In Belize entrepreneurial ventures are the key to keeping our economy afloat. Small businesses account for well over 50% of all employment, thus it becomes vital to facilitate and nurture an entrepreneurial culture throughout our country. Entrepreneurs tend to be innovative, proactive, risk-takers who reach for change, respond to it and exploit opportunities, and in turn convert a source into a resource.  Keeping in-line with this, the Small Business Development Centre Belize, BELTRAIDE, with its mandate to provide advisory and training services to entrepreneurs and groups has been working tirelessly to strengthen Belize’s Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Sector.

Since opening its doors a mere eight months ago, the centre has seen its client intake swell to almost 200 clients from various parts of the country seeking assistance in sourcing of financing, business plan development, marketing and sales, product development, sourcing of raw materials, just to name a few. SBDCBelize’s Business Advisors take the approach of offering customized, needs-based, one on one advisory service to each client.  Also in keeping with its objectives, SBDCBelize has been offering focused capacity building trainings on a weekly basis. To date, SBDCBelize has facilitated over thirty  training sessions, catering to over a hundred participants in various business skills training topics such as Establishing a Business in Belize, Basic Bookkeeping, Business Plan Development, Costing and Pricing, Developing Financial Statements, and more.

Along with its specialized advisory services and training program, SBDCBelize’s assistance in funding allocation has led to the attainment of over fifty thousand dollars in capital for business development for its clients thus far.  With its partnerships with numerous organizations and outreach efforts, BELTRAIDE and its SBDCBelize unit looks forward to building on its momentum to creative economic prosperity through a vibrant MSME Sector for Belize.