Cape Town - Knowing the struggle of being new, aspiring entrepreneurs in the streets of Hout Bay, a group of young business owners have joined hands to start the Hout Bay Millennials Network and are calling on the youth to join them.

According to the founder, Miriam Olivier, this is their plan to create a platform for growth and creating a positive change in the community through supporting and collaborating with one another. She said Hout Bay has a lot of potential to produce prosperous businesspeople and sustain economic opportunities without relying on establishments immigrating from other areas.

‘’We are right in the centre tourism community but still living in poverty and unemployment, yet many of us have worked so hard to acquire some valuable skills that are not recognisable due to lack of exposure.

‘’Let's build a community that empowers one another and work together to start and grow successful businesses.

‘’There are those who are impressed and want to find out what this is all about. But I don't want to be the one driving it. I want the young people to contribute, bring their resources, and we all share ideas, talking about our experience, the journey as an entrepreneurs and hold mentorship programme for the aspiring. There are so many possibilities and opportunities that can come out of this programme,’’ said the owner of Miriam's Web Solutions.

Rick Musta is one of the interested entrepreneurs, hoping it would help uplift not just the small businesses but also be instrumental in fighting against unemployment in Hout Bay. He runs a digital marketing studio at the Harbour, where he's also offering basic computer lessons to unemployed youngsters.

‘’The biggest challenge we are facing is the lack of resources, financing and support from the locals. The impact one is trying to make goes unnoticed, but if we can come together, so much can be achieved in our communities,’’ he said.

Janine Petersen, owner of the J9 wines and founder of Wines of Colour NPO, also believes business in Hout Bay is fairly good ‘’as it is a tourism destination,’’ but said there's always been a challenge to build and leverage out of these kinds of networks. She said this is a space needed for both new and old business.