Women Entrepreneurs Urged To Work Harder
Olefile Serokolo | Monday September 4, 2017 16:52
Speaking during the Northern Women’s Pre-exposition Workshop held here on Thursday, Masasa said women should fight tooth and nail to make sure that their businesses flourish.
She encouraged women to always research, as it can be vital in making a business a success.
She noted that a successful business would mean a better life for them and their families. Masasa further encouraged women to network with other entrepreneurs in order to share knowledge and skills.
“Sharing the knowledge you have with one another is important, as that will help other entrepreneurs to gain the experience and skills that you have and that can help in terms of improving products,” she said.
She urged them not to be drawn back by the challenges they face, but that the challenges should motivate them to work even harder.
She said starting a business is never easy and therefore they should strive to overcome every obstacle they face. She disclosed that a change in attitude is important.
“Have the right attitude so that you can organise yourselves well. Being bold for change means being disciplined. As businesspeople, we should know how to deal with our customers.
As businesspeople we should create a good relationship with our customers so that they can remain loyal to us and our businesses.
Women Exposition gives us an opportunity to show the nation what we can offer as women, so it is important that we make use of this opportunity and market our products,” Masasa said.
Assistant gender officer, Olebogeng Morebodi said the national exposition is one of the poverty eradication strategies adopted by the Gender Affairs Department (GAD), which targets women entrepreneurs from all over the country.
She revealed that women are a significant economic entrepreneurial force whose contributions to local, national and global economies are far reaching.
She said a variety of factors could impede access to markets or increase the cost of entry.
She gave as an example the distance from the market as a limiting factor in an individuals’ ability to sell.
She also said the lack of permission or certification to trade in certain markets will prevent market entry.
She added that it is upon the Ministry of Nationality, Immigration and Gender Affairs through GAD to continue to support women entrepreneurs in that regard. The Fifth Northern Women’s Exposition will be held in Francistown from September 18 to 24.
The exposition will draw participants from the Central District, Selebi- Phikwe, Francistown, North East, Chobe and North West districts under the theme, ‘Be bold for change; connecting women to greater markets’.