The Minister responsible for Small Business Development is advising persons desirous of starting any micro, small or medium-sized businesses to ensure that they have viable business plans that adhere to the basic principles of good governance of a small enterprise.
“Because you are a micro or small business does not mean that you must operate like an antiquated mom and pop shop. Nobody is asking you to go and hire a chartered accountant or have a lawyer on staff, but to recognise that if you don’t plan your business and structure it appropriately and get help from others, then you are destined to fail,” he stated while speaking to The Barbados Advocate recently.
His comments came as he suggested that too often people develop ideas for business but do not put in the groundwork to determine if the idea is a good one, and whether it can survive. As such, he is contending that gone must be those days.
Turning his attention then to access to financing, which he acknowledged is a challenge for the sector, Inniss said while Government is willing to provide some funding, its actions must not “crowd out” traditional sources of financing. He made the point while contending that commercial banks have a significant role to play in helping to advance the small business sector. The Minister, who also holds the portfolios for Industry and Commerce, said the commercial banking system has “great liquidity” available, and small businesses should not be wary of approaching these financial institutions for funds to start or grow their ventures.
“In fact, I think there are some enterprises that can benefit from the more stringent analysis as provided by the traditional commercial banks. But there are people who may want to give the impression that Government should just give grant financing or financing to these entities even if they are very high risk. Some of the same people then complain about potholes, lights not working, and of schools needing to be fixed; but how can we do those things on the social services side if we are busy just giving away money to another sector?” he queried.
With that in mind, Inniss expressed his strong belief that there needs to be a paradigm shift in thinking in Barbados as it relates to what the State is supposed to do. The idea that the State can and must provide everything to everybody, he maintained, is not practical. As such, he pushed the importance of businesses repaying loans from Government, contending that in instances where they do not, it is the wider society that suffers.
“When we lend money and businesses cannot pay back that is taxpayers’ money that is wasted and my constituents pay a hell of a lot of money in taxes and I am not going to be any part of wasting that tax. So for me there has to be balance and I speak from experience,” said the former businessman said. (JRT)
Section: