Building Global Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurship is a vehicle through which people have the opportunity to grow and support themselves and their families. The local private sector, along with the government, has seen it beneficial to take active roles in the development of the entrepreneurial landscape as a means of fostering greater economic development, which is good!

This support has allowed Barbados to produce entrepreneurs who have excelled in music, hospitality, tourism, health and wellness, technology and many other fields.

How to support entrepreneurship has been contentious. Entrepreneurship is a difficult concept to define and there is no common definition. Usually, we must focus on a holistic support model. It involves the entrepreneur, innovation, organization creation, creating value, growth, uniqueness and management skills. Looking at the ecosystem in Barbados, the gaps can be mapped to the areas that are underdeveloped, from the definition. These are:

? Innovation and Uniqueness – Our education system, although one of the best in the region, does not foster innovative thinking in entrepreneurship. We therefore end up with many duplicated ideas and businesses, as can be seen in the lack of a sophisticated manufacturing sector and a high “buy and sell back” culture.

? Organization Creation - Entrepreneurship support programs for people interested in starting businesses are insufficient. Programs tend to end once the business training is completed and do not offer sufficient follow-up support to entrepreneurs as they start their businesses.

? Creating Value – Oftentimes there are a few problems that hinders the creation of value. These are scarcity mindsets, economic constraints, logistics, legislations and policies. Meeting the needs of entrepreneurs requires strong coordination across the public, private, and civil-society sectors. Forging partnerships between stakeholders is key in the provision of comprehensive business support programs (including technical and life skills training, mentoring, financing, and MSME Policy.). We are aware that there is a need to improve the ease of doing business and encourage greater investment in key areas of the sector. We also need to increase efficiencies of starting and scaling businesses.

? Growth – One of the key pillars of entrepreneurship is growth. A more intentional approach to growth needs to be adopted. This will assist in managing development for both the entrepreneurs and the overall economy.

? Managerial Skills – Although there are many entities offering business training, many do not see the value of becoming proficient in leadership and management and therefore treat it as an academic exercise. This ties back to the need for a learning mindset.

There are government funded program that supports individuals as they start their businesses providing training and guidance to help individuals build the skills to start and grow their business. The funding entities provide limited funds for small businesses, who can demonstrate the likely success of their ventures. The Business Support Organizations work to create a more enabling environment for entrepreneurs and businesses in general in Barbados. Their outcome is to build and develop the entrepreneurial mindset that is needed in the country to support the development of more businesses.

In order for the ecosystem to work effectively, the network needs to be adequately supported from all perspectives. All players both entrepreneurs and other stakeholder needs to operate with a growth mindset and create strategic partnerships that are integral in the promotion of a cohesive and supportive entrepreneurial ecosystem. We need the system to help create globally successful entrepreneurs.