The Boom Room was launched on the 6th of September in Cape Town, at the Table Bay Hotel at a breakfast function.
The Boom Room is a monthly interactive business forum for individuals and groups who have established companies and now want to make sure that they take the right steps to grow their company from infancy into a profitable and sustainable business.
According to the founders, this is a forum that will address the issues that face companies in the New Economy and provide insights into the challenges and opportunities that face entrepreneurs in the transition from start-up to booming business.
Derek Lubner, marketing director of Commerce One, a leading provider of e-marketplace solutions, and one of the founders of the Boom Room says that there is an urgent need for a function like the Boom Room.
"Eighty five percent of new business ventures fail after start-up - with an even higher ninety five percent failure rate of dotcoms. It is vital for new businesses to learn lessons from those companies and from the individuals that have endured both failure and triumphs in their quest for success. It would be na"ive to believe that successful entrepreneurs were just lucky to have `made it`. In fact, many have actually encountered many hurdles and hardships along the way." He adds that most young companies face similar challenges and opportunities in their transition from start-up to growth stage and finally mature organization.
Says Richard Mackinnon-Little, Consulting Director PricewaterhouseCoopers: "Research shows that business models have been turned upside down, with the main focus on brand and human capital. The Boom Room will give new companies a platform to learn and exchange ideas around these emerging global trends or models."
Linda Gerber, marketing director of SalesBid, a provider of online dynamic pricing solutions, and a cofounder of the Boom Room, says that these were the reasons that led to the establishment of the Boom Room, a monthly Cape-based non-profit initiative that is completely interactive with the focus on learning and knowledge sharing. "The Boom Room will take on a variety of forms over the forthcoming months including high-profile speakers, panel discussions and debates," she says.
"We aim to attract entrepreneurs and decision-makers who are working for relatively young companies and are in their first five years of trading that would like to learn and grow from the past failures and successes of similar young companies operating in the New Economy," says Gerber. She adds that this will not be restricted to the IT industry or dotcom companies but will aim to attract a broad spectrum of new businesses in SA from which vital business lessons can be learnt. The forum aims to cover some of the issues that new businesses are continually faced with especially in the areas of management, HR, technology, finance, marketing, competitive intelligence, and law.
Non-profit initiative
Gerber explains that the Boom Room is a non-profit initiative and all proceeds will go to Ikamva Labantu - meaning "the future of our nation". "We will ask members to pay for attending the Boom Room but this will be in the form of a donation, going entirely to charity," she says. The proceeds will be specifically channeled into Ikamva`s Community Connections Project, aimed to advance IT in South Africa among communities previously without access to computers and computer training. Helen Lieberman, executive director of Ikamva says, "technology is undoubtedly the gateway to economic development in the new millennium and it is this disadvantage which is likely to be one of the most decisive forces disabling community driven development in the future".
The initiative has received wide-ranging support from a range of companies. Founding sponsors of the Boom Room include Commerce One South Africa, SalesBid; and PricewaterhouseCoopers. ABSA bank, who recently held their fourth annual entrepreneurial workshop, is heavily involved in the development of new businesses and is now also a contributing sponsor of The Boom Room.
Intelligence B2 is also supporting the initiative and advertising agency Ethos is providing advertising services to the Boom Room. Award-winning Web design company Radarboy is providing the web development and maintenance of the website. The IMM (Institute of Marketing Management) and CITI (Cape IT initiative) are also supporting the initiative. "We`ve had an overwhelming response to the Boom Room and we`re looking forward to a successful series of functions," says Lubner. Iafrica.com are providing online coverage and Dockside Internet, a Cape based ISP, are hosting the online registration form for the Boom Room Web site.
To find out more about The Boom Room, please visit www.boomroom.co.za
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