Local entrepreneurs were invited to a Kasi Business Workshop held in Tlhabane, North West, on Saturday, 3 June. The Township Entrepreneur's Alliance (TEA) hosted the workshop with the theme of "Pricing & Credit Management."
Numerous young people from Tlhabane, Mahikeng, and surrounding areas attended the workshop sponsored by TEA, National Youth Development Agency (NYDA), Brand South Africa, and Nedbank to learn about pricing and credit management and support the expansion of their businesses.
According to the Township Entrepreneur's Alliance, the event aimed to unite local business owners and provide a forum to learn, advertise their companies, and connect. The business workshop aimed to provide small business owners and township start-ups with soft and practical skills.
The primary takeaways for local business owners were to become motivated, gain access to valuable knowledge, and establish connections with other local business owners.
It is essential to accurately price products and services; the simplistic narrative that all that is required is to be cheaper needs to be corrected. The right price for service will make it easier to build cash flow and afford the right teams and resources.
The Township Entrepreneur's Alliance discussed how business owners can manage credit.
The discussion covered loans, overdrafts, vehicle financing, and other credit facilities.
The Township Entrepreneur's Alliance noted that due to the challenging economic times, some business owners might find themselves in default, so they discussed how to handle that challenge before it affects the credit profile of entrepreneurs.
Bulelani Balabala, the founder of the Township Entrepreneur's Alliance, highlighted his organisation's impact on local entrepreneurs.
"Over the past nine years, we have been able to impact over 65 000 township entrepreneurs directly, and the beautiful relationship we have formed with Nedbank over the past 12 months has led us to unpack some of the amazing talents from different parts of the country.
It has seen over a hundred small businesses exhibiting their brands and over 2 700 young entrepreneurs attending these business workshops nationwide. When we started TEA over nine years ago, it was with the sole purpose of being able to impact small businesses, being able to impact township entrepreneurs. However, the two main drives were to help township entrepreneurs share information and network,” said Balabala.
In addition, there was a business pitching challenge that took place. Seven entrepreneurs were allowed to pitch for funding. The founder of Spick & Span Laundry Room, Neo Tjabaka (25) from Rustenburg, walked away with the grand prize of R50 000, in second place is the founder of Mansalema Enterprise, Morekolodi Mankuroane.
Spick & Span Laundry Room has been operating for two years, since 2021. Due to her lack of employment and uncertainty about her plans, Tjabaka began her own business. She runs a laundry company that offers various services, including washing industrial equipment, shoes, bedding, and clothing.
Tjabaka said she would use the prize to expand the business and introduce new products. "This prize would be a great help in making sure that we have equipment in our laundry room and that we can get water tanks because instead of load-shedding, our problem is water," said Tjabaka.
