Small businesses need tools for modernisation

THE EDITOR, Madam:

Even before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, small and medium-sized businesses in Jamaica had an uphill climb. Operating expenses, unstable foreign exchange rates and high importation taxes were only a few of the deterrents to many aspiring entrepreneurs. Unlike their much larger counterparts, small and medium-sized businesses didn’t have the buffer of large monetary reserves or shareholders to offset the initial blow of COVID-19 prevention measures. Needless to say, the results were devastating. A year on and not much has changed, the measures remain and many Jamaican households now operate on dramatically-reduced budgets. Ultimately, less disposable income means less customers, with smaller amounts to spend in SMEs.

While the climb has become steeper for many entrepreneurs, I was heartened a few weeks ago when I read in this newspaper that a telecoms company has tailored a business package specifically for SMEs. Among other things, the company said it would provide 24-hour tech support, WhatsApp and e-commerce for small and medium-sized businesses; this is good news. Not only has the new normal forced many Jamaican companies to take their businesses online at a much faster pace than any of us could have imagined, it has forced us to accept that we may never do business the same again. Modernisation is a necessary but expensive process. It is good to know that smaller businesses will not be eaten alive and pushed out of the competitive space by larger companies for lack of modernisation and convenience.

In order to further reduce the incline faced by small and medium-sized enterprises, the government and other major service providers should follow suit. Moving critical services online not only saves time, increases convenience and reduces the number of persons gathered at physical locations, but it will increase the willingness of persons to try to access these services. As we speak of economic recovery and coming out ‘on the other side of COVID-19’, let’s not ditch the actual lessons – modernisation is the key for businesses of any size.

ANDREA DAWKINS