Start-Up Grind inspires budding entrepreneurs
The Windhoek Chapter of Start Up Grind organised an information session to inspire the owners of small and medium enterprises by providing insights on how to make their start-ups a resounding success.
Start Up Grind is a global start-up community designed to educate, inspire, and connect entrepreneurs. Founded in Palo Alto, California, it is powered by Google for Entrepreneurs and has a network of Start Up Grind chapters located around the world.
In Windhoek, Start Up Grind is under the stewardship of Director Stacey Pinto. The information session was hosted in collaboration with Standard Bank, which also contributed N$38,000 to the event.
Standard Bank’s Head of Enterprise Banking, Dennis Isaacs, speaking at the event, raised the importance of helping entrepreneurs make profits in their businesses.
“However there are various things they need to know and expect from us as the bank. They need to know that the bank doesn’t only give financial assistance but also advises them how to grow and sustain their businesses,” Isaacs added.
He further advised the perspective minds behind the future Start Up that would propel Namibia’s economy to always have the competitive edge render the best services in the industry and most importantly to know the people share and can run with their vision.
“Young entrepreneurs also need to think of the Economies of Scale, they need to think big. They need to learn how to manage a business, they need to work on their numbers, they need to price their products correctly so they can make a profit and most importantly they need to dig deep to make their business bankable,” he stressed.
Isaacs added that the Bank has various products that young entrepreneurs can choose from to advance their business such as the Business Current Account, Business revolving Credit, Commerce Property Loan and Contract Financing, to name a few.
Managing Director of Leap Holdings Group, Ally Angula, who admitted that she had a rocky start from venturing into the Corporate to the Enterprise sector, said that she has found that people want to be employed but they do not want to work, which involves rendering their services beyond their normal working hours into the wee morning hours.
“There is a value in principles because you need to be principled in your decisions (as a business person),” Angula said. She added that start up’s should know that they don’t have a business until they are generating income.
Additionally, she pointed out that there are a lot of uncharted territories in Namibia for start ups and that provides immense opportunities for them.
“Namibians are not used to Start Ups, they are used to already established institutions. I want to advise them that they should not push to go get money (through lending) but they should gain traction through selling. Entrepreneurs need to fund their operation and not the growth of the business, do what you can with what you have,” she concluded.
