MONDAY OCTOBER 21^ST, 2019, ST. GEORGE’S:- Nineteen (19) small business owners can now boast of being more proficient in bookkeeping.  This after completing a workshop organised and hosted by the Grenada Development Bank through its Business Support and Development Service. 

The capacity building event held on Thursday October 17th is the second ”Bookkeeping for Small Businesses”  session for the year with the first having been held in July. This brings the total to 41 current and perspective small business owners trained as part of this program. 

Veronica Plenty, a Paralegal by profession said she saw the ad while browsing through Facebook, ‘Prior to seeing the ad, I was in the process of hiring an accountant, but thought that maybe I should give the workshop a try. Having done the bookkeeping workshop, I am now better equipped to manage my accounts. On many occasions small business owners are left by the wayside to fend for themselves, this is an excellent initiative by the GDB and I recommend that small business owners take full advantage of opportunities like this.’

Another small business owner who had positive reviews about the workshop is Annette Welsh-McKenzie,  ‘I want to thank the GDB for putting this workshop in place and giving small business owners such as myself the opportunity to learn more about effectively managing their business. It was an informative session, one that I would recommend to small business owners willing to go the distance.’ 

Natasha Joseph is the Bank’s Business Support and Development Officer; her responsibilities include ensuring that customers of the Bank are capable of managing their businesses and succeeding financially.

Ms. Joseph stated why a workshop such as this is a necessity, ‘One common trend among persons operating a small business and seeking financing is their lack of any or accurate records. The importance of bookkeeping cannot be overemphasised as in addition to providing information on the business’ performance when applying for a loan, it is the ultimate way of knowing for sure whether or not your business is profitable’. 

‘Bookkeeping is sometimes taken for granted and many persons without an accounting background are intimidated by the prospect. They view it as complicated when it can be accomplished quite simply for a small business. Workshops such as these are designed to remove the mystery and show business owners the simple and effective methods of performing these tasks.’ 

The next planned business development workshop will be held in collaboration with the Grenada Tourism Association. It is geared at providing information to our Tourism Service Providers on the Grenada Tourism Authority Act and their outlined roles and responsibilities.