BUSINESS NEEDS A NEW MODEL and Barbados should never settle, as there is always room to improve efficiency.
That is the view of the chief executive officer of the Small Business Association (SBA), Lynette Holder. In an interview with BARBADOS BUSINESS AUTHORITY, Holder said that while businesses in Barbados receive high praise, they should always seek to make things better.
“We should never be pleased with the level we are at. We should always be striving to improve upon exiting behaviours and performances. I think that Barbados’ brand has earned a lot of cudos and rightly so . . . but the reality is, the business model that we have benefited from and have used post-Independence for
the last forty years warrants a review,” she said.
“Our focus has to be on competitiveness enhancement. I don’t know that the business models that we have for our [small and medium-sized enterprises] and macro entities have been efficient.
“We need to focus on efficiency and maximise on that, and be as competitive as we can and ought to be. And I think that has to underpin the business strategies for the next forty years.
“We have to move to a position of being more efficient in our operations,” said Holder.
The CEO said Barbados had learnt from its successes and achievements over the years but the focus should now be on efficiency.
She said with the reciprocal trading agreement being negotiated between the Caribbean and Europe, the region could no longer do business “as we have done in the past”.
“So I think learning from industrilised economies is going to be good for us, given that we are in a liberalised business environment. . . . We have to move to a place where we draw on efficiency and overall transition to a new business model.
“The next decade or so has to include that kind of paradigm shift if we are going to see coninued quality of life for the next forty years as we continue our post-Independence elements,” cautioned Holder.
The SBA is one of three agencies from the Caribbean currently involved in a programme geared to training businesses and agencies in trade promotion, direct foreign investment and attraction promotion strategies, among others. (MM)
