I get numerous WhatApps like these –

• Hi can you assist to register a constraction canpony or where is the best place to go?
• Evening i should like to register my company how do I do to go through?
• Hello hoeveel om te registration
• Hi my name is Tebogo john M I need ck what r Way’s to follow
• How do you hep people start a business
• I wannna know wt ur campany do
• you can help me by receiving ck certficate
• Hi ineed to start the business
• Am will to registere a business

Let’s start by acknowledging that this is a multilingual country and in most of the above cases, English is probably not the home language of the sender.

Then we have to acknowledge that English is South Africa’s lingua franca.

So, ideally, anybody wishing to start a business in this country would do well to brush up on their English.

But, if you re-read the above, the problem is not with the language (except for the Afrikaaner), but with the care taken with the communication.  We are a long way (I hope) from the point where you will become a respected supplier of goods or services if you cannot take the trouble to check your spelling, typing and use of shorthand when communicating with others.

So no, if you write those kind of WhatsApps, I don’t think you are yet ready to start your own business.