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South African entrepreneurs have a poor skills record, which often leads to business failure. To effectively manage a spaza shop requires applying management functions and some management skills. The implementation of simple systems can assist spaza shop owners to manage their businesses more successfully and even grow. A quantitative study was done, by interviewing sixty spaza shop owners in the township. The empirical results identified the gaps in the management abilities of spaza shop owners in terms of the eight management functions and show that the purchasing, financial and information management function is the most neglected. Guidelines on how each of the functions could or should be applied are given. This research clearly indicates that spaza shops can assist in economic growth and relieve unemployment in the country.