Smmes Urged To Focus On Productivity And Quality

BABOKI KAYAWE
Staff Writer | Monday February 1, 2010 00:00

A Business Advisory Service Manager with the Citizen Entrepreneurship Development Agency (CEDA), Tiro Sebina says service excellence and good product quality are a requirement in today's complex business environment.

Sebina made these remarks at a workshop on productivity and efficiency in the daily operations of SMMEs. The workshop, a joint effort between the Botswana National Productivity Centre and CEDA also aimed to institutionalise quality standards and grades as a way of alleviating quality related barriers to market access.

'The environment for doing business today is far more demanding and extremely complex than many years ago,' he said.

Given the current economic hardships, he said SMMEs face many challenges in the business environment which does not recognise start-ups or veterans in the field, but rather service and quality.

Sebina said consumers are much more informed and take time to make buying decisions and this makes quality service provision a key to a successful business.

While government has decided to revive the SMME sector through local procurement of services and goods, Sebina said quality remains the key as the country aims to meet the challenge of competing in the global market.

He encouraged entrepreneurs mostly from the manufacturing sector to adhere to this principle.

'Profitability remains key for survival of any business venture, and any business operation which fails to embrace the elements of quality and service excellence, will not make it in today's tough business environment,' he said. 

Some of the hindrances to productivity identified by participants include certain attitudes by some local employees whose work ethics are not to par leading to out performance by companies that employ foreigners.

But entrepreneurs were cautioned to look more into the management front as the lack of productivity among Batswana might be a result of poor management.