The Youth Economy Agency (YEA) collaborated with Bank of Saint Lucia’s Investment Banking Team is to host a two-day Investment Readiness Training Programme for young entrepreneurs.
The October 16–17, programme was held at the Finance Administrative Centre in Castries, brought together a wide cross section of young business owners together.
The two-day training mandate was to strengthen the financial literacy, business acumen, and investment preparedness of Saint Lucia’s young entrepreneurs. Through practical and interactive sessions, participants were expected to grasp essential knowledge in areas such as financial management, budgeting, compliance, business valuation, and investor pitching.
Wise Financial Planning & Budgeting, which was presented by BOSL’s Elva Naitram was one of the key components of the training session. Financing and Investment Options for MSMEs, Understanding Financial Statements, Preparing and Delivering an Investor Pitch and Personal Readiness and Soft Skills for Entrepreneurs were other areas covered in the programme.
Olivia Jn Baptiste is the Project Officer for Training & Development at YEA who believes the initiative was necessary. “From interacting with our clients and the feedback that we get from them we found out that they usually have challenges articulating the value of their business to various stakeholders, other agencies including ourselves and potential investors as well. We usually have clients walk through the doors of the Youth Economy Agency say they want an investor, but they know very little with regards to what investment entails.”
Marissa Marcus is one such individual. “In most cases you are the first person in your family to own a business so there’s no one they to guide you with financial literacy and having a forum like this with the Youth Economy Agency is very important especially for small businesses because it teaches you from ground up how to manage your funds and how to invest your funds as well.”
The Youth Economy Agency is hopeful that such progrmmes will ensure the longevity of the young business and ultimately boost the local economy.