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Fund the People

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Fund the People

PO Funding Solutions · Invoice Discounting Solutions · Tender Portal · Supplier Visibility
🏆 2025 SA Builders & Construction Awards Winners

23/10/2026

Step 4 of the tender route: apply.

You've registered your company, opened your business bank account and got onto the CSD. Now you get to the part where the contracts actually are, and it's also where a lot of people lose a bid they should have won.

Not on price. On admin.
Here's how to avoid that:
1️⃣ Read the bid requirements. All of them, start to finish. Miss one mandatory requirement and your bid can be disqualified before anyone looks at your pricing.
2️⃣ Prepare your supporting documents. Your CIPC papers, CSD report and the rest of the pack should be sorted before the deadline stress kicks in.
3️⃣ Check the submission deadline. Know the date, the time and how to submit (hand delivery, email or a portal). Late bids are generally not considered.

Four steps in, you're ready to start applying. Our government tender tutorial walks you through it at fundthepeople.co.za

Missed the earlier steps? Scroll back through the series and start at step 1.
Save this for your first bid. Send it to the one friend who's been "about to start tendering" for two years.

22/10/2026

Step 3 of the tender route: get on the CSD.

You can have a registered company, a business bank account and a winning bid, and still not get paid if you're not on the Central Supplier Database. Government departments pay suppliers who are on it.

Here's the process:
1️⃣ Complete your supplier profile. Use the same company details that appear on your CIPC registration.
2️⃣ Check your verification results. Your details get checked against official records, so any mismatch shows up here. This is where most people get stuck.
3️⃣ Download your supplier report. It's proof that you're registered, and many tenders ask for it.

This is why steps 1 and 2 come first. The CSD pulls from your company registration and banking details, so shortcuts earlier on come back to bite you here.

Our CSD registration tutorial walks you through it. Start at fundthepeople.co.za
Save this one. You'll want it open when you're filling in the profile.

22/10/2026

Step 2 of the tender route: open a business bank account.

This one gets rushed. People walk into the first bank they pass, take whatever account they're offered, and only find out about the monthly fees and payment limits months later.

Before you choose, run through three things:
1️⃣ Check eligibility and documents. Your CIPC registration papers are what the bank works from, so step 1 has to be done first.
2️⃣ Compare fees and features. Look at the monthly fees, per-transaction costs and what's included, not just the brand name.
3️⃣ Review payment controls. Find out who can approve payments and what the limits are, especially if you have more than one director.

It matters for tenders too. Government pays into your business account, and your banking details are part of your supplier profile on the CSD (step 3 of the route).
Our business banking tutorial walks you through it. Head to fundthepeople.co.za to start.
Save this before you walk into a branch.

21/10/2026

Step 1 of the tender route: register your company.

It sounds simple until you're halfway through the CIPC form and realise you don't have a director's ID number on hand, or your first-choice company name is already taken.

So before you open the CIPC site, do this:
1️⃣ Prepare your details. Have your proposed company names, directors' info and business address ready.
2️⃣ Understand the registration steps. Know what's coming so nothing surprises you mid-form.
3️⃣ Check your company documents. Make sure everything matches before you submit.

Fifteen minutes of prep saves you days of back-and-forth later.
Our full CIPC registration tutorial walks you through it.

Head to fundthepeople.co.za and start there.
Already registered? Save this for the friend who keeps saying "I'll sort my company registration soon."

21/10/2026

Everyone says "go after government contracts." Nobody tells you what order to do things in.

Here's the route, four steps:
1️⃣ Register your company with CIPC. This is what makes you official.
2️⃣ Open a business bank account. You'll need your CIPC documents for it.
3️⃣ Get on the CSD (Central Supplier Database). No profile means no government payments, even if you win.
4️⃣ Apply for tenders, where the contracts actually are

Skip a step and you'll hit a wall later, usually right when a deadline is closing in.
Start at step 1 and work up. Everything you need to find and apply for tenders is at
fundthepeople.co.za

Save this for when you're ready to start, and send it to the friend who keeps saying "one day I'll do tenders."

06/10/2026

Praneshan Naidoo, founder of Fund The People, is a finalist for the SABCA Readers Choice Award. 🏆

He built FTP around a gap he kept seeing: small businesses win tenders and then can't fund the purchase order to deliver on them. Purchase order funding solutions and invoice discounting solutions are how FTP closes that gap.

This nomination is for the work, and the SMMEs who trust us with it.

06/10/2026

Winning the tender and funding the delivery are two different problems.
Before you ask anyone for money, work out your funding gap:

→ What does the purchase order need you to pay for upfront? Stock, transport, labour.
→ What cash do you have right now?
→ How long until your client pays you?

The difference is your gap. That's the number you take to a funder, not a guess.

This is where purchase order funding and invoice discounting come in. One helps you cover delivery costs once you hold the PO. The other releases cash that's stuck in unpaid invoices.

Know your funding gap. Then close it.
🔗 fundthepeople.co.za

02/10/2026

Fund The People is a finalist for Best Funding Product of the Year at the SABCA Awards. 🏆

This one's for the SMMEs. Every business that trusted us with a purchase order or an invoice, and every owner who proved that funding doesn't have to be a maze.
PO funding and invoice discounting are the products on the shortlist. Built so South African businesses can get paid, fulfil the order, and keep growing.
Thank you to our partners, our team, and everyone who's been part of this. We're not done yet.

📍 Find out how we can fund your next order: fundthepeople.co.za

30/09/2026

The Gauteng government just said the quiet part out loud: information on supplier development and market access has been scattered and hard to navigate.

So on 29 September, Vul'Amathuba launched. One online platform for supplier development, market access and enterprise funding. The MEC's message was that opportunity shouldn't depend on who you know. Fair, but getting the door opened is the easy part.

A contract or purchase order means you need stock, materials and staff before the first payment lands. And once you've delivered, getting paid can take weeks while your costs keep running.

That's where purchase order funding and invoice discounting come in. One covers you to start. The other keeps cash moving while you wait to be paid.

Swipe through, then find out how at fundthepeople.co.za

Which part of the tender process hurts your cash flow most? Tell us below.

29/09/2026

Funding advice is easy to find online. Funding conversations with someone looking you in the eye? Not so much.

We took Fund The People to Vul'Amathuba to talk PO funding and invoice discounting with SMME owners, face to face.

Watch to the end for the moments that stayed with us.

Were you there? Tell us the one thing you walked away with.
Missed us? Comment "NEXT" and we'll tell you where to find us.

Funding Conversations

Address

Commerce Square, First Floor, Building 2, 39 Rivonia Road, Sandhurst, Sandton
Johannesburg
2196

Opening Hours

Monday	08:00 - 17:00
Tuesday	08:00 - 17:00
Wednesday	08:00 - 17:00
Thursday	08:00 - 17:00
Friday	08:00 - 17:00

Website

http://www.fundthepeople.co.za/, https://tenders.fundthepeople.co.za/, https://www.fundthepeople.co.za/education-centre/

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