The workshop will be held May 29th at the association’s head office, to explain and illustrate how to prepare an application for a grant.  At the conclusion of the workshop participants should have a project to submit to Caribbean Export. Please come prepared with project ideas.

Participants interested in attending must meet the following criteria:

• A legally registered firm/individual operating in a    CARIFORUM member state; or
• Trading in the following Sectors: Alternative Energy, Agriculture, Agro-Processing, Creative Industries, Health & Wellness, Information Communication Technology, Manufacturing, Professional Services, Tourism
• Exporting or potential to export goods and services
• Operational for at least two (2) years supported by last two years financial statements/accounts; and
• Able to finance and sustain the project fully; that is 100% financing is available.

Don’t miss out on this opportunity to develop and grow your business. DEADLINE FOR REGISTRATION IS MAY 23rd, 2012.  Call  228-0162 or 271-1129 today.

Barbados’ private sector has done well to cope with the worst effects of the prolonged worldwide economic recession.

This assertion has come from Harris Paints’ senior vice-president sales and marketing Luke Ticknor, who singled out the contribution being made by home-grown Barbadian companies as worthy of special mention.

He said that every effort was being made to shield Barbadian consumers from rising prices while maintaining employment numbers.

Ticknor pointed out that the cost to manufacture products has risen steadily and sharply over the past two years due to the escalating raw material prices, as well as fuel and electricity costs.

A recent bulletin from Azko Nobel, the world’s largest paint and chemical company, noted that “The paint, wood-care and adhesive industries, which were dramatically affected by inflation and supply constraints in 2011, have continued to see increasing raw material costs and short supply heading into 2012”.

“Costs continue to rise in categories such as titanium dioxide, latex, solvents, resins, pigments, packaging and linseed oil. Titanium dioxide costs alone are expected to be over 35 per cent higher in 2012 than in 2011.”

Harris Paints’ technical manager Charles Kirton added: “While other companies have started to import ingredients like titanium dioxide and acrylic resins from countries like China, India and Russia, we have never been tempted to substitute lower cost and lower performing raw materials in our paints despite the cost of paint ingredients rising significantly around the world.

“We have tested some of these cheaper ingredients and formulations and they have proven to be grittier, less white, and do not hide as well and therefore do not live up to our quality standards and we have decided not to use them.

“At Harris Paints, we pride ourselves on both quality and colour and know that our customers see the value of more durable and better-looking finishes, and so we continue to use only the highest quality raw materials.”

As the only locally and privately owned paint company in the Eastern Caribbean, Harris Paints does not have financial support from international conglomerates and, despite its origins as a small Barbadian manufacturer, the company has been able to grow dramatically over its 40 years, primarily due to consumer acceptance of its Best By Test quality products.

The rising costs of raw materials have been well documented by industry analysts.

This trend, combined with the rise in crude prices, electricity and other input costs, has dramatically increased the cost to manufacture a gallon of paint over the past two to three years.

This is a pattern Barbados could ill afford to ignore, management at Harris Paints noted.

“Barbados is not immune to the shocks being felt in the international arena and it is imperative that we strike a balance that allows us to reduce the impact on consumers, but which also allows us to maintain the quality of our brand and products and keep Barbadians employed in quality jobs at the same time,” said Ticknor. (PR)

Understanding Small Business Management for Growth is the main focus of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) over the next five to six weeks as the Small Business Association (SBA) rolls out its Training and Development programme…..FULL  STORY

Tip of the Week

Private Sector Stepping Up

Member Feature: Paul Clarke Holdings

Barbados Entrepreneurial hub by 2020

Guyana’s Parliament ratifies EU’s EPA

Barbados may be experiencing a recession, the worst in its history, but has set its sights on becoming the top “entrepreneurial hub” in the world in less than a decade.

That’s according to Freundel Stuart, the nation’s Prime Minister who also said that there were “stubborn pockets” of poverty” in the country that needed Government’s constant attention.

In an address to a breakfast meeting at the United States Chamber of Commerce organized by the Centre For Strategic And International Studies and Caribbean Central American Action, Stuart told business executives, government officials, diplomats and others in Washington, DC, that the island nation intended to target investments in an array of economic and financial areas ranging from international insurance and banking, treasury management, shipping, trusts, and research and development to renewable energy, high-end niche manufacturing, medical transcription, and international arbitration.

