The winners of the first 702 Small Business Awards with Softline Pastel were announced on Monday night at ceremony attended by the finalists.

The competition ran over 4 weeks, starting with a call to the public to nominate small businesses who provide excellent service. Over 1 100 nominations were received and from these, 30 finalists were chosen, two of which were interviewed on air each day – on John Robbie and David O’Sullivan’s shows. At the ceremony, all the finalists commented that the response they received from this airplay was phenomenal. “My phone’s been ringing non-stop since the interview!” was a typical response from the delighted finalists.

The winner – Daisy Nteta, who started Nteta Cleaning Services – will receive a substantial advertising package on 702, including production and airtime, and she and the runners up – Knob Co and Lebo’s Soweto Backpackers - received start-up software from Softline Pastel.

Partners in the awards, Talk Radio 702 and Softline Pastel were both passionate about the concept from the beginning. 702 saw the need to celebrate the small businesses that drive the economy, and knew how important coverage on the station could be to growing businesses. “A business that offers great service will grow through word of mouth, and 702 passes that word of mouth on to a wider audience,” said John Robbie, who was MC at the event.

For Softline Pastel, the awards were a natural fit. “I have had the good fortune to start a small business and watch it grow into a big business, and I know all the challenges and rewards of small business,” said Softline Pastel managing director, Steven Cohen. He added that as a business grows, it’s imperative to keep a scorecard of where you’re at, and Pastel has accounting software specifically designed for small businesses.

Both partners stressed the important role that small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) play in reducing unemployment in South Africa. Pheladi Gwangwa, 702 station manager, said that this became one of the deciding factors for choosing the winners. “Nteta Cleaning is a brilliant example of self-employment and also of creating employment for others,” she said of the company, which currently employs 18 people, and has a huge scope for growing that number.

Cohen added that he believed unemployment to be one of the biggest threats facing our country, and that a thriving small business sector was the best way to alleviate this problem.

702 and Pastel agreed that the awards were a great success, but that they hadn’t anticipated the impact they would make. “It’s refreshing to hear so many positive stories,” said Gwangwa. The presenters who interviewed each finalist echoed this sentiment, “This is the most meaningful promotion we’ve had on 702,”commented Robbie, while O’Sullivan said he was overwhelmed by the audience response to each story. Cohen was delighted to see how supportive all the finalists were of each other at the ceremony, “Everyone congratulated the winners, and complimented each other on their success, which is very rare for a business competition,” he said.

For more information, visit www.702.co.za