Good Money Habits

About Good Money Habits

The free Good Money Habits app delivers 15 short (3-5 minute) and accessible cellphone-based training videos on practical, day-to-day money management for informal small businesses and micro-enterprises. It helps managers see the business finances better, not mix money, manage revenue and costs better, access banking services and loans – and grow and create jobs.

It is designed for informal or other small businesses and micro-enterprises, which are mostly active in townships, villages and rural areas in South Africa (or elsewhere).

This is not standard accounting videos. It is a modern, visual package: attractive, punchy, in plain language, no complex jargon, accessible.

The videos use animations, lively graphics, enactments in shops, on-site filming in townships, cashbook writing demo's ... and a persuasive narrator called Sammy.

They aim to change behaviour (=habits), not teach formal bookkeeping. Interactive questions help a manager to self-identify current habits and potential problems – and start to implement remedies.

The app and videos constitute a scalable, DIY training method that can be easily distributed to large numbers of business owners by interested organisations and relevant government departments – AND it is free.

The Good Money Habits (GMH) Project is based at the Centre for Development Support, University of the Free State (UFS), Bloemfontein, South Africa. The app was produced jointly with the Interdisciplinary Centre for Digital Futures (ICDF) and the Video Lab in BLISS at the UFS.

The app and videos are part of a research project to assess the feasibility and impact of direct, practical support measures for informal micro-enterprise owners/managers to address key constraints that they face.