Invest SVG hosts Entrepreneurship Workshop for local business owners

Invest SVG is further strengthening its commitment to export development within St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), as it hosted the first in a series of business development workshops to be held in the upcoming months.

Last Tuesday, February 20, 24 business owners – who operate across several sectors – took part in a two-day Entrepreneurship Workshop, facilitated by Dr Niyan Fraser, who is an entrepreneurship researcher, academic and consultant.

Through information sessions, workshop discussions, group activities and individual activities, this workshop was designed to enable participants to develop a better understanding of entrepreneurship and shift their mindsets from subsistence-focused to growth-oriented.

Additionally, the workshop aimed to develop business owners’ skills needed to start and grow business; and to equip them with the knowledge and tools necessary for entering the export market.

Topics covered included: Explaining Entrepreneurship; Explaining the Concepts of Opportunities and Ideas; Entrepreneurial Capacity; Starting a Business; The Process of Entrepreneurship; and The Process of Research.

On day one of the workshop, Dr Fraser emphasized to participants the difference between business ownership and entrepreneurship – noting that opportunities and ideas “…come from anywhere.”

“If a lot of people are facing a particular problem or issue, then that can turn into an opportunity.”

He further urged participants to become aware of/recognize the gaps in the current market and identify consumers’ needs that aren’t sufficiently being catered to – if at all.

With this current series of workshops scheduled to run until July, they will include topics such as preparation of business plans, export readiness, costing and pricing, insurance and copyrighting/trademarking – among others. Invest SVG will publish a full list in the near future.

Last October, Invest SVG ran a two-day series of workshops to accompany the ‘Everything Vincy’ Independence Expo 2017. More information can be obtained by emailing info@investsvg.com or calling the office on (784) 457-2159.