Beltraide has disbursed another round of grant funding to 22 small business owners, 15 of whom are women. A Seed Capital Award ceremony was held today for its second cohort under the program and Jomarie Lanza was there to meet a few of the grant recipients. Here's her report.
It's a major opportunity for local entrepreneurs to expand their small and medium enterprises, thanks to the second cohort of BELTRAIDE's Belize Enterprise Empowerment Project. Today, these grant recipients received five thousand dollars each in funding to scale up their businesses. The Executive Director told us more about the journey to today's handout.
Ishmael Quiroz, Executive Director, Beltraide
"So under this cohort we had 127 applicants, and then of course a big part of it is that your application had to actually be completed. It had to be completed and in good quality, and out of that 30 persons were shortlisted. 30 businesses were shortlisted, and they went through the training program. A big part of it is that you had to complete at least 80% of the training in order to be able to move onto the next stage. So ultimately out of that 30, 22 were successful in completing the program and successfully pitching and convincing the evolution panel that their business was viable, innovative, and stood a good chance of success."
"So I think we have to be thinking of how we can position ourselves as unique in the market, identifying what sets us apart. And another thing is also finding new ways of doing things, that is innovation. You know, it does not only mean digital; innovation means doing things differently, and that could mean partnering with another provider to help you produce an even better product-so something that is completely unique. So those are some of the main ingredients: finding what sets you apart and being innovative, partnering, and really being determined to see through your business to success."
And 2 of those promising entrepreneurs have attained success in beauty and hair care, and also sound and production. We asked them how they have benefited from the program and how they plan to expand their business.
"Jo-
"Tell us a bit about your business. When did it start, and what made you want to start producing hair oils?"
Dawn Humes, Dawn's Essentials
"What made me want to start is walking into the stores and spending $100-hundreds of dollars-to buy hair products. And I started to do my own thing at home, trial and error. And then when I got the oil perfect, I was asked to sell it, and that is how it happened. It happened out of nowhere, people requested it, and so I did it."
"Well, the business started maybe a year and a half ago or so, and I used this BEEP program as a catapult into the next level of this business. So I am excited, and I can't wait. And for us ladies, I can't wait, wait for you all to see the products we will provide."
"It will be all natural. I use all natural products, so Rosemary, Cloves, Fenugreek, olive oil. So, yeah."
Darlon Usher, Chief Engineer, Mosaic Productions
"If you remember, I was the winner of KTV last year, and directly after that was the founding of my business. And since then, I have been able to provide sound reinforcement services for events such as weddings, birthdays, concerts, and other conferences of the sort."
"This is definitely a major step for me and my business in that it provides and allows me to provide better quality service for my clients. I am able to expand my equipment, and in doing so, I am able to provide more services for the clients."
"In the next three to five years, I definitely want to be able to provide better services for customers, not only in my surrounding area but also the rest of the country, and maybe even outside of the country. One of the things I am passionate about is providing excellent services at every level, so that is something I am trying to achieve even now."
But the work of the program doesn't end here. Quiroz says that only the first half of the grant will be disbursed as they continue to provide guidance and regular check-ins on the progress of these grantees and their businesses.
Ishmael Quiroz, Executive Director, Beltraide
"So the grant recipients don't receive their full grant right away. They have to-they would have had to develop business plans for their business idea, and what we do is provide half the grant amount. And then at the midpoint of their implementation period, where that would have been defined at the beginning, we would assess to what extent they have invested in what they said they would invest, and only when that is confirmed would they receive the second half of their gran. Apart from that, there is constant engagement with the entrepreneurs, with the recipients, by the business advisors-either through the Small Business Development Center or the Export Belize unit of Beltraide-to continuously support and to guide them, to answer questions, and to help them succeed. And so there is continuous interaction, and the idea is really for us to keep in touch to assess to what extent they have been successful."
