Entrepreneurs get chance to shine at Bellville Business Expo
Small business owners had a chance to promote their products, network and learn from entrepreneurial experts during the Bellville Business Expo at the Tyger Valley Shopping Centre.
The second annual expo, held in the centre’s main food court on Thursday and Friday, was organised by The Greater Tygerberg Partnership.
“We work a lot with big companies and we would like to expose the smaller entrepreneurial businesses to some of the bigger corporate buyers so that hopefully they can sign big contracts and they can get a big breakthrough in establishing their business,” said The Greater Tygerberg Partnership CEO Warren Hewitt.
Andre du Toit, also known as the Big Positive Guy, spoke about “4 Things They Don’t Teach You At Business School.”
Entrepreneurs should make every effort to be good at what they do, master communication skills, learn how to write well and develop their networking abilities, he said.
“One of the things I do, for example, to learn public speaking well, firstly, I teach it to other people. And one of the best things that I do is every single morning, I wake up nice and early and I switch on my tablet and watch a TED talk or two. Some of the best talks in the world,” he said.
Some entrepreneurs lost out on potential customers because they could not communicate well, he said.
“You are sitting here and people are coming to speak to you and within one or two minutes you have already made the sale or lost the deal. You have got to learn how to communicate with people.”
Talking about building relationships, he said: “Relationships form the basis of business. My clients are my friends. My competitors are people that I have respect for and would happily have lunch with them to discuss common ideas that affect our business together."
Athenkosi Gexa, of Truth Gexa Designs, a clothing business from Philippi; Haroldene Tshienda, of Shofar Books, a book publisher from Kuils River; and Fatima Davids, of Corpchem Chemicals, a cleaning products company from Parow Industria, were chosen as the top-three exhibitors.
They will get personalised business mentorship from experts, according to The Great Tygerberg Partnership.
