Organizations with notable contributions to Small Business

In my years of business development, I have come across a number of entities that have given assistance to the development of SMEs over the years. However, I have found that they are some that stand out more than others not only for their assistance, but for their consistency of effort.

In this instance, I will focus on those that are located within the island of Barbados. I would hope that they will take note of this post and endeavor to continue to great work that they have done over the years. To explain the services of each one would result in a post that would probably bore the reader. Therefore, if you have any knowledge of their services or industries that they operate within you will know that they are exemplary in their offerings:

Telecommunications

• LIME - for all their services and packages

 Banking and Finance

• Scotiabank
• First Citizens Bank
• City of Bridgetown Cooperative Credit Union

Technical Assistance and Mentoring

•  The Barbados Investment and Development Corporation [BIDC]
• Caribbean Export
• The Barbados Youth Business Trust 
• The Youth Entrepreneurship Scheme
• Science and Technology

There was a time that a lot of support came from

• The Barbados Coalition of Service Industries [BCSI] 
• Republic Bank 
• CIBC First Caribbean International Bank

Conference and meeting facilities

• The Hilton Barbados
• The Barbados Yacht Club
• The Courtyard by Marriott
• The Accra Beach Hotel 
• The Coffee Bean [more for meetings] 

 Power

• The Barbados Light and Power 

Water

• The Barbados Water Authority 

Permissions

• The Town and Country Planning Office 

Ongoing Education

• The Samuel Jackman Prescod Polytechnic [SJPP]
• The Barbados Community College [BCC] 
• Barbados Institute of Management and Productivity [BIMAP] 
• The University of the West Indies [UWI] 

Incentive creation and positive functional taxation policies that facilitate economic growth

• The Government of Barbados with their Bright, Lucrative, Policies 

We want to take this opportunity to say thank you for your various contributions to SME development within Barbados.You will note that mentioning SMEs does not mean entrepreneurs, but small businesses that drive the tangible sustainability of the economy. Thank you for your outstanding efforts.

Whose fault is it?

I'm often amazed that when preparing for training, the leadership of the organization are always saying what problems they have with the staff / support personnel of the said organization. We get to hear all the "leaks" in the organization that's hindering the progress of the entity at the rate that was previously determined. [There have been times when the organization didn't have their progress way-points clearly defined.]

As a trainer, it is necessary to constantly draw on one's experience and not go in with any slant / biases based on the "management meetings"; should you take that approach you will be in for a rude awakening.

When in sessions with the team, we then are exposed to the ground level reasons why certain objectives aren't realized. Thing is, these team members have been constantly ignored. Only to have their feedback put into to the reports which management then adopts. So here are a couple lessons:

• Your own people never listen to you. This is the fault of both management and line staff. 
• The contributors to the organization need to learn how to be friendly without being familiar. There's no need to be hostile / indifferent to staff / management. 
• Everyone should be on the same page trying to grow the business; which is difficult enough as it is without the internal resistance / negative dynamics. 
• It is necessary, more than ever, to function as a team to ensure sustainability of the entity. 
• Create the environment that everyone would want to associate within. 
• Stop passing blame, begin accepting responsibility. 

If you function well within your organization, it can be the best training you ever receive. You will move from job security to employment security. Everyone will want to hire you once they have been exposed to your positive side within the work place  and these attributes override your negative tendencies. 

I hope that within the near future, we can move from "Whose fault's this?" to "Who's responsible for this excellent work?". 

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