Boost your Biz winners announced
PICK n Pay yesterday announced its top 24 entrepreneurs at its Boost your Biz competition. The event took place at the retailer’s Kenilworth head office.
Pick n Pay partnered with Absa Bank and Times Media to give the Boost your Biz finalists access to the information, resources and mentorship they needed to develop their business ideas
After receiving an overwhelming response in April from more than 540 aspirant entrepreneurs and potential suppliers to Pick n Pay, the company sent 60 semi-finalists on an intensive sixweek business training programme.
The finalists, from Gauteng, Pretoria, Port Elizabeth, Richards Bay, George and the Western Cape, were flown to Cape Town after completing the programme, to make their final business pitch to the judges.
Pick n Pay also named the winners of three special awards: Best Business Pitch, Best Overall Presentation and Best Innovative Idea.
Suzanne Ackerman-Berman,Pick n Pay’s director of transformation, said: “We were so impressed by the high standard of the entries and the entrepreneurs and are committed to transforming their ideas into sustainable and viable businesses that we decided all 24 of the finalists would be named as winners in our inaugural Boost your Biz competition. We have no doubt that all participants will contribute in a very real way to growing this country’s economy by creating jobs and developing further skills.”
More than half of the winners were women, with most of the products coming from the edible groceries category. The other innovations include beauty and baby items, clothing, convenience as well as liquor and wine.
The winning businesses, in addition to receiving laptops from Absa, will be guaranteed direct access to Pick n Pay’s retail shelves. This includes preferential trading and payment terms, packaging development and design, guidance and on-going expert advice in all aspects of business such as financial planning, strategy, mentorship and distribution.