Small Business; Big Possibilities

This week we successfully hosted two network sessions for our clients mainly in the small to medium enterprises (SME). Plascon Advisory services facilitated a network session which targeted those in construction industry. The network session focused on how entrepreneurs can become fully accredited Plascon Applicators. Whilst the City of Johannesburg presented the second network forum, informing entrepreneurs on how to get registered on the City of Johannesburg Supplier Database so as to be eligible for quoting tenders and contracts.

The impacts of such network sessions go a long way in helping small businesses become more competitive and grow. It is through sharing knowledge that we can grow as individuals, and as nation. The networking session are providing turnaround support, which includes developing market linkages and transference of skills to the emerging entrepreneurs.

Quote for the week

“The uncreative mind can spot wrong answers, but it takes a creative mind to spot wrongs questions” Anthony Jay

Business place: A creative collaboration

Business place, a national networking forum, is creating many entrepreneurial opportunities for people from marginalised communities that would not have had access to such prospects. Business Place is a national network of youth-friendly entrepreneurial centres. Its services are clustered under one roof with information centre at the core. The organisation enables entrepreneurs to explore ideas and their potential, encouraging the implementation of such ideas within an unprejudiced environment.

The organisation endeavours on planting seeds of entrepreneurship, stimulating local business and enabling people to become sustainable in their communities, in so doing reducing community dependence on the government. Business place is an ideal delivery platform for other networking initiatives that are targeted towards entrepreneurial objectives.

The organisation is a unique net work forum that is flexible, replicable and adapt to local economic realities and requirements. The network forum has demonstrated success in mobilisation of local participation and ownership through the pooling of resources from different clusters such as the business, government and non-governmental organisations. The overall benefit of such a forum is realised in the elimination of cost of instigating a comparable enterprise. www.thebusinessplace.co.za

Internship

My first day at Business Place was a remarkable one, firstly I was taken to my working station, where there was a desktop computer and an office desk already set out for me. Buli showed around and introduced to some staff members. This was followed by a brief induction on the operations of the organization by my mentor.

I was so thrilled to have secured an internship position with Business Place. The idea of moving from humanities to finance is fascinating. As a B.A graduate, moving into the business environment is a shift that will expose me to a world of finance and entrepreneurial ship.

My mentor, Tracy, graceful gave me a guideline of what was expected of me on my first day. She then urged me to work with tenacity. The first assignment was to assist in organizing two upcoming workshops. This involved creating a database and making calls inviting all prospective clients who would be interested in attending the respective workshops. Each step in this internship is going to take me closer to the ultimate goal of developing a thorough understanding of the fundamental principles of business management and entrepreneurship.