Managing Director of the Small Business Development Finance Trust (SBDFT), Manjula Brijmohan has said in order for small businesses to truly develop and reach their true potentials, the Government needs to construct and implement a policy to steer small business owners.
Brijmohan made the comment during an interview with Guyana Times International where she discussed the development of small businesses. Currently, the SBDFT has over 600 micro and small business owners as clients and are providing both technical and financial support to them.
She explained that there is no doubt that small and micro enterprises are the backbone of any economy, but added that the backbone needs to be supported.
She further explained that larger businesses have always been there but they were in specialised fields but now every business is branching into the traditional small business fields, hence making the competition tougher. In addition, there are foreign entities coming to Guyana and establishing empires of medium-scale businesses, making the competition even more difficult.
“Many of the small vendors are finding it difficult to compete… that is a serious problem… when they buy wholesale from the Chinese and then the Chinese sells at a cheaper price on the road and these are the things that I think the Government and the bigger Private Sector need to work on,” Brijmohan opined.
Hammering the need for a small business development policy, Brijmohan said both Guyana and Trinidad produce honey but Guyana cannot export to Trinidad since it is on their blacklist, ultimately protecting their producers. Additionally, she explained that even if honey is transiting through Trinidad to another destination, the authorities there do not allow it and it had to return and be rerouted.
“These are things the Government and Caricom Secretariat should take forward to ensure Guyanese get their fair share in trade. There is no policy to help the business. It doesn’t need a lot of money but what it needs is a clear vision and thinking of what and where we want to be and that is lacking,” she explained.
Brijmohan added that in addition to the lack of a proper policy direction, consistency, sustainability and support are also missing; explaining that leadership is not only about making speeches, but rather is about putting the dollar where one’s mouth is. The SBDFT head said small businesses are often disadvantaged because of the lack of market and technological knowledge coupled with little or no finances.
“These are some of the reasons why businesses are not able to sustain. We do not have a very clear-cut strategy and policy for the future of this sector. We have no target planning and that affects both the producers and sustainable suppliers. It has always been our efforts to try to network with Government, local and overseas institutions and everybody but the bottom line is the one institution cannot do everything and we do need substantial support from the Public Sector and Private Sector…,” Brijmohan noted.
She also urged businesses to position themselves to take advantage of the impending oil economy by positioning themselves to be able to provide the goods and services required. (Lakhram Bhagirat)
