The best of Cayman’s emerging entrepreneurs was on display at the Small Business Expo at Hotel Indigo on 2 Oct.
Organised by the Cayman Islands Centre for Business Development (CICBD), the event showcased a wide mix of local firms from candlemakers to laser tag centres.
The event included a keynote speech from MP Wayne Panton, acting minister for financial service and commerce, who highlighted the importance of small businesses for the islands. “Small businesses are critical because if you look elsewhere in the world, they normally provide around 70% of total employment,” he said.
Much of the economic policy debate in Cayman focuses on financial services, which tends to be dominated by larger, international firms. Yet Panton emphasised that this government is keen to support smaller, domestic companies.
Given the high failure rate for small-to-medium enterprises – statistics show that more than 70% of them fail in the first three years – Cayman companies will need all the support they can get.
“We have the CICBD, which provides free services to small businesses,” said Panton. “We’re also making regulatory policy changes to help small business. For example, we are implementing multi-year business licences, so small companies don’t have to worry about meeting regulatory requirements every year. We also want to reduce their fees.”
Small business Cayman style
Cayman’s unique economic profile shapes the types of small companies it creates. Unlike other Caribbean islands, where agricultural exporters make a high proportion of small-to-medium enterprises, the vast majority of firms at the expo focus on servicing the local market.
“We don’t have the same breadth of economic activity that you might find in other countries,” said Panton. “Oftentimes it is going to be more local. But nevertheless, we have opportunities selling to our thriving community. People on the islands want new things, they want the latest of things, they want the best of things in many cases.”
One example of a local company innovating to serve the Caymanian market is health and wellness company Pachamama. The firm works directly with local farmers to source the ingredients for its plant-based products.
“We started a few years ago with just a few products,” said co-founder Sarais Chisholm, “and now we have 20 different products ranging from face cream to pain relief.” A big step forward in the company’s development came when supermarket chain Foster’s began to stock Pachamama.
Chisholm was also positive about small business support available on the islands. “We work with CICBD. We do a lot of workshops with them, and they give you the opportunity to participate in this expo.”
She believes that Cayman’s unique economic footprint creates opportunities for firms like Pachamama. “In addition to selling to individuals we also want to reach out to large companies that want to do corporate events.”
Perhaps the most unique aspect of the Caymanian economy is its tax structure, with a disproportionately high import tax. But that can create opportunities for firms that make their products locally, said Fernanda Esquivel the manager at Mar Candles Studio.
“We are a company where all of our products are made locally by hand,” said Esquivel. “That means Caymanians don’t have to buy expensive, imported candles. Instead, they can get something with a local character for better value for money.”
Mar Candles Studio is another success story, moving to a larger premises to allow for increased production.
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