Small business given lip service

Jonathan Adams, president of the Small Enterprising Business Association (SEBA), says the governmet shows no real initiatives when it comes to small business development. As a result, entrepreneurs lacked proper knowledge on how to manage a business, a deficiency which translated into high failure rates, he said.

Speaking recently at the relaunch of the National Entrepreneurship Company (NEDCO), he said lack of training was  responsible for the past trend of a 90% failure rate of SMEs in TT.
 “It is the genius of small business that will provide the greatest of opportunities to the greatest number of people in TT and indeed the world,” he says. He also picked up the cause of the small business, saying that although micro-enterprise has been greatly assisted by NEDCO as a financial resource, “small businesses are quietly awaiting their turn.” “It is not the size that you are now that matters, it is the size that you will become,” he noted. Still, there have been success stories.

Allyson McLeod, owner of the hairdressing salon Nappy Roots and a grateful NEDCO beneficiary, had been conducting business in her field for eleven years but had stagnated. Since 2001 she had been trying to expand the business on her own to no avail, but with NEDCO she was able to receive the necessary financing to “move up to a different level.” Lincoln and Shanti Dwarika, a husband and wife team who own a restaurant and bar and who desired to start a laundry  turned to NEDCO as well. Having no security, they were unable to get a bank loan but NEDCO provided them with both advice and funds to purchase machines. Annette James, a dressmaker, admits that it was only with NEDCO’s help that she was able to “get back on her feet.” She was able to purchase a new serger and buy more expensive material, facilitating a move from selling on the streets to selling to retailers. As a result of NEDCO’s assistance, she says, she is able to produce more. The latest NEDCO offering, “Training Enterpreneurs for the Future” will offer diverse training modules, including, but not limited to, Strategies for Success, Basic Business Skills, Effective Methods of Marketing, Time Management Techniques, Stress Reduction Techniques and Business Networking.