Local SMEs urged to see opportunities beyond Barbados’ shores

Owners of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) should begin to ‘think global’ when it comes to conducting business in their various sectors, Minister of Home Affairs Wilfred Abrahams shared.

During a media briefing to discuss an initiative aimed at expanding the vision of the island’s business community, Abrahams urged local entrepreneurs to envision opportunities far beyond the physical confines of the country.

“A lot of businesses in Barbados are constrained by the fact that we see ourselves as limited by 166 square miles,” he noted.

“We see our marketplace as being limited by the 260 000 to 270 000 people that exist and live in Barbados but if you have a product that is a worthy product, it should not be limited to our square miles. You should only be limited as far as your imagination can take you.”

The highlight of the briefing was an upcoming workshop titled Finding the Missing Links: Enhancing Your Digital Strategy with Artificial Intelligence, to be led by recognised Google expert and digital coach Vicente Pimienta.

His engagement in Barbados, facilitated by the United States Postal Service, is set to inject a fresh perspective on digital and global market expansion strategies for local businesses.

Noting his enthusiasm to share his nearly 30 years of experience with the participants, Pimienta said: “The key thing here is to help the small . . . younger entrepreneur . . . the future of Barbados; help them understand how to overcome the most common obstacles online and actually how to help people buy from them with techniques, creating relationships, and creating a great local community that will be supported not only by the government agencies but the postal services and with a lot of enthusiasm from the small business owner.”

With a keen interest in helping businesses thrive and build a community, the digital coach pointed out that with the existence of artificial intelligence, “small businesses can be revolutionised to give the impression that they are bigger”.

“I’m going to share step-by-step, best practices, lessons learned, and next steps in order for you to grow your business and take advantage of this digital world, which is now global,” Pimiento said of the workshop’s agenda.

Spearheaded by the Barbados Postal Service, which is a department with the Ministry of Home Affairs and Information, the workshop will take place over two days and will focus on various topics catering to the diverse group of some 78 entrepreneurs expected to be in attendance.

Elaborating on the long-term vision, Minister Abrahams said, “We hope at the end of this that we have excited the imagination of a few, from which more will grow.”

“We are also going to look at training trainers because Mr Pimienta can come here and he can talk to a few people [but] if we want the word to spread, the ideas to take root and develop a whole new cadre of entrepreneurs and re-establish a new mindset, then we have to have people in Barbados who are also capable of delivering and reinforcing that message,” Abrahams said.

Supporting this vision was Minister of Youth, Sports and Community Empowerment Charles Griffith who emphasised the alignment of the government’s efforts with the needs of the young entrepreneurial demographic, highlighting the focus on young male entrepreneurs through the publication of a special magazine.

“This particular workshop is very timely,” he stated, pointing out the expansion of his ministry’s Youth Entrepreneurship Scheme to more locations as a sign of increasing engagement among youth.

Both ministers said the upcoming workshop is a critical component of their strategy to re-energise the economy and empower local entrepreneurs to scale their operations internationally.