Young entrepreneurs in Edo State have been advised to take every opportunity that comes their way, be courageous to advertise their products and collaborate with like-minded entrepreneurs as these are the ways their brands could develop and expand, leading industry practitioners have suggested.
These among others, were part of the orientation given to Edo’s aspiring entrepreneurs by leading entrepreneurs at the second edition of the Business Networking Series held at the Victor Uwaifo Creative Hub in Benin City yesterday.
The orientation programme was powered by the Edojobs Entrepreneurship Development Unit.
The event comprised panel discussion, presentation as well as other side attractions meant to strengthen the thinking faculties of the participants when they face real life situations in their respective sectors of operations.
The Edojobs Entrepreneurship Development Unit gives access to internal and external funding opportunities, access to market expansion programmes, capacity building for business owners, business advisory services and business mentorship.
Dignitaries that attended the event include Segun Majekodunmi, head of entrepreneurship development; Whyte Isimeme, CEO of Genius Hub and Africa’s top 50 ‘’MSME’’ founder; Ukinebo Dare from Mastercard, many young entrepreneurs, among others.
The chairperson of the occasion, Ukinebo Dare said the event was organised to share experiences with the younger entrepreneurs, and encourage business owners.
She said: ‘’Fear comes because you are afraid of failing. Just make sure you have reduced your chances of failing; business owners should be resilient and their businesses should have legal structures, ‘’ Dare said.
The Edojobs Business Networking series is a quarterly event held solely to provide support to business owners in and across Edo State. Business Networking entails sharing of ideas, collaborating with other entrepreneurs as well as meeting with other brands to improve, develop and expand one’s business.
During the programme, a lot of entrepreneurs who attended the previous networking series shared testimonies of how they have improved their businesses through various seminars organised by the body.
Priscilla Joy, a foodstuff distributor talked about how the programme helped her business to grow.
She said: “The seminars, classes and training programmes have helped me as I can now write a business plan, do proper networking and also help in advertising my new products to the market.”
Ugo Micheal, CEO of Foodkeep Enterprise and a student also said “The seminars have given me vital knowledge in growing my business’’
Meanwhile, there was a brain teaser question when the audience was asked to guess the identity of the second guess speaker whose profile was not announced to the audience. Whyte Isimeme promised the winners financial rewards.
A business entrepreneur from Uromi, Edo State, Patience Okosun emerged the winner of the teaser question after the second guest was revealed to be the chair of the board of EdoJobs, Ukinebo Dare.
Meanwhile, another entrepreneur, Florence Ehi, earned an airtime of N20,000 from the guest speaker, and she was rewarded for attempting the brain teaser question. The winners were announced by Whyte Isimeme.
The audience was later introduced to a session called ‘The Networking Session ‘’which created a friendly environment for all the entrepreneurs to interact with each other. They availed themselves of the opportunity to advertise their products, goods and services.
The audience also watched a movie titled ‘’Joy’’. The movie featured a young divorced female entrepreneur and her experience through her journey before becoming a successful business owner in the country.
“Be hungry and don’t be ashamed to market your product. Don’t be afraid to sell as you are the best person that can advertise your product to the market. Attending training and seminars, ‘’ Isimeme said.
The chairperson of the occasion, Dare Ukinebo, rounded off the event with the announcement of the 20 finalists who qualified for the first quarter scorecard challenge and she awarded the top three winners with N500,000 each. The sum of 50,000 naira was also given to the top 20 nominees who were present at the event.
