After eight weeks of vigorous training that included business skills development, valuable group and one-on-one mentorship, preparation of a comprehensive business plan and receiving significant marketing exposure, the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry 2015 Entrepreneur Competition drew to a close on Friday 13 November.  Dumile Cele CEO of the Durban Chamber said, “The promotion of entrepreneurship is a key to the growth of all businesses, especially small ones. The importance of this is that without business growth, there will be no job creation, limited social upliftment and poor economic growth.’’

Over the years the competition has grown significantly from when it was first initiated by the iLembe Business Chamber, with the aim of identifying and providing entrepreneurs and owners of micro-businesses with a foundation to develop their businesses to a sustainable level.  The competition has been refined since its launch in 2011 and is now a widely endorsed competition with national recognition.

The competition is jointly supported by the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (EDTEA) and the private sector, Nedbank sponsoring the Durban
Chamber’s competition.

For the Durban Chamber’s competition, businesses entering must have met the following criteria: Be registered in South Africa, operating within the eThekwini Municipal boundaries for at least a year, making a turnover of less than R1 million per annum, and business owners must be full-time in the business.

This year’s winners are:

• First Prize: Blessing Njabulo Sithole, Bakers Creationz
• Second Prize: Adesh R. Naidoo, Clean Street Trading
• Third Prize: Namhla Ngubo, Harvest From Heaven Foods

Bakers Creationz is a company that specialises in the production of confectionery food products including cupcakes, wedding cakes, specialty cakes and custom cakes for various events and ceremonies. The company strives to ensure that world class manufacturing and food safest standards are maintained.
Bakers Creationz also works with a number of independent distributors, some of which are suppliers to small retail outlets and spaza shops.

Clean Street was founded to offer mass exposure for advertising products and services and at the same time keeps the communities clean and green. Clean Street is the first, worldwide to create the environmentally friendly patented concept. The innovative business is focused on been environmentally friendly by keeping cigarette litter of the streets, as this is the number one street litter problem worldwide. The product features double sided bins for disposal of cigarette and gum litter and
double-sided advertising space. The attractive bin clamps around street light poles and traffic light poles offering convenient points of disposal, in full view of the thousands of daily commuters in the city, for cigarette and gum litter.

Harvest From Heaven Foods is a manufacturer and distributor of food products to local retail stores.
Products currently available are curried chillies and peri peri sauce.  They are located at Umkhumbane
Entrepreneural support centre in Cato Manor Durban.