NCTI to boost the capacity of Small Businesses

Access to finance, accounting software and modern banking tools can help any small business to thrive, and the National Centre for Technological Innovation (NCTI),is

embarking on a project designed to provide these necessary assets through the Canadian Funded Local Engagement and Action Fund (LEAF).

CEO of the NCTI, Petrus Gumbs, said through the LEAF programme, small businesses would be given access to open-source software with the same functionality as QuickBooks.

He said this will also assist small businesses with their record keeping which is crucial if they desire to seek support through such provisions as grant funding.

“You need to know your trading profit and loss, you need to know the balance sheet, what is the asset in all of this, you need to know what are your income and your expenditures. All of this will be done on paper, but if we show you the software that can make that quickly done,” Gumbs explained.

He stressed the need for small businesses to be registered as a

necessary step towards creating a business account, and under the LEAF programme, small businesses will receive the necessary guidance.

Gumbs also emphasised the need for small businesses to make use of modern banking technology such as the use of point-of-sale machines to facilitate quick cashless transactions.

He said the NCTI under the LEAF project will be partnering with financial institutions to assist small businesses to register.

“We do not go to the shop to buy groceries as much because most of the time we go by the bigger stores and swipe our card and get what we want. So, you will realise that these smaller entities, one- they are left behind, and two- there could be

a high possibility later on as we evolve as people and as people grow up, there might be less space for them to really operate and they might possibly go out of operation. But what we want to do is…to bring them on board,” Gumbs said.

He also noted that entrepreneurs and other individuals wishing to learn more about the LEAF programme can visit the centre on Sharpe Street. (Source API)