Dr Rob Smorfitt, an authority on SMEs and their funding, is one of four featured speakers at the Pietermaritzburg Chamber of Business (PCB), Business 2020, workshops.

Two workshops are being held at the Chamber offices in Pietermaritzburg – one for start-ups on Tuesday 24 and a second for established businesses on Wednesday 25 March 2015.

Rob is a portfolio entrepreneur having owned and run a range of businesses over the years, spanning the telecommunications, IT and Internet fields as well as specialised education. He has lectured and administered programme for three universities and believes in “paying back” through the work he does in supervising students working on their PhD, Masters, and Honours-level theses.

Rob’s passion for small business is demonstrated through his involvement in funding fairs. In conjunction with KZN Provincial Treasury Rob is again presenting KZN SME Funding Fairs this year. There will be five this year with the first one being in Richards Bay with others to follow in Margate, Newcastle, Pietermaritzburg and Durban through 2015. These funding fairs are for businesses seeking between R1m and R30m in investment, in the form of debt, grant and/or equity finance.  

Rob will be speaking at Business 2020 on funding fairs and their potential role in assisting you to fund your business. He will also talk on other recent development in funding through crowdfunding platforms.  

The speakers on the 24th will be focusing their input on start-ups and new businesses (concept, or start-up businesses, or those under three years since their establishment). The workshop on the 25th will be focused around the needs of established SME businesses.  

Bryce Biggs of Bryce Biggs Consulting is coordinating the Business 2020 workshops on behalf of the PCB. For more details on the workshops, which will take place at the Chamber offices in Pietermaritzburg, contact Lorna Jones on 033 345 2747 or at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..