Series: Business Issues, Competition and Entrepreneurship
BISAC: BUS072000

In the world of business, the ability of a business to achieve its objectives (being sustainable) is crucial. Unfortunately, research suggests that a large proportion of businesses, especially small businesses, fail on an annual basis. More often than not, the latter is pinned on the effects of economic factors such as fluctuating interest rates, inflation, changes in taxation rates, volatile supply and demand trends, and rapid changes in technology (as brought on by a global pandemic, for example). After conducting business research on small business sustainability for more than 13 years, Juan-Pierré Bruwer, PhD, developed the Sustenance Framework as a tool to help small businesses become more sustainable.
The book is a practical step-by-step guide on how to implement this framework using down-to-earth language, while also allowing small business leaders to take a snapshot of the business at the present time in order to make better informed business decisions. The Sustenance Framework consists of six steps, namely:
• Foundation (comprising the “nature of the business” and “managerial conduct”).
• Pillars (comprising “strategic objectives” and “business objectives”).
• Radar (comprising “risk identification” and “risk assessment”).
• Control (comprising “risk management” and “internal control activities”).
• Sharing (comprising “communication”).
• Reviewing (comprising “periodic monitoring”).