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Speaker 1: Running a small business takes more than just a good idea.

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Speaker 1: Takes the right support, the right tools, and people who

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Speaker 1: understand what it takes to grow something from the ground up.

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Speaker 1: And that's exactly what MT and Business is focused on,

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Speaker 1: helping SMEs at every stage, from starting out to scaling

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Speaker 1: up with the solutions they need to run and grow

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Speaker 1: their businesses. That thinking also sits behind the seven two

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Speaker 1: MPT and Small Business Awards to recognize the SMEs doing

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Speaker 1: the most and help take them even further. We join

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Speaker 1: now on seven oh two drive by doctrn Corsi Kumalo.

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Speaker 1: He is GM for SME and Indirect Channels at MT

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Speaker 1: and Business. We're going to talk about how MPT and

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Speaker 1: Business is enabling small businesses and what these awards mean

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Speaker 1: for SMEs. Doctor Kumalo, Welcome, It's great to have you

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Speaker 1: with us. What is this partnership all about? I mean,

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Speaker 1: why do we need awards? You could just tell people

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Speaker 1: about what you're doing. This is clearly something that you

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Speaker 1: feel adds much much more to just get then just

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Speaker 1: getting your message out.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, a bright yellow afternoon to you and to you

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Speaker 2: and your listeners. Yeah, SMTN, we are obviously leaning in

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Speaker 2: now and making sure that we support the flight of

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Speaker 2: the small businesses during these difficult times. I mean, we

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Speaker 2: could have spent this money on an advert, but we

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Speaker 2: have chosen to participate in the awards, and awards are

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Speaker 2: really good in terms of storytelling, in making sure that,

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Speaker 2: you know, we build a sense of hope for small

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Speaker 2: businesses that are looking for, you know, the standards that

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Speaker 2: they need to beat. So, I mean, we know how

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Speaker 2: difficult things are within their small businesses. I mean, almost

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Speaker 2: sixty three percent of small businesses, according to my research,

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Speaker 2: do not make it past the second day of operations.

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Speaker 1: Wow.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, So we're coming in as MTN and making sure

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Speaker 2: that we are you know, coming leaning in and supporting

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Speaker 2: the small businesses.

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Speaker 1: I mean, one of the great things about doing it

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Speaker 1: in this format is that it allows you to actually

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Speaker 1: tell stories and first of all, the showcases the excellent

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Speaker 1: work people are doing, but hopefully the other people out

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Speaker 1: there may be battling a bit, maybe thinking to your

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Speaker 1: stat most of us actually don't succeed to hear about

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Speaker 1: people who are succeeding. So I think that makes a

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Speaker 1: lot of sense. Not just the one sort of campaign though,

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Speaker 1: you're looking for relationships, partnerships for staying with people on

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Speaker 1: a longer journey. Say more about that if you will.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. So this is a third year where we partnered

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Speaker 2: with seven o two targeting small businesses that are doing

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Speaker 2: some great work out there. Last week when I was

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Speaker 2: here talking to Wangani, I mean I shared a story

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Speaker 2: for you know, how Zeda has actually grown, you know,

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Speaker 2: from the publicity that we have given them through this initiative.

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Speaker 2: The previous year when I was with you at the awards,

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Speaker 2: we saw how Corney's Biscuits actually came in and was

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Speaker 2: actually a great case study of how these two girls

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Speaker 2: started a business, took it over from their mom, and

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Speaker 2: basically industrialized it. You know. I mean I was reading

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Speaker 2: a day ago. Sheldon, one of the participants in last

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Speaker 2: year's awards. He's the owner of the barber the growing business.

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Speaker 2: I mean he's sitting at eight hundred people that he's employed.

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Speaker 2: Goodness right now, over eighty stores national no longer it's small, fantastic.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, no, that I mean, those numbers and those

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Speaker 1: stories are what we're going to be highlighting both the

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Speaker 1: class of twenty six, but also as you're doing now, Doc,

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Speaker 1: reaching back into some of the success stories from the past,

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Speaker 1: let's salk products and what you're actually offering. Digitization is important.

