Tourism Awareness Month continues with Business Workshop

By Melissa Bryant
Reporter~SKNVibes.com

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - AS part of the month-long Tourism Month Awareness programme, the Chamber of Industry and Commerce (CIC), in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism, is hosting a Workshop to address the needs of the Federation’s small and medium businesses at the Manhattan Gardens from October 13 to 16.

The Workshop, entitled “Small and Medium Business Enterprise Basics: Business Start-up and Survival Skills Workshop”, aims to advise and assist existing or burgeoning entrepreneurs so that their businesses can avoid bankruptcy or economic failure.

The four-day Workshop is sponsored by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the facilitators are Marcella Lanns-Monish, an Accounts Executive at Lanns-Monish & Associates, and Wendy Phipps, Executive Director of the CIC. Vendors from the Pelican Mall, the Amina Craft Market and government employees are among the attendees.

According to Phipps, approximately 65 percent of the CIC’s members are classified as small to medium businesses and a considerable amount of them are engaged in the services sector, particularly in tourism. However, due to problems including lack of a business plan, lack of discipline and commitment, insufficient market study and improper financial planning, many of these businesses are short-lived.    ~~Adz:Right~~

“Being an entrepreneur is obviously different to working for an employer. This initiative aims to teach these persons about what exactly undertaking such an endeavour requires,” Phipps said.

Short lectures, handouts, interactive sessions, guest speakers and evaluations are some of the teaching methods that will be utilised.

Day one is the only full-length day on the schedule and consisted of self-analysis exercises and discussion in areas including Elements of a Business Plan, Business Management and Budgeting.

While day two deals with Communication Skills, day three will focus on Service Excellence and external obligations, such as Taxes and Social Security.

Expressing her expectations, Phipps said, “I hope that the participants are here because they want to be here and are willing to learn. Also, I want to hear some success stories down the road that this workshop was the impetus for someone’s business taking off or someone deciding to overcome their fears and opening their own.”

At the end of the Workshop there will be a closing ceremony in which CIC President Mark Wilkin and the Hon. Ricky Skeritt, Minister of Tourism, will address the participants.