An overwhelmed and excited Myrtle Barnes of Playtime Productions was announced as the winner of the nail-biting clash in the 2016 George municipal Dragon's Den competition.
The announcement by Carli Bunding-Venter, local economic development manager of the George Municipality, took place on Friday 22 April.
An elated Barnes said afterwards that she was shocked because she did not expect to win. "It has been a really tough competition with good competitors. When I got up this morning I thanked God and asked his favour on me. In the semi-finals the dragons gave me tough questions and I went back to my presentation and changed it. I believe that is what made the difference."
Executive Mayor Charles Standers congratulated Barnes and all of the participants and thanked the George Business Chamber, TEN-SA, Absa and Seda for their partnership in the project.
"Projects of this nature offer a platform for our upcoming businesses to accelerate their growth. Fundamental to this growth is the ability of our entrepreneurs and smaller businesses to rise, join the playing fields and use every opportunity that exists to propel themselves forward. They are the front-runners in our growing economy, the game changers that will lead our city into the new dispensation of profound economic growth and development," said Standers.
R120 000 was made available for this mayoral entrepreneurship project which provided training to three groups of 30 entrepreneurs. The top six participants of each group received additional support training and were then given the opportunity to pitch their business ideas to the panel of "Dragons" on Friday. Bunding-Venter noted that participating in the project in the role of a Dragon proved to be a highlight and fitting end to her time at the George Municipality.
Barnes was awarded a cash prize for investment into her business and will also receive other non-financial business support such as registration and assistance with SARS compliance, implementation of an accounting programme, as well as marketing and web site development.
Johannes Viljoen from FarmFresh Direct, who was second, commented, "The past few weeks were a challenging time. I'm very happy with the outcome, though I didn't get the first place. I believe if you win, you deserve it." Marlon Vorster from Insomniac Party Bus was excited to receive third place. "I am happy for what the mayor and Business Chamber are doing for the community and I want to thank them. We learned so much over a course of six weeks and I am just grateful to have been part of it," he said. George Business Chamber Chairman Dr Willie Cilliers, said the importance of developing entrepreneurs to become valuable contributors to the economy should not be underestimated. To this end, entrepreneurial development programmes will continue in future. The competition among the 18 finalists was exceptionally strong with only 10 points separating the top eight participants. "Each of the entrepreneurs showed a unique offering which will surely contribute to their success and create opportunities for employment within their developing businesses. The Business Chamber will continue its support of those entrepreneurs who took part in the programme. It is hoped that all people with an entrepreneurial spirit will be encouraged to embrace the opportunities that are available to them and to make a difference to the lives of their families and communities," said Cilliers.
The success of the mayoral entrepreneurship project and previous entrepreneur training workshops has initiated interest from Trias, a Belgian based organisation that supports one million small entrepreneurs in 14 countries.