The SNV Ghana project on supporting GrEEn Businesses, has trained 23 Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) in the areas of branding and sales strategies in the Western Region. The training came after six months of intensive incubation processes of the businesses, mentorship sessions as well as Business to Business trips, to build strong marketing linkages that will last the test of time. Mr Erasmus Mensah Ackon, the Executive Director of the Duapa Werkspace, an Enterprise Development Centre and organisers of the training, said the overall goal was to promote more market penetration methodologies, ensure access to diverse market and build the wealth base of the SMEs. Mr Ackon said, 'already, some of these SMEs have received funding to improve their businesses and looking at them being connected to other industries to promote their business, we thought it wise to give them this sales and branding training.' He said producing products and ensuring they did well on the market were different activities all together, saying 'If you can't sell, you can't survive, so we've connected them to industries and it's time for them to learn more about branding and sales, to be able to sell more of their products and be able to reach out to more customers.' Ms Lydia Owusu Diko, a facilitator from EK Brand Consult, said Africa had competitive markets and the training was to give them guidelines on how to sell whatever they produced. She entreated the beneficiaries to use feedback to build solid brands to grow their businesses. Ms Millicent Lambog, the Chief Executive Officer of Eggs and More, one of the participating SMEs, noted how beneficial the course had been to her in terms of providing quality customer service. The class later pitched sales ideas in a role play, to show their level of understanding and absorption of the three-day workshop.

Source: Ghana News Agency