Cape Town - Pick n Pay has selected the top 50 small businesses in its inaugural Boost your Biz competition.
More than 540 entrepreneurs from across South Africa accepted the Boost your Biz competition challenge. The retailer launched the competition in recognition that the development of small suppliers is vital to the growth of our economy.
Access to the market, coupled with skills development, can offer small and emerging businesses a foot in the door and an opportunity to boost their businesses and take their business ideas to the next level of development.
Pick n Pay has partnered with, among others, Absa and the Seed Academy to give these small business owners the tools they will need to take their business ideas to the next level. The finalists - announced on Friday - will now go on to take part in an intensive entrepreneurial training programme before the final selection.
During the six week intensive training programme, the delegates will get expert advice on financial planning, strategy, mentorship and other important aspects of supplying Pick n Pay and the retail sector in general. They will take part in workshops and training sessions in their regions, and see first-hand how a national retailer operates.
The applications came from a range of categories, including health and beauty, grocery, clothing, general merchandise, E-services and transport.
“By leveraging our distribution network, we’re providing a national footprint for their goods which allows them to expand their offering considerably, and achieve a much greater geographic spread than they would have if they had to distribute their products themselves,” said Suzanne Ackerman-Berman, Pick n Pay director: transformation.
In the last financial year, Pick n Pay spent over R40bn on SA suppliers, with 94% of its fresh-food products procured from local suppliers. It’s spend on SMMEs quadrupled in 2015 and expenditure on BBBEE business rose by over 39.2% (to R3bn), with a particular focus on businesses owned by black women (R1bn).
The 25 winners will be announced in June.