Jana Zuidema: There’s a lot of opportunity for South African businesses to export and grow our economy
In a bid to equip and guide export-ready female entrepreneurs from South Africa to export successfully, Jana Zuidema from R.A Woodcraft is one of 12 women who is currently participating in the Export Trade Training programme launched last month.
The Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry partnered with Trade Forward Southern Africa (TFSA) to launch the seven-week programme with businesses who already had a physical product that was ready to export, and were looking to build a more successful business.
“I’ve learned that exporting is quite a diverse and interesting subject and not to be taken lightly,” said Zuidema.
“But I also think there’s a lot of opportunity for South African businesses to export and grow our economy,” she said.
The training is an online course that runs on the TFSA website has various modules and includes weekly visits with an expert to prepare small businesses or businesses who want to gain the knowledge and the skills needed for exporting.
“This programme has definitely upskilled my knowledge of export,” said Zuidema. “I’ll be running the export programme in our business and it’s given me all the tools that I need to know on how to export our specific product and how to do it to the best of our ability.”
R.A Woodcraft is a joinery and wood machining business that was founded in 2016. The company currently has eight full-time employees and three working part-time.
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“We have a great team… They’re a very dynamic team, always keen to learn, keen to work really hard in helping us grow the business,” said Zuidema.
“Our mission and our vision is to grow the business and thereby employ more people to continue the skills development to fit in the mandate of our country, which is youth employment and skills development,” she added.