- Scores of young business owners from Gugulethu and the surrounding communities converged at Elukhanyisweni Sports and Recreation Centre for a financial literacy workshop on Friday 8 March.
- The sessio offered the owners an opportunity to acquire additional financial knowledge from top brains in the financial sector.
- The entrepreneurs described the workshop as educational.
Scores of young business owners from Gugulethu and the surrounding communities converged at Elukhanyisweni Sports and Recreation Centre for a financial literacy workshop on Friday 8 March.
The session, organised by a leading bank, offered the owners an opportunity to acquire additional financial knowledge from top brains in the financial sector.
Sanele Zondi, head of corporate affairs for the bank, described the workshop as a programme to liberate young entrepreneurs. He said the bank aims to connect with the communities.
“Part of our programme is to educate them on how to run their businesses, how to scale and make profit out of it,” said Zondi.
He said most young entrepreneurs fail due to financial literacy and poor administration. “We also educate them on how to identify gaps, which are essentially business opportunities, and utilise them. We also told them not to start a business to make money but to start it to serve. The money will come later,” said Zondi.
The entrepreneurs described the workshop as educational.
Thami Mati, one of the delegates who runs a sewing company known as Sakha Abafazi in New Crossroads, described the workshop as an eye-opener. She said they were empowered on how to operate and grow a business. “We were taught about the importance of programming where people are made to be business-minded. Most of us are doing business with the intention to make money to support our families, not to grow it and make an empire,” she explained.
Mati said she also learnt that for a business to grow, the owner must have a business account to keep the earnings. “I took some of the things lightly not knowing they can have an impact on the growth of the business. Normally, when I don’t have money to buy vegetables, I take from the business money. Now I will be able to differentiate it,” she explained.
However, she stated that their challenge as young business owners is the capital to sustain and grow their businesses.
Mati said it is not easy to sustain a business, especially when one depends on it for survival.