Thirty-three small business owners are now better equipped to be self-reliant in their ventures thanks to a programme sponsored by the Office of the First lady.
The Self-Reliance and Success in Business workshops, held over a period of two weeks, was conducted with participants from the communities of Lusignan, on the East Coast of Demerara, and Wismar/Blueberry Hill, at Linden, in partnership with Interweave Solutions, an international non-profit, which is committed to helping persons sustain small business ventures.
Coordinator of the workshops Wayne Barrow told reporters at a graduation ceremony hosted at State House yesterday that Interweave is committed to teaching persons the six principles of business, including the importance of planning.
“When they understand that and when they understand how to save and have developed a quality of life plan and have done market research, then they can better succeed,” he said.
He explained that his organisation has been working in Guyana since January on similar programmes.
“We deal mostly with micro-financing industries. We find everyone who can work together for the benefit of the people and then we continue to mentor them and offer them support,” he explained.
He spoke of the networking opportunities that were made available to the participants who learnt of the products and services that were available for sourcing in the community.
“In Linden, we found within the group an event planner who learned that she could have outsourcing within the group. You may be selling food, you may be a poultry farmer and you may be a promoter; you can all work together to create a great product and sustain your businesses,” he said.
According to Barrow, the Small Business Bureau is very happy with this project since the mentorship means that there are better options for developing successful businesses. “Some people want a small business loan and we will help them refine their business plans so that they can maximise the loans and grants,” he said.
While beneficiaries were mostly women, there were four men who took advantage of the workshop. One of them, Montaye Solomon, explained that even though the programme was marketed to women he chose to be a part of it to be better equipped to redevelop his failed grocery business.
As a member of Christianburg Section ‘C’ Community Development Council, Solomon learned of the programme and credits it with providing him with the knowledge to reinvent and establish a sustainable business.
“As a man, a husband and father, I chose to put aside the marketing and integrate myself. As men we need to be educated because we are the head of the home and we need to take that first step to provide for our home,” he told Stabroek News.
Paulette Rose, a retired craft teacher from Wisburg Secondary School, said she was invited through the Women of Mission organisation. According to Rose, the programme taught her the importance of planning. While she is currently teaching a tailoring class at the Wisroc Community Centre, her long-term goal is to extend her teaching to school dropouts.
Lennox Smith, a former employee of Rusal who is now a poultry and pig farmer, is hoping to use what he has learnt to extend his business.
“The information about the lending and how to go about sourcing loans and grants is new to me. In Linden, we never knew of the Small Business Bureau and what they offer. So, it is an advantage to us now that we know what we can source.
I am adding on to my pens because I intend to start doing crops soon. I intend to extend to about 500 birds and 25 to 30 pigs,” he said.
Minister of Business Dominic Gaskin, in delivering the feature address at the graduation, said the programme is closely linked to one of the five main rules of his ministry that of “increasing economic opportunities and capabilities of vulnerable groups and peoples.” He encouraged the participants to take advantage of the options offered by the Small Business Bureau and make a valuable contribution to the fight against poverty.
