NEIL HARTNELL
INTERVIEWED MARK A. TURNQUEST
NOVEMBER 2012
#Tribune
Business Editor
#Appointing
an eight-member private sector committee to drive the Small and Medium-Sized
Enterprise Development Bill forward has created “some light at the end of the
tunnel”, a well-known consultant yesterday revealing that 75 per cent of his
clients in the sector were “struggling”.
#Mark
Turnquest, of Mark A. Turnquest & Company, said that while the Government’s
decision to appoint himself and seven other persons to the committee offered
hope, many small businesses and entrepreneurs had adopted a ‘we’ll believe it
when we say it’ attitude.
#Acknowledging
the continued weakness of many Bahamian-owned small and medium-sized (SME)
enterprises, Mr Turnquest told Tribune Business he had been forced to cut the
fees he charged for developing business plans by between 33-66 per cent.
#And,
while growth and optimism were unlikely in the short-term, Mr Turnquest said
the Bill promised to usher in a “better business climate” for Bahamian SMEs by
September 2013.
#The
legislation will create the Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Development
Agency (SMEDA) as a ‘one-stop shop’ to facilitate all the industry’s needs, and
Mr Turnquest told this newspaper that it was being structured to resist the
political fall-out from changes in government.
#Disclosing
that the Government had appointed the committee, featuring six men and two
women, two weeks ago, Mr Turnquest said they were currently focused on
assessing small business needs and consulting with those in the sector.
#Pledging
that the committee would consult with the various industry associations, plus
small businesses in New Providence and the Family Islands, early next year, he
told Tribune Business: “We can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
#“We
can see that by next year the small business community will be in a far better
position.... Right now, our country is not in a good position economically. A
lot of times, people agree that small businesses are the driving force, but
only recently are we making an effort to bring together the small business
consultants in the field who can assist the Government.”
#Apart
from being hit by the recession, many Nassau-based small businesses have also
had to contend with the disruption caused by the New Providence Road
Improvement Project.
#“I
see a lot of businesses not open and people losing interest,” Mr Turnquest
said. “I spoke to a lot of my customers about the Small and Medium-Seized
Enterprise Development Act, but a lot of them are not in a position to recover
because the financing mechanisms are not available right now.
#“Lending
institutions need to focus on new, high risk enterprises. That is one of the
challenges right now. A lot of organisations have indicated they are going to
lend money, but they are not practising what they preach.”
#And
he further told Tribune Business: “Of my clients, 75 per cent of them are
struggling.
#“All
of them have under 10 people employed. That’s my market. Unfortunately, a lot
of them have not yet started rehiring. Many of my clients had to go back to
work in their shops; they have to work directly in the management of their
companies and be there. They have not benefited from any recovery.
#“Only
25 per cent of my clients have started hiring one or two people back again.”
#Mr
Turnquest said the struggles of the past four-five years had taken their toll
on small business psychology, sapping the entrepreneurial spirit of many in the
sector.
#“I
found out that their demeanour, enthusiastic behaviour, is not there,” he told
Tribune Business of many clients.
#“Presently,
I’m doing a lot of planning and innovative-type marketing to see how I can
attract new business myself. I, as a planner, have to do extra work to get my
business back to where it is to survive.
#“I
went from a $750 fee for a business plan down to $500. New start-ups, I’m
charging $250. My average price for a business plan is $250-=$500. No one has
the means to pay more.”
#Describing
2012 as “another year of drought”, Mr Turnquest added: “One of my clients has a
pre-owned, used car business, and their sales are 30-40 per cent less than last
year. That indicates people can afford less.
#“Coming
into the Christmas holidays, my clients are not optimistic at all. They don’t
anticipate holiday sales will cover them for the major losses they’ve faced for
the past year-and-a-half.
#“I
tell them that the Small Business Act and SMEDA will be hear next year. They’re
not enthusiastic about that. While I told them it’s going to create a better
business climate, they’re saying they’ve been suffering for too long,
government has failed them for too long. They want to see it happen to believe
it.”
#Mr
Turnquest said the committee would advise the Government on what was needed to
create a “productive small business sector”, adding that the groundwork for the
legislation and SMEDA’s structure was now taking place.
#“Small
business owners can feel confident now that by September next year they will
have some type of facility where they will receive training, marketing and
operational support,” he added.
#SMEDA,
Mr Turnquest said, would “identify the best funding mechanisms” for Bahamian
small businesses, be that local or overseas sources.
#This
would also reduce the burden on the Bahamas Development Bank,
government-sponsored venture capital fund and the Bahamas Agricultural and
Industrial Corporation (BAIC).
#The
intention, Mr Turnquest said, was that all these agencies would have their own
mandate, with SMEDA focused on small businesses.
#Adding
that the private sector would “drive” SMEDA, he said of its control:
“Eventually there will be less government and more private sector..... The
legal framework will go beyond political changes every five years.”
#Pointing
out that he would never have agreed to sit on the Government’s committee unless
he was sure “something meaningful” would result, Mr Turnquest said: “We’ll make
sure that when changes in government take place, they’ll never interfere with
business growth and economic development in the Bahamas.”
