30 May 2016

Business advisor from Serowe Local Enterprise Authority (LEA), Ms Onalenna Makwati, has called on entrepreneurs to participate in flea market days if they are to advance their businesses and reach their intended markets.

She said this during the LEA flea market day in Serowe on May 28.

She said the flea market day offered business owners an opportunity to market their businesses, benchmark and also link their trades with other service providers.

“Through the flea market we have linked the confectionery operator with some tourism entrepreneurs as the two are interrelated,” the business advisor said in an interview.

She said the monthly flea market days had proved to be beneficial to their clients unlike in the past when they held the event once a year.

She said the monthly event, which had attracted business entities from Serowe and the surrounding areas, rotates among the different villages in the Central district.

The LEA representative said the flea market day event attracts Gender Affairs, LEA, Out of School Education and Training (OSET) and Poverty Eradication clients, as they have shown to be struggling with market for their products.

“We have observed that although some of our products are needed by many people, they have a challenge in accessing the market; hence the flea market,” she said, adding that one of their mandate as LEA was entrepreneur development an element important in any business entity.

 The LEA advisor said they were concerned that although the flea market was a platform for micro, small and medium businesses from all sectors, the department that they have collaborated with, usually furbish them with the list of small scale manufacturers only.

She said their desire was to see agricultural and tourism service providers taking part too and that they had witnessed a positive turnout since broadening their target audience.

One of the participants, Ms Neelo Kedikilwe, of Spring Lillies farm said she was grateful for the opportunity.

 “We have made good sales for the vegetables. Other than that some people have placed orders for larger orders. The flea market has helped us to reach the market that we couldn’t reach on our own and I would like to see more people taking part in it,” she said.

Ms Kedikilwe made a kill with her farm produce ranging from tomatoes, green peppers, red chilies, beans and water melons from her farm in Paje. Ends