Brandhouse has invested in a grassroots national entrepreneurship competition called Pitch and Polish for the second year running.
The competition is focused on assisting emerging entrepreneurs at a grassroots level to gain the access, support and mentorship needed to succeed. Partners in the campaign include Raizcorp, a company actively involved in supporting entrepreneurs. Job creation in South Africa will come from entrepreneurs who start up SMMEs, which is why Brandhouse is supporting the programme. The company believes that entrepreneurs are the economic future of this country.
Key challenges entrepreneurs face are a lack of management, marketing and finance skills and limited or no access to finance. The Pitch and Polish programme is designed to address these. Contestants are put through intense enterprise development training and thinking. This shows them how to turn a business idea into a business success. Contestants are not only judged on what the business idea encompasses, but also on how they present it – their tone and clarity of voice, their appearance, their ability to engage the audience, and numerous other nuances that ‘polish” the pitch.
Winner of 2010 Pitch and Polish Ntombenhle Khathwane says: ‘The business ideas presented in 2010 were so varying that it really shows what a great place South Africa is for people wanting to get into entrepreneurship. There are many opportunities. Every single contestant came out a better entrepreneur and with a better idea of how to take their business aspirations forward.”
With an unemployment rate of almost 25%, South Africa has one of the highest jobless rates in the world. National government has identified job creation as its priority and has asked business leaders to help government find solutions to the unemployment challenge facing the country.
In South Africa, nine billion jobs are created from small to medium businesses alone and one in six people generate income through SMMEs. This sector has the potential to become a key source of employment in South Africa.
The campaign also supports aspirations to bring social upliftment to outlying regions, thereby empowering communities with the knowledge they need to succeed in their own ventures.
For more information on brandhouse Pitch and Polish, please visit www.pitchandpolish.com.