Empowering female entrepreneurs
Ithala Group hosted a local business workshop for small business owners.
ITHALA Development Finance Corporation hosted a business workshop in Richards Bay recently, with the main intention of acting as a catalyst for local economic growth and development.
Targeting women who run small and micro businesses such as hair salons and spaza shops, the workshop was used as a platform to empower these entrepreneurs with the necessary skills to advance their businesses.
Ithala Group’s Communications and Marketing Divisional Manager, Thuli Galelekile, said the workshops provided valuable insight into the challenges which entrepreneurs face when starting out.
‘What is emerging is that our people lack critical information that will go a long way to reduce the anxiety they go through when thinking of starting their businesses.’
She said an interesting observation from the workshops held so far, is that close to 90% of women who attended operated unregistered businesses.
‘This is the main factor inhibiting them from getting crucial business from government and the private sector.
‘The reason they are not registered is attributed to this lack of knowledge of where to go,’ she said.
Access to finance and the documentation required to be able to access finance were the other noticeable challenges at the workshop.
‘The feedback we have gathered during our interaction with women on the ground through the Imbokodo Iyazenzela programme, will serve as a constructive tool going forward.
‘We have taken on board what the challenges are and will actively seek ways, with our partners, to ensure that they have access to information through the right channels,’ Galelekile added.
The initiative will culminate in an awards ceremony, which is planned for August, where small business owners from other areas will be acknowledged and celebrated for their efforts.
