Published On : Monday, January 23, 2012By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor A $15-20 million Small Business Development Fund would be enough to "stimulate" the sector's development and further financing, a well-known consultant telling Tribune Business it should double its Bahamian GDP share to 10 per cent in "three-five years". Telling Tribune Business that the Government and others had been "talking for too long" when it came to Bahamian small business and entrepreneurial development, Mark Turnquest said an overall development framework for the sector was required to unleash - and direct - financing and other support mechanisms. The head of Mark A. Turnquest Consulting, a well-known small business consultant, said a Small Business Development Fund would be formed by "pooling" finance from the likes of commercial banks, angel investors, venture capitalists and philanthropists. Urging that there be no government involvement in the Fund's decisions, Mr Turnquest said it should focus on start-ups and small businesses with the ability to hire persons, and those with the ability to export goods and services. With the fast-approaching general election in danger of postponing the Government's much-trumpeted Small Business Development Bill, perhaps indefinitely, Mr Turnquest urged the administration to at least hold the necessary consultation with industry leaders and stakeholders prior to going to the polls. "If the PLP gets into power, they will not look at what's been done, and we'll all have to wait three years as they start all over again," Mr Turnquest said. "If we don't have the consultation in process, they have to start all over again." Staging private sector consultations now, Mr Turnquest said, would at least provide "some type of reference" point. So, if the Government did change, the new administration "don't have to reinvent the wheel". The most important development, he added, was for the Bahamas to devise and implement a "small business development framework". This would create an institutional element that could even encourage partnerships between Bahamian and international persons/organisations when it came to financing and supporting small business development. Calling for Bahamian and foreign lenders to "pool resources in a Small Business Development Fund", Mr Turnquest said: "It would have to have about $15-$20 million to start with, and after that everything will fall into place. "A lot of people, even in the Bahamas, have money to invest, but they do not have a structure to assist them. The framework is actually a stimulus package where it will develop small business in the Bahamas. Currently, there's no direction." The Small Business Development Fund would be guided by this framework, Mr Turnquest said. He said it should "focus on developing innovative companies who hire a sufficient amount of people, and economic growth. "Everyone is talking about job creation, but there's no strategy. You fund businesses who can hire 25 people, pay taxes and develop themselves so they can export goods and services. That's how we improve the 5 per cent of GDP share we have now. We should be at least 10 per cent in the next three years." Calling for a focus on small business exports, Mr Turnquest said the Small Business Development Fund had to be run by banks, financiers and private sector executives who understood lending and what to look for in business plans. "The banks have not been interested in small business development. That's not their focus. But they have a lot of people who understand how to lend to small business. All they need is a policy framework to tell them what to do," he added, urging that there be no government representatives on the Small Business Development Fund. "Let's focus," Mr Turnquest told Tribune Business, "We've been talking too long. We're talking every day about small business. We want the political parties to stop the gamesmanship on small business, and come up with sound business proposals on how they're going to change the environment in the short and long-term."
Published On : Monday, January 23, 2012
By NEIL HARTNELL
Tribune Business Editor
A $15-20 million Small Business Development Fund would be enough to "stimulate" the sector's development and further financing, a well-known consultant telling Tribune Business it should double its Bahamian GDP share to 10 per cent in "three-five years".
Telling Tribune Business that the Government and others had been "talking for too long" when it came to Bahamian small business and entrepreneurial development, Mark Turnquest said an overall development framework for the sector was required to unleash - and direct - financing and other support mechanisms.
The head of Mark A. Turnquest Consulting, a well-known small business consultant, said a Small Business Development Fund would be formed by "pooling" finance from the likes of commercial banks, angel investors, venture capitalists and philanthropists.
Urging that there be no government involvement in the Fund's decisions, Mr Turnquest said it should focus on start-ups and small businesses with the ability to hire persons, and those with the ability to export goods and services.
With the fast-approaching general election in danger of postponing the Government's much-trumpeted Small Business Development Bill, perhaps indefinitely, Mr Turnquest urged the administration to at least hold the necessary consultation with industry leaders and stakeholders prior to going to the polls.
"If the PLP gets into power, they will not look at what's been done, and we'll all have to wait three years as they start all over again," Mr Turnquest said. "If we don't have the consultation in process, they have to start all over again."
Staging private sector consultations now, Mr Turnquest said, would at least provide "some type of reference" point. So, if the Government did change, the new administration "don't have to reinvent the wheel".
The most important development, he added, was for the Bahamas to devise and implement a "small business development framework". This would create an institutional element that could even encourage partnerships between Bahamian and international persons/organisations when it came to financing and supporting small business development.
Calling for Bahamian and foreign lenders to "pool resources in a Small Business Development Fund", Mr Turnquest said: "It would have to have about $15-$20 million to start with, and after that everything will fall into place.
"A lot of people, even in the Bahamas, have money to invest, but they do not have a structure to assist them. The framework is actually a stimulus package where it will develop small business in the Bahamas. Currently, there's no direction."
The Small Business Development Fund would be guided by this framework, Mr Turnquest said. He said it should "focus on developing innovative companies who hire a sufficient amount of people, and economic growth.
"Everyone is talking about job creation, but there's no strategy. You fund businesses who can hire 25 people, pay taxes and develop themselves so they can export goods and services. That's how we improve the 5 per cent of GDP share we have now. We should be at least 10 per cent in the next three years."
Calling for a focus on small business exports, Mr Turnquest said the Small Business Development Fund had to be run by banks, financiers and private sector executives who understood lending and what to look for in business plans.
"The banks have not been interested in small business development. That's not their focus. But they have a lot of people who understand how to lend to small business. All they need is a policy framework to tell them what to do," he added, urging that there be no government representatives on the Small Business Development Fund.
"Let's focus," Mr Turnquest told Tribune Business, "We've been talking too long. We're talking every day about small business. We want the political parties to stop the gamesmanship on small business, and come up with sound business proposals on how they're going to change the environment in the short and long-term."
