–GTT continues to push flexible services, partners with organisation for small business conference and expo in July

THE Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GTT), has continued its efforts to support small businesses by offering flexible and affordable services and sponsoring events that promote and support entrepreneurship.

In its latest move to assist small businesses, GTT has partnered with Together We Win Business Network’s (TWWBN) for a small business conference and exhibition on July 15 – 17, 2022 at MovieTowne Guyana.

During an interview with the Guyana Chronicle, Chief Operations Officer (COO) of GTT, Orson Ferguson said that this initiative, which will be held under the theme, “Run together, win together: Turing setbacks into comebacks,” is geared at expanding the reach of small businesses.

The conference is expected to facilitate some 200 participants and 30 local exhibitors, according to the business network’s Founder and President, Marlon Joseph.

He had told the Guyana Chronicle that the conference is expected to feature a line-up of several private sector business experts, who will provide practical knowledge to the participants on a variety of business-related topics, including how to generate sales, negotiation skills, safety, and health in small businesses, agro-processing in 2022, emotional intelligence in business, and overcoming start-up hurdles faced by women and youth in business.

Joseph had said too that at the end of the conference, participants will have a basic understanding of how to create, manage and sustain a business.

In addition to being on board for this conference, GTT, on a larger scale, has been offering special services to small businesses through its Connex service.

Ferguson said that Connex provides small businesses with faster internet as well as 6,000 minutes free every month, inclusive of calls to the United States of America (USA) and Canada.

Additionally, the COO said that GTT Business Solutions, among other businesses, sponsored the Small Business Week to not just highlight small businesses but to have them engage with potential customers.

“They were able to sell their products to other businesses as well as to consumers who were visiting the expo,” Ferguson said.

He related that the company also sponsored UncappeD Marketplace, which provided small businesses with the opportunity to showcase their products.

Meanwhile, Ferguson related that GTT Business Solutions is very active with business support organisations.

“…the Private Sector Commission, GSMA, [we are] very active because these organisations are by definition, designed to support small businesses. Our goal is to give small businesses the tools that they need to be competitive not just locally, but internationally,” he said.

Ferguson related that GTT Business Solutions intends to continue to sponsor events beneficial to small businesses and to initiate their activities to “put small businesses in front of customers so that they can showcase themselves and products.”

Additionally, he said that investments are being made to have employees which directly interact with customers, to be trained so that there would be consultants who work with small businesses to give advice about technology solutions on a day-to-day basis.