It was a carnival atmosphere in the streets of Anse La Raye last week as the Anse La Raye Infant School staged a reading street parade, reimaging education and literacy in a different space. Principal at the school, Albert Joseph endorsed the event and the innovativeness of the teaching staff in making learning fun.
Read MoreThe National Competitiveness and Productivity Council (NCPC) has achieved another milestone toward fully implementing the Collateral Registry. The Collateral Registry supports the recently passed Security Interest in Movable Properties Act. Economist and Project Leader at the NCPC, Sharma Mathurin said this project is now halfway through implementation with a formal launch scheduled for the latter part of this year.
Read MoreSaint Lucia’s Inland Revenue Department (IRD) and CARICOM, in association with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the World Bank Group, conducted a four-day regional workshop on ‘Foundational Transfer Pricing.’ The training workshop brought together Technical Tax Administration and Ministry of Finance officials from the Caribbean to learn the underlying transfer pricing principles and discuss potential legislative and administrative considerations to address transfer pricing.
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Covid-19 has created what has aptly been described as the “new normal” causing a blended approach to be adopted by all sectors in society. This has caused the rapid penetration and dependence on ICT for communication, business activity, education, and the list goes on.
This rapid dependence on ICT has undoubtedly widened the digital divide particularly for small island developing states like Saint Lucia with many not having access to technology or appropriate technology to seamlessly navigate this new normal.
Reducing the digital divide is projected as one sure way of increasing Saint Lucia’s competitiveness and sustaining economic development.
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Communication has a vital role to play in fueling economic growth. A well-coordinated strategized and funded national information communication roadmap for Saint Lucia is vital to the economic health of the country.
Read MoreMuch has been said of the potential of the youth, the future generation, their innovative, inventive, and creative nature. The Government of Saint Lucia has placed great emphasis on harnessing this potential by placing the portfolio of the Youth Economy under the direct supervision of the Prime Minister of Saint Lucia.
The Youth economy is viewed as a catalyst for economic growth and national development and is expected to turn the ideas, dreams and hobbies of the youth into viable, sustainable, business opportunities.
Buying, supporting, investing in local products and services will keep our monies circulating within our local economy and create greater opportunities for livelihoods and businesses to thrive. But what are the hindrances to and or opportunities in fully embracing the Love Saint Lucia Campaign? At its core, this campaign is geared at improving the economic growth of Saint Lucia at all levels in society.
Saint Lucia is characterized by a youthful population. This means that thousands of young persons are entering the labour force yearly. As such, job opportunities for young persons are very limited and this has resulted in a youth unemployment rate of 38.4% in 2016. The answer to this crisis lies within entrepreneurship. Young persons are usually creative in their ways of thinking and solving problems. As such, this creativity can be used to create business opportunities for themselves as well as creating jobs for other young persons.
In order to start and operate a business, funding is essential. Securing financing, however, in this tough economic climate can be challenging due to the high risk levels involved in starting and operating a business. More importantly, entrepreneurs are required to have collateral in order to borrow. This, while proving to be problematic for potential young entrepreneurs should not be a deterrent.
Many successful business owners have started their business from scratch with little funding. For example, British business man- Chris Dawson has shown that selling goods from a suitcase can lead to big things, founding The Range (homeware) in 1988. His chain of discount stores made £88 million profit in 2014. Entrepreneurs are usually creative in nature and can come up with innovative ways of funding their ventures.
Young entrepreneurs will have great business ideas but because of lack of capital are discouraged to execute the plan. It is important to note that if the business idea is not comprehensive and well thought out, no amount of money will turn it into a success. Therefore, if an entrepreneur has a business idea but may have little money, that should not be a constraint to starting the business. This may require long days with little sleep. However, those who want it bad enough will make it happen.
The following are some tips on how to start your business with little funds:
Tell everyone about the business. Inform everyone that you know about your business including friends, family, business contacts and past colleagues. Call, send emails, attend free networking sessions also make the business known on social media. Friends and family can help you spread the word, and past colleagues can introduce your company to their professional contacts as well. This type of grass roots marketing can introduce your business to a much larger audience.
