The small business sector of The Bahamas does not have a singular and effective voice that will identify and champion the peculiar needs of small businesses and entrepreneurs in the country.
Holding this strong view is the newly formed Small Business Association (SBAB).
Accordingly, the Association has undertaken a massive strategic plan and professional approach to working with a full range of small businesses.
Addressing the media at a press conference on Tuesday, President of SBAB, Johnny Outten said the Association was born out of the need to protect and preserve the small business sector of the country.
“In order for our country to develop and grow, we must unify and build it. We can’t expect for other people to come and build it for us,” he said. “We have to take control of our destiny. We cannot let everybody else direct where we go. We need to have some voice in what happens.”
He said most businesspersons expect the politicians to make decisions for them when in fact; they should be the ones making their own decisions and only consulting with the politicians for them to understand what their needs are.
“One of the main ways we assist small business owners is through education. The proper way to set up a business, how to properly plan it strategically, develop and run it, setting its goals and even hopefully to get concessionary rates on a number of items related to their various businesses…”
He said that it seriously provides an avenue for networking. “When you are a member and you go to another member, because many of us will be selling goods and services, you would be able to receive a particular good or service at a special rate.”
The new organisation has 20 charter members with hopes of recruiting a minimum of 300 regular members before the climax of its fiscal year.
The Association commits itself to lobby with the Government to enact and enforce policies and laws that will serve the interests of the sector. To this end, it will introduce innovative ways to market the goods and services of Bahamian small businesses nationally and internationally.
SBAB pledges to work with public and private entities, especially financial institutions to ensure that their small business initiatives are practical and workable while at the same time looking to train and educate members on techniques to improve both their administration and their business opportunities.
Persons operating a small business anywhere in The Bahamas with a staff of 50 employees or less, and gross turnover of less than $5 million a year, are more than eligible to apply for membership.
An elected Executive Board that will be bound to honour and uphold the Constitution of the Association will manage SBAB. This Board will establish an office and hire an Executive Director who will implement policies and strategies of the SBAB overseeing its daily operations. The Board is also responsible for developing, evaluating and revising corporate strategies and work plans to meet immediate and long-term objectives of the Association.
Executive Board members are: Johnny Outten – President; John-Michael Clarke – Vice President; Martin Gibson – Treasurer; Sean Bain – Asst. Treasurer; Marlon Johnson – Secretary and Floyd Watkins, Trustee.
Charter members of SBAB are: Martin Gibson Michael Goffe, Joseph Forbes, Marlon Johnson, Rochielle Bevans, Paul Bevans, Phillip Kemp, Kingman Ingraham, Monique Adderley, Elaine Simms, Carlos Hepburn, Maria Hepburn, Chaliese Bevans-Johnson, AIfreda, Y. Lightbourne, Danny Ferguson, John-Michael Clarke, Bran Seymour, Winfield Outten, Sean Bain, Craig Thackray.
An annual general meeting will be held once every fiscal year where membership will receive and give opinions on the reports of the Executive Board. Members will also get a chance to ratify or strike down decisions of the Board.
As part of its objective to promote education and training, SBAB plans to undertake a minimum of two seminars addressing the challenges and opportunities within the sector; provide within six months, recommendations for more effective public and private advisory and consultancy support mechanisms for Bahamian small businesses.
The Association will also work along with COB Center for Entrepreneurship to ensure that the efforts of that organisation reflect the needs and reality of the Bahamian small businessperson while at the same time conducting research into the current global and regional trading arrangements and educate members as to how such arrangements can help or hinder their development.
Another strategic objective of SBAB will be to structure a public relations and internal communication that would form a dynamic and powerful Internet presence within three months to allow members to set up web pages to advertise their products and services. Likewise, people and businesses will be allowed to learn about the work and plans of the SBAB, publish and warehouse documents of interests to the small business sector and provide links to other sites of interest and importance of the small business community.
Its public relations arm will also introduce a quarterly electronic and hard copy newsletter that would begin within the three months of the launch of SBAB and produce monthly feature articles and commentary within the dailies.
Additionally, within six months of the launch of the SBAB, an agenda and plan for social outreach that will target a sustained drive in increase male enrollment in tertiary institutions throughout the country and tangible support for programmes that mitigate the incidence and effects of domestic violence will be developed.
The organisation will also organise and introduce within a year of the launch, the first annual Bahamian Small Business Expo that would provide related business to market their services to the public.
In establishing benefits for its members, SBAB will seek out areas to determine how group and bulk sale arrangements can be utilised to create savings and efficiencies for common goods and services. These areas include insurance, pension plan, savings plan, purchasing, and joint promotions with other members and technical and administrative assistance with regard to legal, financial and business consultancy.
To form effective networking ties, SBAB will establish a quarterly luncheon with featured speakers within six month of launch. It will also hold a monthly informal social within three months of launch. There will be a comprehensive membership directory within the first year of launch and provision of certificate of membership for public display.
SBAB is fully committed to advocating for the necessary research to have informed positions on matters which impact the prospects and viability of the small business sector by consulting with membership to obtain their concerns an views on such matters. These matters will be known in writing to relevant public and private officials and where appropriate to the media.
Moreover, SBAB will lobby for inclusion on all public consultative committees and boards, which serve to inform the government on issues, which impact the small business sector.
As detailed in their constitution, the aims and objectives of SBAB are:
* To provide an advocacy voice for the small business sector of The Bahamas;
* Ensure pro-active and reasoned input into public policy and discourse on the needs and prospects of the small business sector;
* Create a framework for the promotion of the goods and services offered by the Bahamian small business sector;
* Establish direct benefits for members by providing group arrangements and information on matters such as purchasing, promotions, licensing requirements, concession regimes and access to statistics and import/export facilities;
* Establish affiliations with similar organisations throughout the world;
* Provide education and awareness to members and the general public on entrepreneurship and matters of importance to the small business sector;
* Facilitate communication between members on matters of mutual importance;
* Prepare and encourage small businesses to attain the productivity and quality necessary to compete in a global market place that is characterised by increasing levels of trade liberalisation and openness of domestic and regional markets;
* Undertake any other work, research or activity that will assist in achieving the optimal welfare of Association members specifically and the Bahamian small business sector generally.
By Lisa Albury, The Nassau Guardian
