New York trade mission prepares first-time exporters

Nearly 30 small and medium-sized businesses are undergoing an intensive export-readiness exercise ahead of a mid-September trade mission to New York, designed to help first-time participants turn international exposure into business opportunities.

Executive director of the Barbados Coalition of Service Industries (BCSI), Michelle Smith-Mayers, said the pilot initiative would identify and address gaps among participating businesses before they travel with Barbados Trust Fund Limited (BTFL).

Smith-Mayers told journalists the businesses were at varying stages of preparedness.

“None of them have done trade missions before, so this is a new thing,” she said as the BCSI held an Enterprise Export Readiness and Capability Workshop at Pelican House, Harbour Road.

Through its export facilitation facility, BCSI is assessing each business to determine its strengths, weaknesses and export-readiness gaps, including whether entrepreneurs have a clear understanding of their pitch, products and objectives.

“We’re gonna find that people are ready and there are people that are not ready and people that haven’t even begun to even think about being ready,” Smith-Mayers said.

She said BCSI was drawing on its experience of working with established businesses on trade missions and applying the same principles to small and medium-sized enterprises.

“This is literally a pilot [programme] with SMEs,” Smith-Mayers said, adding that the support would continue after the businesses return from New York.

“It’s not a vacation, you’re actually going there to work.”

BCSI and BTFL representatives are expected to assist participants during the mission, including helping them navigate meetings, identify potential business opportunities and ask the right questions.

Smith-Mayers said the businesses would be assessed again after the mission to determine what results they achieved and whether they remained interested in exporting.

Those wishing to continue on the export path could then access additional BTFL programmes, including TOP and BUILD, to help them gradually reach the level required to enter international markets.

An enterprise development consultant with BTFL, Byron Gibson, said the initiative formed part of the Trust Fund’s broader TOP framework, which brings together training, business development, lending and financing.

“Many of the enterprises here today have gone through one or several iterations of different kinds of training programmes with the Trust Fund Limited; however, export readiness is a layer above that,” Gibson said.

He said the workshop represented the export development component of the Trust Fund’s enterprise export development framework and was intended to help participating businesses take the next step towards exporting.  (SB)