By: Geraldine Kalabai – EMTV Online, Port Moresby
The Extreme Build-A-Business event is part of the WECREATE Challenge Business model Competition designed to boost aspiring entrepreneurs to develop their businesses, by increasing their awareness of the resources available in Papua New Guinea.
Participants will be taught key aspects of a successful business as well as practical lessons about viable business models and resource maximisation from experts.
WECREATE connects participants to people who will assist them in getting their business ideas off the ground or to further the development of their existing businesses.
The WECREATE initiative is a public-private partnership between Griffinworx and the U.S Department of State Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs that has launched four centres since 2015.
Many of the participants expressed their appreciation for programs such as this, as it allows them to gain the necessary skills to further their individual businesses and help others who hope to one day run their own businesses.
One participant, a librarian by profession, had been sitting on a prospective business idea for almost ten years, until she applied for the WECREATE Challenge and believed her dream would be realised.
“I am a librarian by profession…I do not have sufficient business experience to get my idea off the ground…What I hope to achieve, is to improve the lives of people in my community,” she said.
The all-female participants were eager to learn and develop their existing skills through the training and presentations that were to take place throughout the course of the workshop.
The two day event will run from, January 27 – 28, at the Laguna Hotel, with over 100 entrepreneurs present. However, only 25 businesses are eligible for the Top 25 Pitch Event.
