Walking around a potential new building space of over 2000m2 in July 2006, Hein Koen and André Sharpe, joint founders of Habitaz, a provider of integrated virtual workspace infrastructure and related services, noted that they had achieved great success since the start of the business two years ago. They were, however, faced with the urgent challenge of making the right strategic decisions regarding the future growth and financing of the business.

It was the middle of 1994. By then, 23-year-old Barry Berman had been trading in Cape Town number plates with short and unusual numbers for three or four months. The business was growing fast. But so was the canned fruit business that he had started with a friend at the beginning of the year. He no longer had the time to devote to both, and Berman wondered what to do. Should he ‘can’ the canned fruit and pursue the number plate business?

The Gouritz Cluster Biosphere Reserve (GCBR), an international biosphere reserve programme, is an initiative of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). UNESCO describes these reserves as “learning sites for sustainable development”, saying: “Biosphere reserves harmonize conservation of biological and cultural diversity, and economic and social development, through partnerships between people and nature.

From her office on her farm in the Eden District of South Africa’s Western Cape province, Wendy Crane, who had for many years been involved in the conservation efforts of the Gouritz Cluster Biosphere Reserve (GCBR), drank in the view of the Langeberg Mountains. Her pleasure was a bit diminished by the knowledge that, like so many parts of the GCBR, this area’s environment was under threat.

Steven Fitzgerald looks relaxed as he arrives home from his fourth trip to South America this month. The chief executive officer of Andbeyond (originally Conservation Corporation Africa), a leader in luxury ecotourism, is taking his company to new climes. The company started in South Africa in 1990, spread its wings to other African countries and then ventured into India in 2004, where it has been successful – although with a few initial surprises.

It was mid-September 2010. All 50 finalists in the annual First National Bank (FNB) Innovators Campaign were about to present their ideas to the judges. For CEO Michael Jordaan, this was a highlight in his calendar – he always looked forward to being inspired by the flow of new ideas.

On 1 September 2009, as financial services firm, Discovery Ltd was about to release its annual results for 2008/2009, its chief executive officer (CEO) and founder Adrian Gore, took some time to consider the company’s trajectory since its inception 16 years ago. Discovery was now in the top 40 on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). This year’s results were excellent: in the context of the global economic crisis, operating profit had grown by 32%. Still, Gore was not one to remain satisfied with these achievements.

Under Ive’s leadership, the Amanz’abantu Consortium became a model of integrated water service delivery to the rural poor. However, government recognized a need for accelerated delivery. One approach was to award a Build, Operate, Train and Transfer (BoTT) government contract to selected consortia. As an entrepreneur working in the social sector, Ive and his colleagues experienced serious obstacles. The privatisation of this highly politicised and bureaucratic sector was the subject of considerable polemical debate. Ive considered the way forward.

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By June 2009, Desmond Makondo was again at a crossroads with regard to his business. At the end of 2007, the two-year partnership with Edward Jardim had ended amicably when the two realised that the business couldn’t sustain a part-time partner who wasn’t able to work the necessary hours. Since then, Makondo had continued to run the business single-handed, being responsible for photography with the help of his six freelancers as well as administration, bringing in new clients and strategic planning.

Doctor Nicolaas Duneas was in a quandary: as he sat in his dishevelled office at the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), he pondered the future of his company Altis Biologics. Founded in 2002, Altis was a small biotechnology company specialising in bone regeneration. Duneas was a trusted expert in his field, and Altis represented his life’s work. Now, in July 2009, the company was poised in a kind of no-man’s land. Duneas still needed to complete one more set of clinical trials before he could take his product to market, and for that he needed significant capital.