Entrepreneurial seminar in KaNyamazane a great success
The seminar was informative and young entrepreneurs got an opportunity to network as well as exhibit.
In collaboration with Nedbank, the Township Entrepreneur Alliance (TEA), a non-profit nationwide platform for entrepreneurs, held a township entrepreneurial seminar with the objective of assisting small and upcoming business owners.
This informative seminar was hosted last Saturday.
TEA hosts such programmes in all nine provinces and this time around entrepreneurs in Mbombela had the opportunity to receive business information, learn business skills, gain empowerment on how to sustain their business, exhibit and increase their networking list.
The seminar also afforded entrepreneurs an opportunity to pitch their businesses ideas, with the winner walking away with R50 000.
All the entrepreneurs were assisted in fine-tuning their pitches.
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Dr Frank Magwegwe, one of the facilitators of Nedbank, said the youth should not wait for opportunities to come to them, but rather create opportunities themselves.
“We live in a very challenging time in our country. The cost of living is high, inflation continues to skyrocket and 70% of the youth in the country are unemployed.
The only remaining solution for us is to start businesses. Look for things or products that people cannot reach nearby and venture into that. I advise the youth not to sit on their hands, but to rather develop themselves.
If you cannot get employment rather volunteer. Expand your knowledge and in that way you would have built your network.”
Magwegwe said all young entrepreneurs should be optimistic and persistent.
“Rome was not built in one day, the same as a business will not be successful in one week. Persistence should be what carries an entrepreneur because in business you will be tested on countless occasions. But how you get back up is what will determine how your business will be. Entrepreneurs need to be unique and they need to work with others so that money can circulate in the local economy.”
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A young entrepreneur, Norman Mthethwa from Nkomazi, delivered an excellent business pitch and walked away with the R50 000, which according to him, he will use to expand his hydroponics business.
Hydroponics is a type of farming in which food is grown indoors.
Mthethwa, who currently runs this business in Pretoria, wants to bring it to Nkomazi and cultivate crops and this will help cut logistical costs to the community and they will pay less for food.
So the goal is to mass produce, Mthethwa said.
“We currently supply local retail stores in Pretoria, a few SPARs and Pick n Pays. But our target is Woolworths and with that being we can definitely go big.
“For that to happen we need to negotiate a contract and prove we can achieve the quality standards and have the muscle to mass produce.”
“With this money we will increase our production by hiring one more employee and expanding our workspace,” Mthethwa said.
