The winner of the South African leg of the global Creative Business Cup will not necessarily be a well-known designer, and might not have even been considered a business person.
The Creative Business Cup is an international competition under the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) banner and is a featured event of Global Entrepreneurship Week, South Africa (GEW). The two day event will be held on 1 and 2 September in Johannesburg as part of The Small Business Expo.
Celebrating Creatives
The event celebrates what creatives do, and promotes creative industries worldwide. They recognise that it’s harder for creative entrepreneurs to be taken seriously than it is for emtrepreneurs in most other industries, many of whom don’t see themselves as business people who make a valuable contribution to the economy and to society. The cultural and creative industries contribute 3% to South Africa’s GDP, which is not insignificant.
The event seeks to support creative entrepreneurs with business development and international market access through the following initiatives:
- Improved access to finance through initiatives in investor readiness
- Global networking with startups, investors, companies and governmental entities
- Capacity building of entrepreneurship organisations
- Strengthened regional collaboration
- Offering innovation partnerships and training to businesses
- Development of global or regional accelerators
Who Can Enter
They are looking for early-stage design businesses based in Gauteng with good market potential – both products and services.
This year, they are focusing on the following design disciplines: fashion and design, gaming, travel and leisure, media and entertainment, social media, cleantech and energy, education, business operations, biotech and social enterprises. From 2018 the scope will be extended to include all the creative arts and the competition will be open nationwide.
Applications will be screened by a panel of judges who will then select 10 finalists.
The global finals will be held in Copenhagen on 16 November, 2017. The finalists will have opportunity to meet with various stakeholders from top international creatives to government and commerce, as well as investors. They will also participate in workshops to gain valuable business skills delivered by experts, some of whom are creative entrepreneurs themselves.
Applicants can register online: http://creativebusinesscup.co.za/. Applications close 21 July. Good luck. See you in Copenhagen.
About the author: Rick Ed at age 60 sold his business to a younger and more energetic management team. He now educates entrepreneurs on strategic decision making and sales. Rick is a business advisor at DoBetter.Business.