“Recent legislative amendments also strategically position Barbados as a preferred choice for individual wealth-management solutions, particularly for high net-worth individuals and entrepreneurs,” said Stuart.

“In fact, Barbados is working towards becoming the number one entrepreneurial hub in the world by 2020.”

He listed several factors working in Barbados’ favour that would propel the country forward. Among them,

• a network of double taxation treaties with 31 countries, soon to be expanded when three more countries and 24 others being negotiated join the list;

• 4 000 international businesses already in the country;

• “In spite of the recent economic downturn we have not experienced any mass exodus from our shores” by financial services companies;

• the number of offshore banks “have held steady” in the face of the global financial crisis;

• the international insurance sector has recorded “consistent growth”;

• registrations of international business companies have “climbed steadily” by seven per cent;

• the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, through its Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax purposes, has “again confirmed Barbados’ compliance with international standards”;

• the Government, private sector and labour unions have a “strong partnership” that has been the country’s “saving grace” and has helped maintain “significant social cohesion” during what could best be described as the “great recession”.

He was quick to explain that Barbados had to confront some serious challenges, among them a high pile of debt – “debt overhang” was the way he put it, an increase in chronic non-communicable diseases which require expensive treatment, a “long established system of social protection that has started to show wear and tear, and “stubborn pockets of poverty that need the focused attention of the Government”.

There are many issues that promising startup companies face and these can be broken down to include seven of the following major ones.

• Not Having Enough Growth Capital

I thought we could work off of the cash we had from my other business, but the unexpected triple digit growth outpaced my fundraising among friends and family before the company was two years old. Realizing I would have to find an outside investor was something that I understood in the back of my head, but became extremely clear when I had a container of product headed to port and I had to raise cash quickly.  Moving from friends and family to our current $3 million round of investor funding has been a steep learning curve.

- Chris Sugai, President of Niner Bikes, maker of high-end, 29-inch (wheel diameter) mountain bikes and bike accessories

• Thinking “I” And “The Company” Were The Same

During the start-up phase, I had so much passion behind the business that I would measure my self-worth based on how well the company was doing. This is totally the wrong way to think.  The entrepreneur is a human being.  The business is an entity.  I had to learn to separate the two; otherwise I found myself down in the dumps when things went wrong with the business.  When things don’t go according to plan, this is the most crucial time for the entrepreneur to be inspiring, enterprising, fearless, and most importantly self-assuring to oneself and the team.

Leah Brown, CEO of A10 Clinical, which runs clinical trials for new drugs and conducts health research

• Underestimating Market Perception

My biggest mistake here (I’ve only been the CEO since May 23, 2011) was in underestimating how hard it would be to dispel all the myths surrounding our Total Artificial Heart.  It was first used 30 years ago, yet the company was so capacity-constrained that it never grew.

Michael Garippa, CEO of Syncardia, maker of artificial hearts with portable power supplies

• Thinking Too Small

Early in my career I made the mistake of limiting our activities to markets that we could reasonably address with internal resources.  This resulted in a high probability of success, but also created markets for other companies who were not the originators/developers of the technology, but who had more resources and market knowledge to apply. Mesocoat’s success has been a result of changing that paradigm, looking at the markets that could provide us with the greatest financial impact and then working to acquire the partners and resources needed to address the major market opportunity.

Andrew Sherman, CEO of MesoCoat, maker of protective coating for metal bars and plates

• Being Overly Optimistic

When I was leading a public company, I allowed myself to buy into revenue projections that were overly optimistic.  Ensuing delays in getting production online and up to full capacity for a new program had significant impacts on our ability to meet revenue and profit projections.  Compounding those headwinds, we were experiencing unanticipated delays in another new start.  This required a detailed, painstaking, bottoms-up review of all revenue projections and a much more conservative view of these two programs. Words of wisdom given to me: Don’t miss guidance!  If you do miss guidance, don’t do it twice!

Brad Antle, CEO of Salient Federal Solutions, an engineering and IT services firm

• Scaling Up Too Fast

We blew it on our first production scale up.  Our glass product, Osorb, repels water, making it ideal for water treatment.  The warning signs of a problem actually existed within initial production runs.   But we were in “race mode” and did not see the warning signs.  We were focused on increasing our production capacity from 5 grams of Osorb a month to 20 kilograms a month.  It turned out that about 60% of the product coming out of the reactor was either non-functional or suboptimal for project needs.  We called two clients that had been waiting for production to increase, owned and diagnosed the problem, and ate the additional costs.  Both clients were understanding and are repeat customers.

Stephen Spoonamore, CEO of ABS Materials, maker of reactive glass that separates pollutants from water and air

• Hiring Our Own Sales Team

When we started out, we tried to use our own sales team.  This burned through a ton of cash, put us way in the red with minimal success. When then went to local sales reps in each state with far better success and much lower costs. (For more on this theme, check out newly minted billionaire’s hyper-lean approach to attacking a global market: Silicon Valley’s Newest Billionaire: Wireless Wonder Robert Pera.

Steve Clark, CEO of Aquatherm, marketer of environmentally-friendly pipes made of polypropylene

The Guyana Parliament on the evening of May 10th, unanimously ratified the European Union (EU) Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) signed with African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) and the Caribbean Forum (CARIFORUM) states back in 2008, clearing the way for the country to heighten its implementation of the trade pact for which the benefits and opportunities are yet to be capitalized on by Guyana.

Guyana’s Foreign Affairs minister Caroly Rodriques – Birkette stressed that the first review of the EPA is set for next year and the ratification will allow for the assessment of cost impact. And how greater benefits to capitalize on without much disadvantage to the country, which was one of the most vocal critic of the agreement when it was first proposed.

Rodriques – Birkette said the comprehensive review was as a result of Guyana’s agitation and demands that the document be modify to include certain key clauses and be reviewed every 4 years.

A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Member of Parliament Deborah Backer at the onset stated that the party supports the ratification which she believes will rebound benefits for Guyanese.

The public procurement aspect of the EPA she stressed, is of particular importance to her party

Alliance For Change (AFC) chief Parliamentarian Khemraj Ramjattan urged the country’s Foreign Ministry to inform parliament as the agreement is fined tuned to derive greater benefits.

The EPA was signed on October 15 2008 by the European Community and CARIFORUM member states Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Grenada,  Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago.

However Guyana and Haiti refused to sign the pact unless it was reviewed by the EU.

Then president Bharrat Jagdeo has argued that the agreement was unacceptable in its form then.

He had argued that the Caribbean could suffer economically, because of damaging flaws in the deal.

“We were a junior partner in the negotiations and Europe had all the cards,” he said. “Europe negotiated in bad faith. We were bullied into this.”

Jagdeo’s concerns, and reservations by some governments, economists and academics, had caused several delays in the signing of the agreement by other CARIFORUM countries.

Guyana later signed on October 20, 2008 while Haiti signed the Agreement on December 11 2009.

The Agreement could have officially entered into force pending the completion of the process of ratification by the member states.

The EPA was created through a negotiating process which was undertaken within four stages over a period of three years.

Phase IV of the negotiating process or the finalization process, which led to the ultimate conclusion of the EPA negotiation in December 2007, was preceded by the critical Phase III of the negotiation process.

Launched in September 2005, Phase III of the EPA negotiations underwent a qualitative shift in focus and specificity.

Building on Phase I and Phase II discussions which focused on regional integration content, processes and ambition within CARIFORUM, Phase III constituted the structuring and consolidation of negotiations, so that the points of common understanding could be channeled into elements of the EPA.

This Phase continued until the later part of 2006.  What follows takes stock of the background of EPA negotiations and the importance of the EPA to CARIFORUM.

Understanding Small Business Management for Growth is the main focus of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) over the next five to six weeks as the Small Business Association (SBA) rolls out its Training and Development programme.

Covering areas such as Basic Accounting, QuickBooks for Small Businesses, Understanding the External Factors that could influence the growth of the company and positioning the Enterprise for Growth, the development courses are being administered with the assistance of the Technical and Vocational Education and Training Council (TVET) and the Barbados Productivity Council.

Martin Zwilling, Contributor

As the business economy rebounds, many entrepreneurs are thinking that life will soon get easier, and their opportunity can only grow. In reality, the business world gets tougher every day, with new entrants, new technology, and competitors more easily entering the fray from around the globe.

