#CDBsmbFriday – A platform for Sri Lankan entrepreneurs to thrive
We believe that our community is built upon the compassion and humanity we have towards each other and as your friend, CDB seeks to devise new initiatives to practice these values every day. In our pursuit, we came across a group of individuals who are valuable to our country’s economy and deserve a much wider exposure than they currently receive.
It’s small and medium enterprises that makeup 75% of businesses and 45% of employment in Sri Lanka(Gendered Impacts of COVID-19 on Small and Medium, Oct 2020). We ventured on to create better market exposure for these businesses through CDBsmbFriday since it is our belief that small and
medium entrepreneurs can be a central pillar in creating a sustainable economy in the country. Aligned with CDB’s sustainability strategy, this initiative enables us to empower and connect with Small and Medium Enterprises in Sri Lanka and uplift many communities which would otherwise be overlooked.
Image courtesy: ifc.org
Creating a digital presence
Snow Monkey was the first establishment to introduce ice cones to the Sri Lankan community in 2017. As a supporter of upcoming businesses, we saw the potential of Snow Monkey to become a local sensation.
Likewise, when Nifty Foxy Designs, a wooden toy maker, and Lunek’s TecLab, a rechargeable charcoal stove manufacturer caught our attention we were inspired to see how Sri Lankans are innovative and timely solution-providers. With the goal of helping them establish a digital presence, we assisted many businesses in creating engaging content and promoting this content on our very own digital channels, to reach a much larger audience.
CDBsmbFriday: Nifty Foxy Designs
CDBsmbFriday: Tanro Trading
CDBsmbFriday at Eat Street Colombo
Snow Monkey along with other enterprises that were featured in our CDBsmbFriday initiative, such as Red Dot Geek and Sarath Books got the chance to do some in-person marketing and sales at the Eat Street cmb as well. This physical space was ideal for our entrepreneurs to receive exposure for their businesses from a wider audience.
CDBsmbFriday 2.0
CDBsmbFriday 2.0, allows entrepreneurs to carry out online marketing via patpat virtual marketplace. Business communities such as pottery, batik, cane, brass, etc. that have been carried out through generations gains promotion from CDBsmbFriday 2.0. We are focusing on increasing exposure for small and medium businesses which are located outside of Colombo and that do not get sufficient
publicity. In the future, we are hoping to launch an initiative that would provide a physical marketplace for our entrepreneurs as well.
CDBsmbFriday: Eat Street Colombo
Empowering female entrepreneurs
As we were working with many upcoming and inspirational brands we were thrilled to see the increase in women entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka when compared to the past. CDBsmbFriday wanted to appreciate and motivate this positive advancement in our local business sector. As a first step, we created special content on par with International Women’s Day, featuring many women entrepreneurs who were doing their best to thrive in what they do. The workshop we conducted for women entrepreneurs from the Sri Lanka Army, Corps of Agriculture, and Livestock introduced them to a range of services offered by CDBsmbFriday. The patpat marketplace is one of the services which enhances their businesses by creating a selling platform and making them more visible through digital mediums. To make sure our entrepreneurs are well-equipped for an adverse time, we conducted a webinar on “how to navigate the business during the pandemic” during Covid-19.
Our initiative always tries to emphasize and support establishments led by women.
As you might have learned by now, CDBsmbFriday is our way of giving a boost to our local small and medium businesses which wouldn’t otherwise get any recognition. We see potential in you to help us empower our local business owners as well. You can nominate any business you think deserve more recognition to join CDBsmbFriday or if you own an upcoming innovative business or a unique business, this is your chance to get featured. Join us every Friday as we support our local businesses.