Cottage industries operators urged to bolster marketing skills |06 May 2005

Speaking to the press recently the managing director of SEnPA, Lucy Athanasius, said lack of marketing skills was one of the factors that could hinder the growth of newly set up cottage industries.

She explained that presently several businesses, for instance those involved in snack production, tended to produce the same kind of items, such as banana chips, and are not getting proper retail outlets because the market was already saturated with the product.

Ms Athanasius said they are encouraging promoters involved in snack production and even tailoring to seek or set up shops to sell their products as it was not proper to turn their homes into retail outlets.

As part of its assistance to cottage industries, Ms Athanasius said SEnPA will help entrepreneurs benefit from training and consultancy normally delivered to small and medium businesses, to grasp new skills to develop, package and present their products for sale.

However, for entrepreneurs to gain the training benefits they have to register with SEnPA.

"There is tight competition out there and cottage industries operators will have to learn to come up with quality items and make their products attractive to consumers," she said.

"If I'm making moulouk and you are making the same product, there must be a way that I can make my moulouk sell better than your moulouk," Ms Athanasius pointed out.

Besides training opportunities, registered cottage industries will be able to participate in SEnPA's activities such as local and international trade fairs dedicated for the promotion of small businesses, as well as benefit from SEnPA's monitoring and after-care services.

Strict monitoring will be carried out to ensure they respect all the basic standards laid down in such areas as hygiene and safety.

SEnPA, she said, will have an important role of advising operators in the initial stage of their business, so that they get a good understanding of how and where to best start off.

As of June, registered cottage industries operators will no longer have to fret about unavailability of raw materials, as they will get access to basic materials and tools to be sold in the Raw Material shop at Camion Hall.

Ms Athanasius said SEnPA will be working closely with other partners such as Environment and Health departments to ensure that entrepreneurs running cottage industries have access to all the necessary facilities and information for their businesses to grow successfully.

Among the 300 cottage industries registered so far, the majority are based at Bel Ombre (26), followed by Plaisance (22), St Louis (21), Anse Royale (19), Mont Buxton and Beau Vallon (18) and English River (16).

109 businesses have been registered in tailoring, 67 in handicraft and 32 in professional services.

The initiative has also reached Silhouette island where to date one cottage industry has been set up. 

Among those promoting the businesses are school graduates, pensioners and people with disabilities.