Dislabelled Organisation, a social enterprise with the core mandate to revolutionise special education in Ghana, has organised a forum to empower Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) on business management in Accra.

The forum, which brought together practitioners and representatives of PWD support institutions, enlightened participants on topics such as Financing an Organisation, Developing a Practice” and Building a Concrete Brand and Solid Marketing Strategy.

Mr Prince Dagadu, an Investment Professional, speaking on the topic, “Financing Your Organisation” said social enterprises were non-profit making organisation but depended on funds to run its activities, hence, he advised them to adopt good bookkeeping practices in order to use funds for their required tasks.

He asked business minded-people to separate institutional funds from personal accounts to avoid any form of fund mismanagement or oversight in fund management.

“Create separate accounts for the institution and avoid the practice of receiving institutional money through personal mobile money wallet,” he advised.

Mr Dagadu noted that participants could leverage on online resources to support them to manage their accounts better, and advised them to crosscheck the validity of financial institutions and investment funds with the appropriate institutions before they engage in any form of transaction with them.

Mrs Regina Agyare, the Chief Executive Officer of Soronko Academy, coding and human-centred design academy, advised the participants to focus on the core mandate of their organisation to provide a solution to the problems people faced.

She encouraged them to adopt strategic ways that would attract people to accept their vision and mission to sell their brand.

To know and understand the market, she asked them to take calculated risks and take advantage of the growing trends in technology to improve their service delivery.

Speaking on the topic “Building a Concrete Brand and Solid Marketing Strategy”, Madam Danielle Ofori-Atta, a Creative Director of Mhoseenu, a design studio, said the packaging was essential for successful marketing of a product or service, as it added value to them.

She, therefore, advised participants to prioritise the issue of packaging as part of their business strategies.

Businessmen and women, she said, ought to work hard to introduce excellence in their product branding to open up bigger markets for their vision to be realised and to contribute to socio-economic growth.

On her part, a brand was not limited to just the logo of the organization, but an intentional initiative to strategically communicate the organisation’s purpose, vision, mission and goals to the public.

“A good brand is that which lives a lasting impression on the minds of people when away,” she added.

Madam Baaba Enchill, the Founder of Hope Setters Autism Centre, said she had benefited immensely from the forum and pledged to implement the knowledge acquired to enhance her service delivery.

“Programmes of this nature should be organised much frequently to enhance service delivery and to enable us to learn from each other,” she said.
Mrs Aba Amegatcher of Dislabelled, explained that her organisation prepared educational programmes and interventions for individuals with intellectual and physical disabilities, and also mobilized support for Special Education Institutions.

She called on policymakers to put in more efforts to improve education for PWDs, by providing more professional teachers training institutions, disability-friendly school facilities and sufficient teaching materials.