Growth & Jobs | Women entrepreneurs encouraged to expand their businesses

THE STEADY movement of women into managerial positions in corporate Jamaica is proof that women are great bosses, but there are concerns that some women are averse to taking the risk to start their own businesses, and, when they do, more often than not, it is on a small scale.

Among those who have made this observation is specialist at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Kayla Grant, who pointed out that the bank has developed initiatives to assist women in business. She said that, in Jamaica, the IDB, through partners such as the Development Bank of Jamaica’s (DBJ) BIGEE programme, is providing women entrepreneurs with grants, technical assistance, mentorship, and digital vouchers that give them access to support in setting up their websites and other facilities online to grow their businesses.

“What the data has revealed is that women-owned firms tend to be small, low in productivity, and they also tend not to access financial and technical assistance as much as male-owned firms,” she said.

Grant’s observation was highlighted during the second staging of the Medium, Small, and Micro Enterprises Business Roadshow in Montego Bay, St James recently. Several of the women business owners declared that they had funded their businesses with their own money or with funds generated from family and friends. One of the aims of the roadshow, which was hosted by the Ministry of Industry, Investment, and Commerce in partnership with the IDB, was to connect business owners with financial institutions that can assist them with growing their businesses. The business owners also had access to 20 agencies under the ministry that could assist them with every aspect of registering and maintaining a successful business.

Montego Bay-based designer and artist Sharon Cunningham started her business seven years ago. While the COVID-19 pandemic did create some challenges, it continues to be a success. She pointed to the fact that her business so far has been self-funded, but, given its expansion, she is now ready to consider other financing options, in order to achieve the overall vision for her company.

“I am ready to take the next step forward, but, if you need to self-fund, self-fund until you are ready,” she said during a panel discussion on Women in Entrepreneurship that was hosted by Grant during the roadshow.

Cheryl Neufville, whose company provides communication services, event management, counselling, and television production, was also a panellist. She finds that men and women generally take different approaches towards business.

“Women are nurturers and so we care more about the human factor, while the men are task-oriented, so they set a goal and they must achieve it,” she said.

She noted that, “women will hold onto things that are not necessarily working because of their heart and because they are connected to it. Men will just cut it out; ‘it’s not working, it’s not earning; let’s try something else’.”

She said that women entrepreneurs should strive to be consistent, upskill, and network in order to make their businesses successful.

These are lessons that Thaida Masters, the owner of Sweet A Design had to learn from early. Masters lost her job in the tourism sector during the height of the pandemic in 2020. She first started out selling breathable masks designed by her mother, but, as the need for masks became less of a demand, she had to pivot, and so she started crafting designs for mugs, Christmas ornaments, coasters, key chains, and other products. She makes use of opportunities to attend pop-up shops and other such events organised by the Tourism Enhancement Fund and the Jamaica Business Development Corporation.

The mother of a 14-year-old daughter managed to secure another job but, when she lost that one as well, she was happy that she had her business to provide an income. Her products are marketed internationally and she has the added benefit of having a business where she can channel her inner creativity.

“Go for it; you are your only limit,” she tells women who are desirous of starting a business.

Both men and women who are desirous of growing their businesses are invited to attend the next MSME Business roadshow, scheduled for November 21 at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in Kingston.