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Speaker 1: Accepting of digital payments as the world moves more and

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Speaker 1: more cashless give us a sense of what an empty

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Speaker 1: and partnership might mean in those terms.

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Speaker 2: So look, I mean, firstly, I'm super proud and very

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Speaker 2: excited to hear that yesterday we were obviously awarded the

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Speaker 2: most valuable brand in South Africa. I mean, beating every

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Speaker 2: single brand that you know in the country. So that's

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Speaker 2: really really, you know, inspiring, and that doesn't come on

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Speaker 2: its own. It comes from the investment that we have

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Speaker 2: made as MTN, you know, the strength of our network,

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Speaker 2: the connectivity that we provide for small businesses. I can

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Speaker 2: just cite one example of the product that we have

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Speaker 2: got that is fit for purpos for small businesses, which

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Speaker 2: is you know, five G and able to fixed wireless access.

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Speaker 2: Some of the businesses that we are targeting are in

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Speaker 2: the township, some are in the rural areas where they

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Speaker 2: might not be fiber. And then we obviously use the

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Speaker 2: robustness of our fixed wireless access, which is just an

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Speaker 2: antenna we put outside the building pointed to a base

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Speaker 2: station and we give you fiber like speeds to actually

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Speaker 2: enjoy the benefits of a modern connected life as a

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Speaker 2: small business. You can liverate things like teams call that

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Speaker 2: is ancut by Microsoft to do video coming today, we

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Speaker 2: can actually see how crazy it is from a price

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Speaker 2: of petrol. Businesses don't have to be driving up and

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Speaker 2: down to meet potential clients. Just get connected, use robust

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Speaker 2: network and be able to enjoy connecting with people outside

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Speaker 2: of your building without having to leave the business. This

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Speaker 2: is what we are capable of providing businesses.

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Speaker 1: So there's seven oh two, there's Emptyn, But the other

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Speaker 1: partner in all of this is the Wilder seven oh

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Speaker 1: two family listening in as you set out your goals,

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Speaker 1: but also the tools that you are looking to provide

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Speaker 1: se with what's your message to listeners because they've got

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Speaker 1: a big part to play in what we're trying to

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Speaker 1: achieve together.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, look, so we are inviting all residents of houting

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Speaker 2: small businesses. If you know of a small business that

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Speaker 2: is doing some great work out there, we invite you

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Speaker 2: to nominate them. Going to Prime Media Plus website, go

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Speaker 2: in there, look for a banner that has got empty

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Speaker 2: and seven or two business hours clicking there and nominate

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Speaker 2: the business. There are obviously quite nice, you know, benefits

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Speaker 2: from a business that has actually been nominated. The number

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Speaker 2: one leading or the one that we nominate would get

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Speaker 2: over two hundred thousand of I mean of seven or

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Speaker 2: two airtime. The second best would obviously get one hundred

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Speaker 2: thousand including the third and there's a cash component that

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Speaker 2: we also inject in this, you know. And yeah, so

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Speaker 2: the message to everyone is support those businesses, put them forward,

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Speaker 2: let them enjoy the benefits that come with this initiative

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Speaker 2: as a partnership between seven or two and MTN.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and of course before the judging takes place, and

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Speaker 1: if it's the previous years or anything to go by,

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Speaker 1: it will be fiercely competitive in the standards will be high.

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Speaker 1: But as we talk to those small businesses, Bongani and

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Speaker 1: I will be doing this consistently over the next couple

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Speaker 1: of weeks. You do not know who is out there listening.

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Speaker 1: There may be an opportunity in what seems like a

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Speaker 1: conversation for something special to happen. Thank you very much,

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Speaker 1: Dr and Corsi Kumalo, first of all for joining us

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Speaker 1: on seven oh two Drive, but secondarly for making this

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Speaker 1: partnership happen with us right here on seven oh two,

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Speaker 1: and the success stories and the stories of growth and

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Speaker 1: jobs created and prosperity generated are inspiring. We're going to

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Speaker 1: do it again this year. Dr Kamalo is GM for

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Speaker 1: SME and indirect Channels at Empten Business. This is seven

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Speaker 1: oh two drive. It's five o'clock