Export opportunities identified for small biz

Small and medium-sized businesses have significant untapped opportunities to export products and services to markets across the Caribbean and Latin America, according to the Barbados Coalition of Service Industries (BCSI).

At an enterprise export readiness workshop at Pelican House, Harbour Road, executive director Michelle Smith-Mayers said that although businesses were increasingly exploring export opportunities, there was much more room for growth in nearby markets.

“There’s an increase in that. We do have small businesses that are exporting…but there’s a whole Caribbean that is untapped and unexplored,” she said.

Smith-Mayers said businesses must consider logistics, including how products or services would reach their destination, whether through distributors, direct sales or online platforms.

She noted that digital business was particularly promising, describing it as “the low hanging fruit” because of its portability.

“Exporting is not for everybody,” she said, explaining that BCSI focuses heavily on trade in services. Unlike physical products, services such as accounting, legal work, graphic design, game development and other professional services can be delivered from Barbados without the provider having to leave the island.

“There are a lot of instances where people are doing remote work for companies externally and they’re exporting their service,” Smith-Mayers added.

She said opportunities also existed beyond traditional markets, pointing to Latin America, particularly Panama, as an area with potential for Barbadian businesses.

“There’s so much opportunity for small and medium-sized businesses and microbusinesses in the region just next door,” she said.

Smith-Mayers noted that Barbadians already travel to Panama to buy inputs, clothing and other goods for sale, but said greater focus should be placed on reversing that flow by exporting Barbadian goods and services.

Byron Gibson, an enterprise development consultant with the Barbados Trust Fund Ltd, agreed that many businesses have products capable of competing internationally, but cautioned that having an export-ready product does not necessarily mean having an export-ready enterprise.

“The first thing that an enterprise needs is some kind of evaluation that establishes where they are,” he said.

Many Barbadian products already compete successfully against international brands on the shelves, demonstrating their quality and appeal, he argued.

“But an internationally competitive product and an enterprise are two different things,” he said. “We have, I would say, export-ready products, but what we now need are export-ready enterprises that can match their products.”

Gibson said businesses must also ensure they have the necessary intellectual property protection, contracts and internal capacity to operate internationally.

The focus must therefore be on both the firm’s ability to deliver internationally and the owner’s understanding of what is required to successfully enter overseas markets, he said.

(SB)