A local business official thinks that Barbados needs to review its approach to business incubation for a greater employment of its knowledge-base economy. Celeste Foster, President of the Barbados Small Business Association, believes that the world has moved on from the old model, where start-up businesses are given only a physical location and the related support. She suggested, in order for such a programme to be relevant to a country and to thrive it must be part of an eco-system and linked to the national strategic goals.
Foster made these observations after a recent Business Incubation training programme sponsored by The Commonwealth in Singapore. She argued, “With increasing competition amongst nations, greater demand is being placed on individual businesses to be a part of a national team working towards national objectives.” This means that any Incubation model must support the priorities identified by government.
She referenced the Singapore model, where government determines the vision of the country and the private sector pursues various goals through enterprise. To complete the system the business community maintains a close working relationship with universities and colleges. This ensures that the academic research is geared towards closing any knowledge gaps that may exist in the country and at the same time becomes more relevant and applicable for the immediate market.
Mrs Foster insisted that with such a programme, where entrepreneurship, enterprise and R&D are inseparable, more small businesses can expect to have a longer life. She cited an incubation programme connected to the National University of Singapore where the rate of survival for businesses existing past 3 years currently stands at 75%.
She quickly added that there are existing dynamics and cultural impediments that may prevent such a model from being implemented in Barbados. Still, she is convinced that with modifications it represents the general direction incubation support should be moving towards.
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