Mtubatuba Business Forum urges healthy competition
This will allow all within the fraternity to grow their respective ventures.
The Mtubatuba Business Forum (MBF) is of the view that local business people need to work as a collective, engaging in healthy competition.
This will allow all within the fraternity to grow their respective ventures.
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MBF publicity official Thulani Dlamini said one of the challenges for local business people is the high level of unhealthy, unnecessary competition, in particular among black business people.
We need to find a way of bringing an end to this fighting, and help each other grow,’ he said.
Dlamini is of the view that gaining knowledge and guidance from industry leaders based outside Mtubatuba would also benefit the local fraternity.
However, he cautioned that business people from outside the area should not be the ones getting a bigger share of the local market.
‘Local business people, the community at large and the municipality need to understand that outside businesses do not contribute to the growth of the local economy as much as local businesses do,’ he said.
The establishment of the forum, Dlamini said, promises that change for the better is on the horizon, ‘but this will not happen overnight’.
He said the forum played a significant role in assisting local businesses at the peak of Covid-related restrictions that had a devastating impact on the country’s economy and businesses.
The forum welcomed the construction of the Mtubatuba Tourism Centre and SMME facility, which is under construction and valued at R15 750 000.
Dlamini said the facility would be of great value to local businesses in the tourism sector.
He highlighted that it was important for black business people to grow their footprint in the tourism sector, but acknowledged that relevant skills and expertise were necessary for this to be attained.
The forum also welcomes reports that the municipality has set aside funds to assist local businesses.
These funds, Dlamini said, could be used for workshopping local business people, assisting businesses that have a shortage of equipment, and helping others with obtaining the paperwork they need, ‘because this was an issue for some who could not get the Covid-19 relief grant for businesses’.
Dlamini said a crucial intervention required by local business people was that they be trained on the daily running of a business.
It is important that business people gain financial literacy so they can use their profits to grow their businesses, he added.
‘It is unfortunate that when people think of business they think of tenders, but we need to look at how we bring life to a young person’s dream of owning and running a business that operates outside of tendering,’ Dlamini said.
The forum is expected to elect new leaders this year and Dlamini assured that work would continue regardless of who is placed at the helm of the structure.
The MBF has a proposal in the pipeline of hosting annual awards that would recognise local business people.
The forum also wants to help black business people and communities grow in the agricultural sector.
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