Speaking on the recently-released Entrepreneurship Blueprint, Labour Minister Jason Hayward hopes to see expanded incubator services akin to those he has seen overseas
Shared marketing and accounting services, easier access to funding, and reducing customs duty for retailers and entrepreneurs…
…these are some of the things that could help start-up businesses establish themselves.
Following the release of the Bermuda Entrepreneurship Blueprint last month, Labour & Economy Minister Jason Hayward sat down with us to talk about the long-term strategy to ‘unlease innovation’ and ’empower opportunity’.
He highlights a trip to the US, where he says he “got to appreciate the role that an incubator and accelerator actually plays in supporting the ecosystem for entrepreneurs and small businesses.”
Asked about what additional support bodies such as BEDC and Ignite could provide, the Minister gave the example of shared marketing and accounting services, “so that each organization doesn’t have to bear the brunt of this cost…
“How can you have shared spaces to minimize the rental costs in the early stages of one’s entrepreneurial journey?…
“Those are the things in which we saw… what I believe can be emulated in Bermuda…”
Minister Hayward spoke about the difficulty for start-ups to access funding from the banks, and said there are opportunities to create more trade agreements with other territories to allow local businesses to export.
He also said conversations are ongoing about reducing customs duty for entrepreneurs and retailers.
“We want to ensure that we have an environment where people are empowered and actually succeed, and where there are barriers, we’d have reasonable dialog as it pertains to how we can reduce those barriers as best as we possibly can.”
A steering committee for the entrepreneurship strategy is set to be rolled out in the coming weeks, the Minister said, to plan how to meet the objectives of the entrepreneurship strategy.
WATCH the interview above.
