The Development Bank of St. Kitts & Nevis has embarked on a new service specifically geared at helping small businesses within the Federation to develop and enhance their operations. The Business Development Support Centre is designed to react to the needs of small businesses and provide practical recommendations and solutions to common and chronic problems.

Over the years, the life expectancy of new businesses within the federation  has being less than encouraging. Frequently, new businesses are formed and within a few months, and sometimes  few years the business closes. The ripple effects of this situation is the loss of jobs and income for the owner and the employees, a change in the livelihood for the families and a loss or reduction of savings. Generally, the closure of any business puts a strain of the country both socially and economically. The Development Bank of St. Kitts & Nevis seeks to resolve some of the problems which causes business failures.

What Causes Businesses To Fail?

The main reason behind business failure is poor management and financial constraints. A loss of market is another critical factor. As small businesses experience a decline in sales volume, this usually results in a reduction of profits. These issues are usually prevalent in today's business world and must be monitored carefully.

What Can We Do?

More often than not, it is easy to detect various problem areas within any business. The next step would be to minimize the risks of potential losses and seek to correct the problems.  The Development Bank of St. Kitts & Nevis has within its Support program, a series of workshop sessions intended not only to assist small businesses address these problems, but to educate and assist in avoiding such pitfalls. These sessions would be conducted in a progressive manner including as many relevant aspects from starting a business plan to the actual business operations.

Among the areas covered in our many workshops are: