Participants of the ongoing Media General’s Start-Up Fair and Funding Summit have been advised to take advantage of technology to stay relevant in business. Investors who turned up for the event hoping to finance some of the viable participating start-ups called on the local entrepreneurs to make their businesses competitive and attractive to boost investor confidence. Explaining the idea, they have stressed the importance of leveraging on technology in a competitive business climate. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Brands Consult, Elom Foli, noted adopting technology in today’s business world is what will give brands a competitive edge. “We are trying to help businesses; small businesses to leverage on technology or to utilize technology to gain value so whether it is about advertising, one thing we notice is that people are doing business but they’re not necessarily building their brands”, he said. Meanwhile the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC) has also lauded Media General for the initiative to pay keen interest to small-scale businesses noting the such efforts will augment the government’s commitment to the development of the business environment.
The two-day event seeks to give start-ups the necessary exposure to network and get the right information on access to business financing. Some entrepreneurs at the summit expressed frustrations at the unfriendly business environment in the country coupled with the cost of doing business. “It is not easy starting a business in Ghana here, even the registration alone is problem for us and even our taxes are too much for us”, CEO of Evodia Mingle, Empresa Keemat complained. “We’re into basket weaving, we’re a community of basket weavers so I have been able to bring the basket weavers together… actually it’s not easy, it is very difficult because they [government] don’t give you attention, they [government] don’t give you the needed support”, Joseph Alabga, President of Gambibgo Anongtaaba Basket Weavers said.
Participants at the Fair will get to pitch their businesses to investors at the event and advertise for free on local e-commerce website www.soko.com for the next three months.
By 3news.com|Ghana]]>