SME Helpdesk completes first round assessment

Thu, Oct 15th 2015, 10:14 AM

The Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation's (BCCEC) Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME) Helpdesk has completed assessments of its first tranche of small businesses and entrepreneurs - taking some local businesses one step closer to securing financing and "complete overhauls".

Speaking with Guardian Business on the heels of a recent meeting with members of the Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC), BCCEC CEO Edison Sumner commended the SME Helpdesk's progress in its first month of operation since launching in early September, stating that the chamber would assist the first dozen businesses
accepted with a wide range of needs from securing financing for aspiring entrepreneurs to drafting restructuring plans for existing businesses.

While Sumner was unable to name the businesses currently working with the chamber due to non-disclosure agreement with the companies, he noted the diverse mix of industries and business needs already drawn to the helpdesk initiative.

"What we're doing now is that we have already done the initial assessments of all of them and we're beginning now to assign those portfolios of clients to the small business advisors - the ones that we are unable to do ourselves.

"One of the first things that we're working on is the complete overhaul of a retail operation in the Bain and Grants Town area and we've got a few other proposals out there [including] one large security company who has asked us to vet their hiring practices and we've already but a program in place for them, as well," he said.

The chamber launched the helpdesk in early September through the assistance of the Ministry of Finance and the International Labour Organization. Although the helpdesk offers assistance on a range of SME services including marketing, business plan writing, and financial planning, BCCEC officials have remained adamant that the SME Helpdesk refrain from providing any direct financing for local businesses. To fill that critical gap, however, the SME Helpdesk is designed to pair local businesses or entrepreneurs with funding from local and international institutions.

For those business owners specifically seeking financing, Sumner stated that the BCCEC was currently researching additional avenues for small business funding outside of the resources available through Bahamian agencies such as the Bahamas Venture Capital Fund.

"For one or two of them we saw an opportunity through the Venture Fund. One of the things that I'm attempting to do now is get a meeting with the Clearing Banks Association to talk about the kind of support they could bring to these small businesses through low interest loans or having a little more flexible policies in place to support small businesses in the country and that's our initial approach," Sumner said.

According to Sumner, the ICC last week met with a number of Bahamian business owners to talk about providing financing options.

"These were in different tranches for those that needed between $700,000 and $1 million and those who needed $150,000 to $600,000. We had cumulatively probably close to 20 businesses that came in to talk about how they could access these funds," he said.

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian

 Sponsored Ads