ENTREPRENEURSHIP is the watchword in Barbados in light of the continuing global recession.
Barbadians are being encouraged to gather their ideas and be their own bosses. This week, Street Beat speaks to a few of the people who have taken up the challenge.
Rafael Norville is a lover of anime and electronic gaming so he decided to merge his passion for them with baking.
“I had been looking for a job for a long time and one day I was on Facebook and I saw these cakes that looked diabetes worthy and I thought ‘I could do this’. I patterned them after tracks in Mario Kart like Rainbow Road and now all my cakes are Nintendo themed,” he said.
Norville said he suffered a few mishaps at first but finally got the hang of it. He said he was not a cook at the time but did some research online and recalled his late mother’s baking to get himself through. Now, Nintebakery produces cakes such as Choco Island, Ness, Pikachu and Donkey Kong Banana Roll. However, it is still an uphill battle.
“I started at home and it is still at home. I have plans to expand but finances are the problem. I had to get certain pans and ingredients but luckily I had part-time jobs to pay for them. The business pays the bills, but I want to expand,” he said.
Norville said the upcoming Animekon from August 23 – 24 would boost his sales. He said he hoped his business would then take off.
“If it takes off to become something I can’t fathom right now then I see myself branching off into other types of cakes. After all, people will always have a sweet tooth,” he said.
The youth of Health E Green Life have ambitious plans. Admittedly, they said it was more of a non-profit organisation now but there was room for profits. The team is made up of students who came up with the idea as part of a workshop held by the Caribbean Centre for Excellence.
“We were supposed to come up with a business to run for a week but we wanted to continue it. I was thinking of how we could give back and we came up with something which incorporated health, the economy, greener living and life,” said chief executive officer Kevin Turton.
The current team is made up of Turton, an engineering major; Risa Downes, who has a degree in social work and is studying management with human resources and Kyle Cedeno, who will be attending university soon. However, they said they have a variety of professionals they could call on to help them.
“We want to go into schools, camps and communities to connect with the children and mentor them. A lot of children do not have mentors who can speak and coach them ad there are places such as the dyslexia centre which are overlooked and we want to target them,” said Turton.
As for the green aspect, Downes said they also had composting ideas and showcased a mini drip irrigation system created by Turton.
“This business will last; it has to last. People look at a business from a marketing aspect but there are also things the planet needs. Right now we are like a non-profit organisation but we will eventually be able to charge fees,” he said.
Allison Sobers has a kiln and mould at home and fires up her own home made ceramics. An expensive proposition, which requires 220 volt electrical system, she said her problem was getting people to realise the value to her work.
“People don’t want to pay so I have to lower prices sometimes. You have to lose money with some things and seek to make it back on others,” she said.
Sobers said she was introduced to ceramics through a friend. She said the process and the beauty of the works intrigued her and allowed her to use her passion for painting. She said her specialty was bathroom fixtures which is also her bestselling item.
In addition, to ceramics, Sobers also sells second hand books and has partnered with friend Sherilyn Edwards, who sells seedlings and plants.
Ermita Burke is the woman behind Faith Fort Creations. She makes jewellery of out wood, porcelain, epoxy clay and more. She said she too was introduced by a friend but had always wanted to get involved.
“I wanted to do this even before I was introduced but I could only do it after I retired and had that extra time. It is very time consuming but if you love it, then it is not a problem,” she said.
Burke said entrepreneurship was the way to go in these times but there was not enough support for it.
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