{"id":6331,"date":"2020-02-14T14:01:27","date_gmt":"2020-02-14T14:01:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/?p=6331"},"modified":"2020-02-14T14:19:46","modified_gmt":"2020-02-14T14:19:46","slug":"sbec-business-forum-for-2020-examines-role-of-networking-in-the-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.foretiafoundation.org\/staging\/sbec-business-forum-for-2020-examines-role-of-networking-in-the-business\/","title":{"rendered":"SBEC Business Forum for 2020 Examines Role of Networking in the Business"},"content":{"rendered":"

T<\/span>he 2020 Regional Forum on business-networking has ended in Yaounde. Organized by the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Center<\/a><\/strong><\/em> at the Denis and Lenora Foretia Foundation<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, the forum, bringing together strategic stakeholders in the ecosystem took place at ActivSpaces, Immeuble Tecno, Boulevard de la Liberte Akwa, Douala on Friday 31st of January 2020. The forum organized with support from the Canadian Funds for Local Initiatives<\/strong><\/em> was held under the theme The Pivotal Role of Business Networking to Entrepreneurs in Cameroon<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0and focused on examining governmental support to entrepreneurs in Cameroon, access to finance, tax registration requirements and declaration procedures for SMEs in Cameroon as well as accessibility of business Consultants to Entrepreneurs in Cameroon.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

A research work done by the Small Business and entrepreneurship Center (SBEC) indicates that the literature on entrepreneurial and small business networking has substantially increased in volume during the last years. The interest has been driven both from the entrepreneurial side, where businesses inter-link rapidly and form network configurations and from the policy side, where governments have implemented a variety of policies to encourage economic growth through self-employment and to support small businesses. The active positioning of entrepreneurial firms in the business arena the research work says, coincides with building effective business relationships with customers and suppliers,\u00a0 government bodies and large corporations, or with professional bodies and lead clients. This makes small firms embedded in an intricate set of business relationships, connecting local, national and international partners, government agencies, financial institutions, or consumer and professional associations. It also indicates that entrepreneurial networks can be defined as organized systems of relationships with customers, suppliers, and other entrepreneurs, with relatives, external consultants and other agents, or potential partners. Entrepreneurial and small business networks usually represent dispersed and varied networks with uncertain boundaries and resource-based or role-based division of labor. They are comprised of autonomous agents that are linked to each other via various formal and informal contracts, who design collective strategies and share information. In addition, create partnerships with government agencies, banks, and Microfinance Institutions to access finance.\u00a0 The network is governed by the allocation of specific roles to individual members, which are inscribed in contractual relationships. The division of labor in the network stems from the specialization and unique capabilities of individual firms, and embody resource-based input-output dependencies that emerge with the evolution of the network<\/p>\n