Way back in 1979, Michael E. Porter proposed his Five Forces framework for analyzing the competitive environment which I think makes even more sense today. Every existing business, as well as every startup, needs to reassess their product or service in the context of these five forces:

1. Intensity of competitive rivalry. This is where most current business plan analyses focus today. These plans just list a few key competitors out there now, compare feature richness, quality considerations, and pricing. This is an important first step, but it’s only the beginning.
2. Threat of new competitors entry. Startups that target profitable and growing markets with high returns should realize that these will draw many new entrants. It will certainly also decrease profitability over time, as well as test your sustainable competitive advantage. That leads to switching costs, sunk costs, brand equity, and a host of other considerations, commonly called “barriers to entry.”
3. Utility of alternative solutions. You are never the only alternative, hopefully just the best, in price, utility, and satisfaction. If your new vehicle costs too much, people take the bus. At some level of function, availability, and price performance, customers jump ship away from you. These elements are referred to as “barriers to exit.”
4. Bargaining power of customers. This is the degree to which customers can put your company under pressure, or leverage prices, delivery, features, and quality (market of outputs). A key is your differential advantage from alternatives. Small differentials and more competitors give customers higher leverage.
5. Bargaining power of suppliers. Suppliers of raw materials, components, labor, and services to you can be a source of power over your ability to compete (market of inputs). You need to identify substitute inputs, supplier concentrations, and employee solidarity (labor unions), which can limit you or give you the advantage.

Josh Linkner, Contributor

Launching a successful company can feel tougher than a prize fight, but you can easily avoid wincing in pain from repeated body blows.  As a Venture Capitalist, I’m exposed to hundreds of startups each year.  Sometimes I hear great pitches, and other times they’re so bad I’d rather eat glass.  Here are five traps that make me cringe but can be easily avoided:

1)      The Swiss Army Knife – One of the most common mistakes that befall entrepreneurs is trying to squeeze too many product features or services into an offering to the point where it loses potency and elegance. Too often, a lack of profound innovation lures entrepreneurs into adding more ingredients to the stew in hopes of achieving a big win.  With each tidbit of advice they receive, they add in a new feature, pricing model, service, bell or whistle.  Objective: delight customers.  Outcome: confuse customers. The recent success of Instagram, in contrast, shows the rewards of simplicity.  Instagram didn’t try to be all things to all people.  It did one thing really, really well.  Same with Twitter; the simplicity and ease of use enabled it to scale and change the world.

2)      Buzzword Soup – Communication often becomes muddled as startup leaders lean on the crutch of buzzwords.  Stop describing your product as a “Curated ecosystem, peer-to-peer, hyper-local, cloud-based, social mobile platform with a robust narrative”.  Clarity always has, and always will, carry the day. Einstein noted that “if you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” This becomes heightened in an age of tech jargon. Tell me what it does, who your users are, and why it works. Get me excited about that and then we can keep talking. If you’re an early stage tech company, nothing you’ve built is “robust.” If it was, you wouldn’t need capital.

3)      The (BLANK) of (BLANK) – If you need to refer to your business as the “Facebook of movies” or “eBay for tech geeks”, you are lacking originality and insight.  Investors and customers don’t want to hear your idea for “Groupon meets PayPal meets Amazon meets Angry Birds”.  They want you to offer something unique, compelling, and highly differentiated. If you have a truly unique concept, it will be impossible for you to describe it in this “blank of blank” way; the fun part is coming up with your category-of-one coined phrase.

4)      Launch and Hope Marketing – Launching on Facebook and “going viral” is not a strategy.  In today’s hyper-competitive and highly cluttered world, a go-to-market plan that lacks specificity has little chance of success.  Too many startups build incredible technology yet fall on their faces when trying to snag users/customers.  Build-it-and-they-will-come only works in movies.  In the fierce world of startups, you’ll need a detailed and creative approach to telling your story. Case in point: DollarShaveClub.com. Well done, guys.

5)      Saying YES Too Often – It’s been said that success is based more on what you say “no” to than what you say “yes” to.  As startups launch, it’s easy to get lured off course.  There will be an endless stream of temptations, flavors of the week, and distractions.  Startups that drift away from their purpose can quickly lose competitive ground and diffuse their energy and resources. Taco Bell doesn’t sell hamburgers for a reason – they keep their specificity by staying true to their focus; similarly, McDonald’s hasn’t entered the realm of chalupas, for fear of watering down their market share on America’s favorite french fries. Figure out what your strength is – maintain laser focus on being the best in that, whatever “that” may be.

We live in a time of incredible opportunity.  Might as well seize it by avoiding common mistakes and launching a business with simplicity, clarity, originality, detail and focus.  Funny how that worked so well for Groupon, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, PayPal, and nearly every other recent success story.