SMME Archives - V&A Solve

4 May 2026 Featured Posts, SMME Cluster

Taking the phobia out of finance

Money is rarely just about the numbers. For most of us, it is attached to emotions: fear, guilt, pride, and – especially for entrepreneurs – anxiety. Money is tied to...

22 April 2026 Featured Posts, SMME Cluster

Mental fortitude and SMME success

If there’s one thing that characterises the world we live in today, it’s uncertainty. In the past five or so years we’ve had to navigate supply-chain disruption and economic contraction...

9 April 2026 Featured Posts, General

Buildings designed to be taken apart

Ten years ago, circular economy principles and regenerative thinking were not mainstream. Conversations around embodied carbon, material transparency and lifecycle thinking were niche in many boardrooms. Today, they are common,...

7 April 2026 Featured Posts, SMME Cluster

Brand-building: a challenge in an era of digital distrust

It was around 2004, with the emergence of what was called Web 2.0, that the marketing landscape irrevocably changed. In the first iteration of the interwebs, web pages were static...

25 September 2025 SMME Cluster

From startup to standout

Picture shows: MC and panel moderator Fred Roed of Heavy Chef speaks with Andrew Smith, one of the co-founders of Yuppiechef and, more recently Brave Hardy; and Arie Fabian of...

15 September 2025 SMME Cluster

What customers really want

Picture shows (l to r): Hannah Lavery of the Hannah Lavery brand; Erica Elk of CDI, Henry Mathys of the V&A; Elektra Georgiadis of Earth Age; Harmonie Mbunga of UDO...

3 April 2024 Featured Posts, General, Ocean Cluster

THE FASHION CONUNDRUM

Jackie May, editor of Twyg, wrestles with the complex issues surrounding our love for fashion, the price the planet pays, and the human consequences of where we are at now....

27 March 2024 Featured Posts, Food Cluster

Beating the SMME odds

When Adri Williams bought a heavily indebted business for one rand 10 years ago, it was clearly a heart-over-head decision. But – she’s still going. Here are her pointers for...

26 October 2023 Featured Posts, Food Cluster

What do we mean, the food system is broken?

…And is there anything you and I can do towards fixing it? Most people, when they think about food, don’t think about it as a system, points out Kurt Ackermann,...

19 October 2023 Ocean Cluster, SMME Cluster

There’s treasure in the trash

It’s going to take time before humankind course-corrects its relationship with plastic. So what can we do with our piles of plastic waste in the meantime? Here’s some inspiration on...