Case study · Business & adults
Teaching 40 manufacturers to run compliant businesses
Over four months we wrote, taught and assessed an eight-module programme for manufacturing micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Gauteng, for the National Financial Literacy Advocacy, funded by the Gauteng Department of Economic Development.
The brief
Good products, missing paperwork.
Many manufacturing businesses in Gauteng make good products but run informally. Without company registration, tax clearance, contracts or a Central Supplier Database (CSD) listing, they can't reach tenders, corporate supply chains or development finance. Many also price below their real cost of production without realising it.
NFLA needed a training partner to close those gaps for a cohort of 40 businesses, and to produce a full portfolio of evidence showing what participants learned.
What Mjojo was responsible for
- Training materials for all eight modules, written for the manufacturing context
- Assessment instruments, including a new interactive online format
- Facilitating every workshop
- Templates, checklists, policies and contracts participants could use straight away
- Digital attendance registers and assessment systems
- Monthly progress reports and the portfolio of evidence
The curriculum
Eight modules, each building on the last.
Every module also included a short mental coaching segment on the fear, overwhelm and self-doubt that keep owners away from formal systems.
Module 111 Mar
Business registration & legal structures
Choosing the right structure, CIPC registration, annual returns, directors' duties and moving from informal to formal.
Module 218 Mar
Tax compliance for manufacturers
Income tax, VAT on manufacturing inputs and outputs, PAYE, UIF, SDL and staying in good standing with SARS.
Module 324 Mar
Financial management & costing
Direct, indirect, fixed and variable costs, pricing for profit, bookkeeping and cash-flow forecasting.
Module 410 Apr
Labour law, HR & workplace compliance
Employment contracts, BCEA and minimum wage, UIF, COIDA and health and safety on the factory floor.
Module 521 Apr
Contracts & legal risk
Key clauses, negotiation basics and red flags to catch before signing. First module with online assessment.
Module 715 May
Intellectual property & product protection
Trademarks, patents, designs, trade secrets, NDAs and the Counterfeit Goods Act.
Module 822 May
Funding, tenders & supplier development
SEFA, IDC, NEF and dtic incentives, the eTender portal, PPPFA scoring, B-BBEE and CSD registration.
Module 92 Jun
Consolidation, close-out & final assessment
Review of all modules, participant reflection and the comprehensive final assessment.
How each session ran
We asked for two hours, not one.
The original plan allowed one hour per module. In a review before Module 1 we showed the content couldn't be taught properly in that time, and NFLA agreed to double it. The extra hour made room for participants to fill in templates for their own businesses during the session.
Results
Scores rose module after module.
From Module 5 we replaced paper tests with interactive online assessments: multiple choice, matching, sequencing, classification, written answers and case studies.
The strongest results came on the final assessment, the longest and most comprehensive one, which points to knowledge that stuck rather than short-term recall.
What participants started doing
- Starting CIPC registration during or straight after Module 1
- Contacting SARS to check their status and request tax clearance
- Re-pricing products after the costing exercise showed they were selling below cost
- Drafting employment contracts from the Module 4 templates
- Starting CSD registration and identifying specific tenders to bid on
What we built
Tools they kept after the programme ended.
Checklists & plans
- CIPC compliance checklist
- Tax compliance action plan
- HR compliance checklist
- Contract review checklist
- Supplier onboarding checklist
- Funding readiness checklist
- Tender compliance checklist
- B-BBEE self-assessment
Contracts & policies
- Permanent, part-time and fixed-term employment contracts
- Health & safety policy
- Workplace disciplinary code
- Supplier and client contract templates
- NDA template
Guides & calculators
- Manufacturing costing template
- Cash-flow management framework
- CSD registration step-by-step guide
- IP decision guide and audit template
Our recommendations
What the next cohort should get.
- Build digital literacy support in from day one. Many owners struggled with Zoom and government portals.
- Link assessment completion to certification, with protected time in every session.
- Add post-programme mentoring, such as a 90-day compliance check-in.
- Keep the two-hour format and the multi-method online assessments as standard.
- Keep teaching through templates people complete for their own business.
Need a programme like this?
We design, teach, assess and report.
For SMEs, staff, members or beneficiaries. Tell us who you need to reach and we'll send a proposal.
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