Get ready to work hard. When you are starting a business with little to no capital, you must be prepared to dedicate everything that you have into making the business a success. This involves cold calling, handling customer support, dealing with billing and accounting and other parts of the business. You may have to wear many hearts in order to start off the business.
Look for strategic investors. Strategic investors are the best type of investors you could find for your business because their interests align with your start up. In assisting your business, there is some benefit to their business. For example, a hair dresser with a huge salon may give a nail technician some space to set up, either at a concessionary rate or free of charge. This is a way of marketing the hair salon to the clients of the nail technician and thus helping to expand the business.
Start at home. Bill Gates successfully started his business in his garage. Depending on the line of business, a great way to save money is to run your business in a location that will not require you to pay extra rent. It will not look glamorous but will help you to get the job done without spending extra money. In recent years, the Taiwanese government has been encouraging entrepreneurs to start businesses at home. This is a way of helping them decrease on their overheard costs which ensures the survival of the start-up business.
Start part- time. If you will need a steady income to meet your financial obligations, it is therefore advisable to start the business as a part time venture. Do not quit the job until the part time business has a steady flow of customers and profits.
Although it is true that generous funding, a team of investors, or family with deep pockets can make starting a business venture easier, not having money should not be a deterrent. If you are confident that you have a product or service people want, don’t allow the lack of money to dissuade you from your business goals. By pivoting, grinding it out, getting creative, and differentiating yourself, you can bootstrap your way to a successful business.
Business meetings are an important part of any organisations daily schedule. Whether liked or loathed, research shows that senior decision makers spend an estimated 65 percent of their time in mandatory meetings with different departmental heads. Such meetings are usually vital as they update attendees on work schedules and progress. However, as many of us know, even if not intentional, business meetings can eat away at crucial work hours.
With the advent of the online meeting, many believed that unnecessary hours spent around a conference room table would be a thing of the past. Although some of the negatives related to ‘conventional’ meetings have been eradicated by way of the new technology, online meetings harbour other complications. For example, with participants of online meetings being in various locations, telecommunication and technological problems often arise. Connectivity issues and communication delays are two of the most common problems that occur. Also, it is sometimes hard to keep a meeting structured with multiple participants speaking at the same time. Thankfully however there are some practices that can help make online meetings more productive.
Online Meetings Need a Clear Agenda
Even ‘traditional’ meetings should have a clear agenda. A meeting with a vague purpose often leads to confusion and a lot of wasted time. So never hold an online meeting without one. Make things easier for everyone by preparing a formal agenda which details all of the key issues to be discussed in the meeting. Also clearly state the expected roles of each participant in the meeting. Send the agenda out at least 24 hours before the scheduled meeting start time, and seek acknowledgement of the agenda from each participant.
Appoint a Moderator
A meeting without a moderator is likely to go off-track. By appointing a moderator, you have given somebody the authority to control proceedings. No one can speak without the moderator’s permission. It will also be the moderator’s job to keep everyone focused on the topic. This is particularly important during an online meeting since the chance of miscommunication is greater due to Internet connectivity and audio/video quality.
Prepare Your System In Advance
Ask all the participants to restart their computers at least 20 minutes before the meeting gets underway. Also, make sure your camera and microphone are working fine, and your meeting software supports multiple participants. For one-on-one meetings, you can go for a standard video calling service like Skype. But if there are multiple participants, a specialized application like ClickMeeting, which gives you the ability to conduct online meetings much more professionally is recommended.
Limit Distractions
Distractions can easily cause miscommunication in online meetings. To avoid them, make sure all your participants are sitting in a closed and well-illuminated room with a clear background. Also, it’s better to use headphones and a collar mic instead of your laptop’s mic to ensure clear communication.
And In Conclusion…
Once your online meeting concludes, make sure a summary of all the meeting notes are sent to the participants. List the action points identified for each agenda item along with the name of the person responsible for its delivery. Ask all the participants to acknowledge the meeting notes and confirm their understanding.
Conducting online meetings with people in different locations can be difficult to manage, but advance preparation, good structure, and tight moderation can bring about a productive success. If done right, well-communicated, online meetings can become an extremely effective platform for connecting your company stakeholders and employees, whilst saving you telephone and other conventional communication costs.