Start businesses that complement another business, entrepreneurs told

SMALL Medium Enterprise Corporation (SMEC) acting managing director Petrus Ralda says entrepreneurs need to start businesses that complement other businesses rather than something that already exists.
Ralda said this during the launch of the Port Moresby North-East SME Famili Bit project on Tuesday.
He said people looking to get into business needed to assess the profitability of the industry they were getting into, whether they could find a niche in that industry and still be successful.
“Currently, when we want to do business, we are doing copycat businesses,” he said.
“When someone wants to start a poultry business, everyone starts a poultry business.
“When someone starts a taxi business, everybody wants to start a taxi business and there are now a lot of cabs around.
“Why can’t we do related businesses that complement each other – when someone is running a PMV (private motor vehicle), you start a fuel station, tire service or repair shop.
“In that way, businesses can act as a foil for one another and support and grow with each other.”
Ralda said Government agencies and departments had been creating policies and running parallel for too long with no convergence.
“It is about time we review our policies and strategies so that everyone is benefiting from each other in some way.”
Ralda said members and corporative societies needed to start working together with agencies.