Three local businesses owned by young people received a financial boost after winning the top three places in the Makana Business Plan competition.
Three local businesses owned by young people received a financial boost after winning the top three places in the Makana Business Plan competition.
The first prize (R30 000) went to Brand New Breweries which is co-owned by Karim Dhanani and Geoffrey Waugh; second prize (R20 000) went to Idea’s Ink Trading which is co-owned by James Boyers, Sikho Gantsho and D. Warren; and third prize (R10 000) went to Much-Munch Muffins which is owned by Kanya Kila.
The competition ran from October to November last year as part of the Makana Entrepreneurship Expo (MEE), which was conceptualized, organized and executed by Cula iCulo Events and Conferencing, and 4ward Movement Entertainment who plan to make it an annual event.
This was followed by a “How To” Business Workshop Day at the Grahamstown City Hall in November, sponsored by the Rhodes University Business School and Eastern Cape Development Corporation (ECDC).
ECDC provided the prizes in the form of business development vouchers and the Rhodes University Business School judged the business plan entries according to, but not limited to, the following criteria: identification of markets and potential of business growth within the targeted markets; identification of competitors; differentiation of products or services from competitor offerings; safety and sustainability of business; identification of suppliers and continuity of supplies; and risk and operational issues.
Brand New Breweries is a single brewery designed to test the profitability of niche marketing, married to cutting edge production techniques for decentralized brewing in the Eastern Cape.
Idea’s Ink Trading is running a water vending machine business which consists of an onsite Reverse Osmosis filtration system that filters water, to ensure it is free from all bacteria, viruses, pesticides and water-borne parasites.
The water vending machine turns the municipality water (which is the source of the pre-filtered water) into drinking water for customers to purchase through the easy-to-use vending machine at any time. Much-Munch Muffins is a bakery that offers a variety of baked goods and sells them predominantly to school tuck-shops, various businesses and events in Grahamstown.
The prizes were officially handed over to the winners during the Radio Grahamstown Awards ceremony which was held at the Grahamstown Town Hall in December 2011.
