Prioritise growth over awards, young entrepreneurs advised

The Executive Director of the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI), Ms Kosi Yankey, has advised young entrepreneurs to aim at growing their businesses into bigger entities instead of focusing on award schemes which will derail the little progress they have made.

According to her, one of the reasons behind the collapse of some of the companies, especially those in the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) sector, was the neglect by owners of those companies to focus on award schemes.

“My advice to you is to focus on your work; most often entrepreneurs follow prizes and so they spend little time to work and grow their businesses, therefore, when the award ends there is no business,” Ms Yankey said at a meeting to present prize packages to award winners of the Ghana Women Entrepreneurship Summit (GWES-2018) Pitch Competition yesterday in Accra.

Prize packages

The competition, which was part of a series of activities organised at the GWES-2018 for women enterprises saw three women enterprises emerge winners.

The competition was to bring together women entrepreneurs to share innovative ideas and expose their businesses to potential investors.

The competition was also aimed at building the confidence of the entrepreneurs, as well as to broaden their horizon.

Among the 25 participants selected from hundreds, Del Chris Africa Limited, producer of confectionery, was adjudged winner of the Pitch Competition.

Del Chris Africa took home a cash prize of GH¢10,000, which was used to acquire a milling machine and installation, as well as an upgrade of their electrical installation to power the machines installed to enhance their operations.

Myda Foods, which came second, received a sum of GH¢6,000 which was used to purchase packaging materials for the company; while the third winner, Qualitrace, anti-counterfeiting and traceability services provider, took home GH¢4,000.

Importance of NBSSI

Ms Kosi said, “In addition to the cash prizes, each winner had access to free business development services from NBSSI for a period of six months and embarked on study tours to successful enterprises in the country.

“The winners also received a tablet and Internet services from Vodafone Ghana who were one of the major sponsors of the GWES-2018.”

Appreciation of winners

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Del Chris Africa, Mrs Roseline Delali Ashigbui, commended the NBSSI for honouring its pledge with regard to the prize packages.

“Organisers of some competitions we participated in two years ago are yet to honour their pledges in relation to the prize packages that were promised,” she said.

She expressed the commitment of the winners to ensure that the prize packages were properly maintained and put to good use.