Women told to take advantage of govt support towards SMEs

PRIME Minister James Marape’s wife Rachael, pictured, has urged women to take advantage of the Government’s announced support of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to increase their participation in the sector.
Speaking at the opening of nationally-owned Hannah’s Beauty Box in Port Moresby on Thursday, Marape said of the 49,900 SME’s in the country, about 10 per cent of them were owned by women.
Marape said that status quo in the SME sector needed to change and increase to 40 or even 50 per cent.
“Let us share our own experiences we took to grow our SME with other women and help them grow their businesses too,” she said.
“Point them in the direction of institutions that offer training in financial literacy and business management.”
Marape drew on her own experience of what was needed to run a successful business.
“I also quit my job and started a catering business to support my husband,” she said.
“It is not easy trying to be a business woman, a mother and a wife and trying to balance my time with the challenges I face daily.
“But as the saying goes, experience is the best teacher.
“Through my experiences, I am in a better position now to say these; firstly, it is about time management.
“Secondly, you must learn to balance your time well as a business woman, mother and wife so that your family time is not affected.
“Thirdly, you must have someone you trust and is qualified who can help you manage and run your SME business.
“Fourth, and the most important is identifying a simple accounting package like MYOB, Quick Books and others that are reliable, user friendly and are suitable for the type of business you are running.”
Marape said an accounting pack would ensure financial statements for the year were prepared on time for annual taxation and annual returns purposes.
Hannah’s Beauty Box is a 100 per cent nationally-owned business that started off as an online business using Facebook and is now a registered business.
Marape said she was honoured to not only officially open Hannah’s Beauty Box but also to see an SME owned by a woman grow.