Arguably the standout feature of the micro and small business sector in Guyana today is the energy and vibrancy which women, notably younger women, are bringing to the sector and what, in many instances, are the rewards which they are reaping on account of the grit and determination and certainly the ingenuity and creativity that they have brought to the sector.
What, perhaps above everything else that sets them apart from their male counterparts, is the effort that they are prepared to put in to surpass what, sometimes, are the formidable hurdles that must be cleared if they are to go forward, and their preparedness to put their heads down, so to speak.
On those occasions when we have quizzed women on what comes across as a philosophical attitude to going forward with the creation and running of a small business, amidst all of the various challenges associated therewith, one of the answers that we frequently get is that their energies are usually far too taken up with ‘making a living’ for their families, particularly their children, that taking the time off to bellyache over what are, frequently, formidable problems, becomes a ‘luxury’ that they simply cannot afford. What we found, instead, is that a greater number of women tend to spend a great deal more time thinking and acting around a problem, exciting the kind of patience that is a mixture of ‘wait and see,’ on the one hand, and ‘pressing on in the meantime,’ on the other. In other words they are not about to allow the grass to grow under their feet.
What we have found, commendably, is that there are, these days, an increasing number of women who are prepared to, simultaneously, pursue higher education, particularly University degrees, while, running modest but carefully thought out small businesses in the creative sectors. Undaunted by their inability to afford what, these days, are the high costs associated with securing convivial spaces in which to run their operations, they gravitate towards the creative Pop-up-Shop invention, the primary purposes of which are to afford them modest display spaces for their products whilst having access, as well, to permanent spaces that allow for pickup and delivery by customers and suppliers, respectively. These women pursue their small business ventures intensely and in striking contrast to some of their male counterparts who appear to be much more inclined to bellyaching over the challenges that might inhibit their desired fast tracks to full-fledged entrepreneurship.
If we look at the behaviour of many of the women who are involved in established small business entrepreneurial pursuits, we are likely to find that, as far as possible, they try to distance themselves from state-run ventures that offer support, all too frequently with a bewildering array of entrepreneurial strings attached. Some of our conversations with separate handfuls of young, ambitious women pursuing one small business venture or another is that they have decided to avoid – like the proverbial plague – state institutions that advertise Good Samaritan startup support options, all too frequently with a bewildering array of ‘push around’ strings attached.
One of the reasons why last week’s issue of the Stabroek Business paid particular attention to what GMSA President, Ramsay Ali said at the Association’s Annual Dinner is that we believe that what the Head of one of the more prominent private sector organizations was implying in his ‘seat at the table” remark in which he was, in fact appealing for more private sector involvement in the running of the Small Business Bureau, is that it would work better for small businesses seeking support if it were to be relieved (at least to some extent) with the protocols and procedures that have become the hallmarks of the state.
Government, in our view, would do well to rid itself of the hold that it continues to exert on a potentially useful institution to small business growth, at least to the extent of allowing the private sector to infuse its particular experiences into the running of the operations of the SBB. Guyana is not the only country in which, across the entire spectrum of development-related pursuits, where the state has grown used to ‘playing God’ insofar as exerting tight controls in critical areas where development is concerned. In our particular instance, a great many of these instances have either crashed and burned or have become transformed into cesspools of corruption under the control of ‘small’ men and women who cast long shadows. There is, up to this time, no reason to cause us to believe that we are not again heading in the direction of frustrating the ambitions of yet another ‘generation’ of our small business aspirants.