BARBADOS’ SMALLEST BUSINESSES are generating billions of dollars in revenue.
Researched commissioned by the Small Business Association (SBA) and conducted by the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies, University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus concluded that 47.5 per cent of the $7.3 billion of revenue generated by the private, non-agricultural, sector came from the micro, small and medium enterprise sector (MSME).
The National Survey Of The MSME Sector said there were 9 651 “formal” MSMEs in Barbados and that of the significant amount of revenue calculated, 2.7 per cent came from microenterprises, 23.2 per cent from small enterprises and 21.5 per cent from medium enterprises.
“As expected, given the structure of the economy, the majority of revenue was generated by the service sector (75 per cent); MSMEs in services contributed approximately 39.4 per cent of total revenue,” the report found.
Commenting on the findings, SBA chief executive officer Lynette Holder also pointed out that the survey “also demonstrates that while the majority of value-added in industry is contributed by large enterprises, the majority of value-added in services is obtained from small firms”.
“This data confirms the hypothesis of many, that the MSME sector is a major contributor to social and economic development and ought to be better engaged to further maximise this contribution,” she added.
The report also stated: “Overall, MSMEs accounted for 38.8 per cent of total exports, with only 1.1 per cent coming from microenterprises. As with value-added, the majority of industry exports are from large enterprises. With respect to services, the majority of exports are from small and medium enterprises.”
While more than 2 000 enterprises were contacted to complete the survey of which 590 responses were received, 542 were considered valid and were included in the final database for analysis. (SC)