WOMEN BUSINESS OWNERS COMPLETE NEXT PHASE OF INTENSIVE, INTERACTIVE TRAINING

(June 30, 2017) Twenty women business owners entered the third stretch of their South African P&G Training Programme in Johannesburg. They are now approximately four weeks away from graduation set for July 28, 2017, following the completion of the 10-module programme. The training course is a collaborative initiative between P&G and WEConnect International in South Africa. Select experts from other WEConnect International corporate members are also participating and continue to add great value to specific topics. Several women business owners that oversee very successful businesses and have been certified by WEConnect International in South Africa are also participating to share industry and personal learnings with the trainees.

Module 5 titled ‘Building your brand by leveraging technology’ was presented by Terri Johnson, Media Manager for P&G and Tara Turkington, the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Flow Communications. The session focused on the objective of understanding the tools available to help your business compete in a technology-driven marketplace. During the session, Terri shared branding successes stories from P&G while also highlighting the important role that technology plays in business success, brand growth, and profitability. She also shared P&G’s best practices for managing e-commerce processes.

Tara then shared the inspiring story of how Flow Communications started emphasizing the critical role that technology played. She focused her session on social media strategies using real case studies from the Flow Communications portfolio.

Module 6 titled ‘Access to capital’ was introduced by Sanjeev Oza, Head of Supply Chain Finance, Sub-Saharan-Africa for Citi Bank, who educated the attendees on the supply chain financing program Citi runs for corporates. Charlton Thangalan, Enterprise Supplier Development Provincial Manager for ABSA/Barclays, then presented detailed information on the various programs available for women to access capital.

Finally, Federico Vassallo, Finance Group Manager for P&G, closed the day by sharing stories about the successful women entrepreneurs in his family. He also explained several viable options for women business owners to secure funding specifically emphasizing the need for attendees to prepare thoroughly, negotiate, and tap into helpful resources offered by corporates to entrepreneurs.

Feedback from trainees continues to be very positive highlighting the importance of having the content delivered by highly experienced experts from different companies.

For more information, contact: Jean Chawapiwa, Country Director of WEConnect International in SA,  jchawapiwa@weconnectinternational.org, +27 836606586