Small business owners benefit from product promotion, advertising training

Georgetown  :  The Ministry of Business today held a one-day training session for small scale business owners as it turns its attention to product promotion and advertising.

 The session which was held at the Arthur Chung Convention Center focused on several areas including advertising, packaging, labelling, marketing and promotion, marketing channels and mediums, customer service and the use of social media among others.

The training session was aimed at helping entrepreneurs to determine the most effective and efficient means of advertising and promoting locally produced products.

 Speaking at the opening ceremony, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Business, Rajdai Jagarnauth pointed out that this workshop was organised as a result of a national product survey which was done by the Ministry of Business and New Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC) for locally produced products.

 The survey focused on agro processed products; and its aim was to identify the factors contributing to the demand or lack thereof for the products.

The results of the survey indicated that there was a lack of awareness of the products, challenges facing small business in terms of financial and technical capabilities, along with the lack of investment in promotion and marketing of products.

 It is expected that the beneficiaries would be able to attract more consumers and their products will be more recognised and established at the end of the workshop.

 The Permanent Secretary encouraged the participants to share the knowledge acquired with their colleagues and friends.

Meanwhile, GMC’s General Manager, Miss Ida Sealey-Adams shared similar sentiments as the permanent secretary as she called for greater collaboration among businesses to improve their brands.

 Miss Sealey-Adams also encouraged the participants to work towards improving the packaging of their products, to make them more attractive to the consumers and to also promote their brands to build awareness and identity on the local and international markets.