A GAUTENG university is on a mission to help local small entrepreneurs to exist alongside foreign businesspeople.
The University of Johannesburg's Centre for Small Business Development (CSBD) yesterday kickstarted a conference aimed at bringing coexistence between entrepreneurs.
The annual Soweto Conference on Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development also focused on building relations between the entrepreneurs while finding new ways to enhance competitiveness.
The director of the CSBD, Moipone Molotsi, said: "This conference will provide the ideal environment to facilitate and exchange skills and ideas. For many years a large number of local business owners have perceived the existence of foreign-owned enterprises and big businesses as a growth infringement."
She said local context can gain significant advantages by exploring how other countries have overcome challenges.
The conference provided delegates (local business owners) with practical training in business idea generation and innovation, and social media marketing.
International and local government representatives as well as officials from national, provincial and local government departments that are responsible for small business development attended the conference, along with entrepreneur Richard Maponya.
Local business-owners welcomed the conference and initiative as they applauded the importance of the training they received.
"With the kind of training we had I have learned how to cut costs by using software packages that are free to move my business forward," said Rebecca Mackett, a skills development coach in Soweto.
"They [software packages] are a marketing tool, that teaches you how to gain more credibility for your business," she said.
Michael Maphosa, a spaza shop owner in White City Jabavu, Soweto, said the conference made him aware of creativity in business.
"It was an important tool, for us township spaza shop owners to learn the importance of partnership in our businesses, the pricing of our stock and the customer care as well as how we can sustain our businesses and maintain competition.
"It is more important to look at the sustainability of business than to look more at your situation," said Maphosa.
For more stories like this one, be sure to buy the Sowetan newspaper from Mondays to Fridays
Partnering locals and foreigners
A GAUTENG university is on a mission to help local small entrepreneurs to exist alongside foreign businesspeople.
The University of Johannesburg's Centre for Small Business Development (CSBD) yesterday kickstarted a conference aimed at bringing coexistence between entrepreneurs.
The annual Soweto Conference on Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development also focused on building relations between the entrepreneurs while finding new ways to enhance competitiveness.
The director of the CSBD, Moipone Molotsi, said: "This conference will provide the ideal environment to facilitate and exchange skills and ideas. For many years a large number of local business owners have perceived the existence of foreign-owned enterprises and big businesses as a growth infringement."
She said local context can gain significant advantages by exploring how other countries have overcome challenges.
The conference provided delegates (local business owners) with practical training in business idea generation and innovation, and social media marketing.
International and local government representatives as well as officials from national, provincial and local government departments that are responsible for small business development attended the conference, along with entrepreneur Richard Maponya.
Local business-owners welcomed the conference and initiative as they applauded the importance of the training they received.
"With the kind of training we had I have learned how to cut costs by using software packages that are free to move my business forward," said Rebecca Mackett, a skills development coach in Soweto.
"They [software packages] are a marketing tool, that teaches you how to gain more credibility for your business," she said.
Michael Maphosa, a spaza shop owner in White City Jabavu, Soweto, said the conference made him aware of creativity in business.
"It was an important tool, for us township spaza shop owners to learn the importance of partnership in our businesses, the pricing of our stock and the customer care as well as how we can sustain our businesses and maintain competition.
"It is more important to look at the sustainability of business than to look more at your situation," said Maphosa.
For more stories like this one, be sure to buy the Sowetan newspaper from Mondays to Fridays
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