SME seminar highlights need to connect and engage

The saying goes, “Rome was not built in a day”, and the same applies to operating a small to medium business in a highly competitive market in the digital age.

To navigate the tricky waters of entrepreneurship, the 140 delegates attending the SME Growth Summit 2024, supported by Caxton Local Media and hosted by Community Business Owners (CBO) at Emperors Palace on July 17 were privy to trade secrets shared by industry leaders.

With digitisation, automation, streamlining, scaling and artificial intelligence being buzzwords throughout the SM sector, Andrew Wainwright, one of the founders of CBO, said it remains imperative for business owners to regularly connect, engage and network.

CBO is an initiative that has created a fast-growing platform for local business owners to achieve just that.

Andrew Bourne, the regional manager Zoho Africa Corporation, broke down digitisation, saying that effective integrated systems have the potential of championing employees, thus freeing up their time to focus on customer relations.

“Customer experience is reactive. It is, therefore, imperative that business automation meets business needs while remaining personal,” he said.

Taking a step back in time, Jacqui Hansen, the head of marketing at Spark Media, a division of Caxton, shared the story of Caxton Local Media’s humble beginnings.

“In 1978, two small business owners had a vision of creating a platform to be a mouthpiece for communities to assist with its development, and so Caxton was born,” said Hansen.

“The company started with merely eight publications under its banner. Today, we have publications in nearly every city and town across the country.

“Branching out into printing, stationery and digital platforms, we boast in excess of R690m revenue last year.

“Caxton has succeeded in establishing itself as a reliable source for community news, the voice of its people and a well-rounded platform for businesses to reach their target audience.”

She continued by saying that in 1980, the company completed its first market and reader research, which has become the cornerstone of its business.

“With 5.5m copies of our newspapers hitting the streets weekly, our annual Roots community survey, which last year sampled decision-makers views across 97 individual communities, including the whole of Ekurhuleni, we have access to data which tracks household spend, where they spend and on what,” said Hansen.

“This data is available to local businesses to easily navigate where their marketing strategies should be directed and in which format, thus not only reaching the community but captivating the audience that will best support their business.”

In closing, Hansen said digitisation in a modern world is needed.

“However, recent studies have shown that print media, in all its facets, has the highest return on investment. As a business owner, you need to cast your line where the fish are.

“Digital and print marketing are symbiotic, but it is vital to align your business with those who have the research and data to assist.”

While attendees used the opportunity to network with fellow businessmen and women, Caxton Joburg Metro’s editor-in-chief, Marietta Lombard, said Caxton’s endorsement of the summit demonstrates its unwavering support for local business.

“We are not just the voice of the resident or homeowner. We only do well when our town’s economy does well and, thus, we aim to be the voice of the entire community, from homeowners to school learners and church pastors to business owners,” she said.

On the Roots Caxton market research, Lombard said the SME Growth Summit 2024 was the ideal platform at which to showcase this extensive data on consumer behaviour and shopping patterns.

“We provide this research information freely to our advertisers to help them align their businesses with the needs of local shoppers. Our research into consumer behaviour is an investment in helping our towns’ and cities’ economies thrive,” said Lombard.

Other industry leaders who inspired the SME owners at the summit included Megan Dedekind, the area manager of Business Partners, who explained growth and expansion funding, while Allon Raiz, the founder and CEO of Raizcorp, spoke about business and strategy development. Precious Chindongo, the founder of Prebo Digital, discussed artificial intelligence.

There were also business success stories told amid the myriad opportunities to connect and engage.

About Community Business Owners (CBO)
CBO was born from an idea sparked during the Covid-19 lockdown when thousands of SMEs were under enormous pressure.

The founders, Andrew Wainwright and Alistair Gordon, saw a need to establish a business networking group to foster a mindset of “growing community businesses together’.

They meet on the first Friday of each month for breakfast at a local eatery in the area.

Any SME business owner or decision-maker is welcome to attend but must RSVP beforehand.

The breakfast is at a set cost by the restaurant, payable by the attendees. In this way, CBO also supports a local eatery through monthly meet-ups.

Go to www.cboconnect.co.za to find out more about the Community Business Owners offerings and their monthly chapter meetings in your area.