The Barbados Bottling Company (BBC) has launched an entrepreneurship training programme that is expected to reach more than 1 000 traditional trade customers and 500 itinerant vendors.
The Growing Together Small Business Training Programme, which is open to traditional shops and mini-mart operators; and food and beverage, fruit, vegetable and coconut vendors, is being carried out in partnership with Coca-Cola Caribbean and the National Transformation Initiative (NTI).
Introducing the virtual instructor-led training programme on Friday, officials said it would support sustainable and efficient business enterprises across the country.
General Manager of BBC Andre Thomas said the initiative, which is also being executed in the Dominican Republic and Trinidad, would be launched throughout the rest of the region in the coming months.
“With this programme, these small businesses will bring successful enterprises to the next level and expose new generations of owners and employees to innovation and 21st-century business models,” he said.
President of the Barbados Association of Retailers, Vendors and Entrepreneurs (BARVEN) Alister Alexander said he is inspired by the initiative and believes it will help to transform the business landscape for entrepreneurs.
“We must not settle for anything that cannot deliver transformation. So our major objective here has to be equipping our sector with the right tools to bring about actual transformation, which is the goal,” he said.
“If we are serious about this business of transformation, it cannot be business as usual. This is where this training programme comes into play. Every market, every vending space must have an aggressive business model and plan . . . . This business training will help us to pack and plan for ultimate success. We can be confident that this training programme will be a serious one.”
Lidia Castro, Public Affairs Specialist for Coca-Cola Caribbean, said the training was “an example of how the Caribbean can forge national alliances in favour of economic and social strengthening of its countries”.
Noting that vendors and traditional shop operators were a critical part of the economy, she said the programme will help participants strengthen their businesses and personal development “with pragmatic and engaging world-class knowledge specifically related to operating their stores with standards of excellence”.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Mia Mottley highlighted the need for businesses to build resilience, noting that “if we don’t prepare to be resilient and prepare to make it our business to do things differently then we will be victims of circumstances that we don’t need to be victims of”.
She said that in order for true transformation to occur, individuals should be prepared to change their attitudes and values.
“If we change our values and attitudes and get it right, the other things will come. And we have to be able to understand what is important to building trust and to making progress,” the Prime Minister said, adding that other needed attributes were accountability, being true to oneself, having a plan, and patience.
At the same time, Mottley said she was disappointed that when there were discussions about the private sector in Barbados, “we talk only about the established larger enterprises, rather than understanding that from the hawkers and vendors right back through to the conglomerates, all of you are conducting business”.
She welcomed the training initiative as another way to “build a bridge to allow for Bajan excellence”.
The Growing Together Small Business Training programme, which consists of four 90-minute classes covering six modules, will begin on June 6 and run for four weeks. It will be available for one year and officials said phase two is already being planned.
Persons interested in signing up for the training online can visit https://training.nti.org.bb/coca-cola-growing-together-initiative/ and choose times for training. On completion of the programme, participants will receive a certificate.
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