The Vocational Training for Females (VTF) Programme, a Non-Profit Organisation, has trained 138 artisans, mainly fashion designers and tailors, at Mampong and Ejisu in the Ashanti Region, to boost their capacities in Enterprise Management Skills (EMS). The four-day workshop covered topics such as Customer Service, Time Management, Costing and Pricing, Business Planning, Records Keeping, and the Balanced Entrepreneur to enhance their capabilities in enterprise management. The EMS are a set of tools or skills needed for the success of running sustainable businesses, which include planning, scheduling, and communication skills. The VTF Programme is, therefore, committed to promoting skills training and employment for women and the youth, hence the workshop was part of a broad-based training programme to support Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). The Programme, in strengthening Technical and Vocational Skills training, has observed, over the years, that micro-entrepreneurs and self-employed persons play an important role in employment creation, particularly for the youth and females, and thus need a tailored intervention and support to thrive. 'Unfortunately, they lack the necessary knowledge, skills and attitudes to manage their businesses and this results in low productivity levels and low sales which hinder such businesses from growing and sustaining their income,' Mrs Patience Adiekeke Morrison, the lead facilitator at the training, said. She noted that for the past years, VTF had been very much concerned about supporting such enterprises through training, coaching, and mentoring to better appreciate their work with seriousness. Mrs Morrisson, the Gender and Entrepreneurship Development Officer of the VTF Programme, said considering the potential of SMEs in socio-economic development, continuous training and consistent support would help such businesses to thrive and expand to enable them to employ others and reduce the unemployment rate in the country. She, for instance, mentioned customer care as a ke y component of growth in self-employed enterprises, yet that seemed not a priority for players in the industry and hoped that the training would help change the narrative. Many such business owners, which the VTF had trained and mentored, were doing well, she said, and urged the participants to embrace the training to enhance their products and improve the economic wellbeing. Source: Ghana News Agency