Chairman of the United States-based Guyanese American Chamber of Commerce (GACC) Eldon Bremner told a forum here that small businesses do not have to remain small; that with the right combination of effective strategies and the right attitude on the part of their owners, these can grow to become big entities.
Speaking at Monday’s forum at the Critchlow Labour College, convened to help local small businesses design effective strategies for exporting to the United States, Bremner noted, “Large corporations, such as Nike started off as a small business and grew to become major players in the international marketplace. Many computer-industry leaders began by working out of their garages.” He cited Microsoft and Amazon as “prime examples of how a small business idea, transformed into a workable, well implemented, and managed plan can change the world. As one who has worked for decades in the hotel and tourism industry, I can attest to the international demand for quality products which reflect a unique and prestigious cultural and geographic and even historic flair.”
According to Bremner, a great example of this can be found in Guyana’s Demerara Distillers Ltd, which has achieved “special geographic identity in Europe and other parts of the world.”
He said that entrepreneurial growth demands adherence to “some of the basic principles of life such as honesty, discipline, commitment and a mentality that they do not know it all.”
He told the gathering that “the successful and sustained effective implementation of your business plan requires diligent cost control; the avoidance of waste.” Additionally, he asserted that entrepreneurial accomplishment also required “the highest levels of consistent quality product, reliability of supply and the best customer service you can offer.”
Monday’s forum was executed by the GACC in collaboration with various other local agencies and targeted principally, though not exclusively, micro and small businesses seeking to extend their reach into US markets.
