The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

A Small Business Development Centre (SBDC) executive said pivoting towards technology is what successful small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) have been doing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Shawn Gomez, the SBDC’s assistant director of public relations, speaking at a webinar, said the agency has seen a lot of their clients upgrading their technology and that’s who the SBDC has been throwing their financial support behind.

She said: “Larger companies have more support and more funding so they can pivot and do things quite easy, but when you see a SME that is able to see that a situation is not working, for example I was working a storefront but I can turn this into making this strictly delivery based, then that is smart.”

SMEs are “not in a box anymore” as they have the tools to be successful even despite the pandemic and can thrive without having a brick and mortar storefront, Ms Gomez argue.

“We saw a lot of pivoting… and we were very proud because they were able to keep themselves sustainable and survive ... and we were able to offer them funding to assist with that. They were able to see what they needed to move and they did it,” said Ms Gomez.

“For the SBDC, it just so happened that this organization actually played a very pivotal role during the pandemic, because the government has recognized that the small business sector is really the backbone of our economy and the quicker that we can get the SMEs help and assistance to bounce back and to operate, the better it is for the overall economy.”

The SBDC is also leading by example on the technological pivot and introduced the “Zoho One” operating system for businesses where prospective and current clients can access assistance from the agency without having to come in physical contact with a representative at any time.

“So if you need assistance, you can either send us a ticket, or email through Help Centre and then allow us to respond through an email or digitally that way,” said Ms Gomez.

“Technology was the key for us to be able to connect to all of the businesses because we have impacted 15 islands and so for us being in New Providence, for us to even be able to communicate, it was technology based and Zoho One allowed us to be at the centre of it all.”