lack of access to good business management practices. Giving small businesses the information and new collaborative technologies they need will help them grow and prosper.”