2026 is just around the corner

[Tradie]

Kudos to every self-employed operator who’s made it past the 5-year mark, paid leave pay and bonuses, and still has enough left to buy Christmas lunch. You’re part of the ±20% that survive. The failure rate for legit, registered businesses is sitting around 80%.

Brace yourselves: prices are going to keep dropping in 2026.

Industries are being flooded with new entrants who will undercut at any cost—thanks to poor control over registrations, zero enforcement of skill levels, and no real consequences. Many don’t own proper tools, never mind safety equipment, insurance, or compliance paperwork.

They can charge less because they don’t carry the real costs. The market doesn’t reward quality when enforcement is weak—it rewards whoever is cheapest today, even if it costs the client more tomorrow.

Survival now isn’t about being the best tradesman. It’s about being disciplined, selective, and ruthless with costs, pricing, and clients.

That’s the reality.


Bottom line: If you’re talking about annual formal closure rates, you’re seeing roughly 1–2 thousand liquidations per year right now. If you’re talking about real-world business survival odds, up to ~70–80 % of small businesses fail within the first five years. That’s the hard truth on the ground — no sugar-coating.

Best you learn to adapt, if you want to still be in bussiness ths time next year

[Tradie]

Besides all the challenges legitimate businesses already face, chances are you now have to compete with people who aren’t registered, often don’t have bank accounts, and in many cases don’t even have valid documentation.

Everyone keeps asking why unemployment among South Africans is so high. Here’s an uncomfortable question: could it be because there are people willing to work longer hours for less money, with no contracts, no UIF, no tax, no compliance, and no risk of labour disputes or unions?

Legit businesses carry the full load: tax, VAT, UIF, workman’s comp, compliance, training, insurance, tools, vehicles, and accountability. The informal operators carry none of it and undercut everyone.

This isn’t a skills issue. It’s not a work ethic issue. It’s an uneven playing field issue.

I am sure many of you who have just finished settling, leave pay and bonuses, finalising Vat for tomorrow and wondering how you going to make it to the end of January, will agree that this is a huge problem.

The question you need to ask yourslef, are part of the problem, the person using that "guy" who someone recommended on a neighbourhood watch group, to put up the fence and paint your house, tile your floor, build that wall, or had your haircut for R30 at the now local hair cut spot, where most of the guys cant speak zulu or one of the many other SA languages ?