The criteria for exhibiting at the Durban Business Fair is very simple – but there is one essential stipulation.
“The Fair is for people who are in business and producing a product or supplying a service supporting businesses – but the product must be of quality and a high standard,” said Phillip Sithole, head of the City’s Business Support Tourism and Markets Unit, behind the annual event.
The product could be something like furniture or an engineering product, while a service, for example, could be provided by an accounting company or lawyer.
There are various categories of support services, including training and advisory services, as well as small enterprise development agencies or government departments that support business enterprises. The City does not look at a company’s turnover when considering if they are eligible to exhibit.
Big companies also exhibit, giving smaller companies the chance to interact and network with them, thus helping them to become more sustainable.
Businesses from several of Durban’s sister cities around the world will also be exhibiting at the Fair, which will boast 500 exhibitors showcasing their products and services at the Durban Exhibition Centre.
This unique opportunity will enable companies wanting to grow and become globally competitive to forge valuable contacts and get invaluable information about how to go about doing business.
The international relations aspect of the Fair will be taken a step further this year too as several embassies – with offices and consulates in Durban – will also be represented to further aid companies wanting to widen their global interests.
The Durban Business Fair runs from October 13-18, with the first two days being dedicated to the conference.
The conference sessions will be looking at various issues affecting business, like compliance of regulations, such as those required by the South African Revenue Service.
Another important item will be discussions informing delegates of ways to get access to finance, while another new component will focus on the empowerment of women and youth. Successful entrepreneurs will also share their recipes for success.
The Fair was preceded by five highly successful regional fairs, which proved a critical platform to expose and position hundreds of small businesses to visitors, their communities, quality buyers and potential investors.
The most recent one was held in Clermont, when Councillor Nomvuzo Shabalala, the deputy mayor and chairperson of the City’s Economic Development and Planning Committee, said that it was important for everyone to support locally manufactured goods “because by doing so means we are all contributing to the City’s economy rather than enriching other countries.”
According to Sithole, no other city in SA has staged such an event of this magnitude.
CITY PUMPS MILLIONS INTO SUPPORTING SMME’s
The City has invested millions into the highly-successful Durban Business Fair and millions more will be ploughed into the event over the next three years.
The aim is to boost small, medium and micro-enterprise (SMME) development, enabling them to participate meaningfully in the economy.
The Municipality, which started the Fair 17 years ago, has invested more than R100-million over the years, with the figure increasing every year, said Councillor Nomvuzo Shabalala, the deputy mayor and chairperson of the City’s Economic Development and Planning Committee.
As for the SMMEs themselves, they had contributed R11-million towards participating in the Fairs over the years.
The City is to invest another R63-million in the main Fair – which generally attracts 15 000 visitors – over the next three years. (There are also smaller regional Fairs leading up to the big Fair).
“We have created a wonderful platform for business to network and to help them to grow,” said Councillor Nomvuzo Shabalala, an enthusiastic champion of the event.
She said the Fair is now some 10 times bigger than when it started back in 1998, and is now as big as it can go, with 500 businesses showcasing their products and services.
FAIR BREEDS SUCCESS
The Durban Business Fair has produced many a success story, and one such inspirational story is that of Nokuthula Dladla, an underprivileged black woman, who exhibited at the Fair in 2009, just a month after forming her company, Megaphase Road Marking and Traffic Signs, which manufactures and supplies quality signage, road accessories and road-marking paint. It is a 100% black woman empowered company operating in a male dominated industry.
Dladla attended a city-run workshop for fair exhibitors on how to run their stand – then went on to be awarded the prize for having the best stand. It was to be the first of a long list of awards down the years.
“Winning that award gave us exposure in newspapers, magazines and by word-of-mouth. That exposure helped to launch the business, opened doors and helped the company to grow,” she said.
“Durban Business Fair is a wonderful platform for anyone starting out in business,” Dladla added.
Dladla’s business has grown dramatically since those early days. By manufacturing cost effective, quality products and being dedicated to total customer satisfaction, Dladla and her team have developed a competitive advantage.
Some of her big clients include the Department of Transport, and her company’s services were also used during the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Dladla’s aim has been to empower and create employment for women and the youth – and she has achieved that goal. When she opened her business, she employed eight people. Today that figure has grown to 61 people.
Another entrepreneur whom the city is very proud of is Sibusiso Shabalala (no relation to the deputy mayor) of Adapt IT, who also exhibited at the Durban Business Fair.
Shabalala has said that when he founded his company, his vision was to create eThekwini Municipality as an IT hub and to make a difference by creating employment.
His company is now valued at R1,2-billion, he employs a team of 550 people and has offices in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban as well as having people based in Australia, New Zealand and Ireland.