AYES urges aspiring young entrepreneurs not to be scared of doing business |11 August 2016

The Association of Young Entrepreneurs Seychelles (AYES) is calling on all young people who are aspiring to do business or who has a talent that can be turned into a business, not to be scared to take that leap.

They are also being urged to join the association where they will get the help needed to get started.

And as a boost in achieving such goal, AYES is setting up a business centre at Providence as part of its future plans, which will be a one-stop shop for all young business entrepreneurs.

This was revealed by IouanaPillay, chairperson of AYES, during a recent News Extra programme on SBC TV. She was talking on what the association is all about, the progress it has made until now and its plan for the future.

Ms Pillay urged young people who has the wish to start a business, has the passion for it, to come forward.

Regarding the planned business centre, she said it will be one for the young entrepreneurs.

“Any young person can come in for information or conduct a meeting with their client if they already are in business, in case they do not have a proper place to meet. The centre will also be a place where meetings and conferences for young entrepreneurs will be held. It will be a business centre for the young people,” she said.

How was AYES conceived?

Ms Pillay explained that in March last year, the Seychelles National Youth Council (SNYC) held a symposium with a group of young entrepreneurs where key people in the business community, from the Ministry of Investment, Entrepreneurship Development and Business Innovation and other key stakeholders attended.

During the meeting the youths brought forward various constraints they were encountering in doing business, from when you start a business, looking for a location and the financial aspect of it. Then the SNYC saw the need to form that association.

“We formed the association to be the voice of the young entrepreneurs; to speak for them, to create this eco-system (if I can put it that way) to ease doing business in Seychelles,” said Ms Pillay.

Regarding support towards the young entrepreneurs in the association, Ms Pillay said there are young people who come to talk to them on constraints they are encountering in their business and on issues like policies on how to function in a business environment.

“We listen to them and we try to seek government assistance, how we can adjust some of those policies to create a more effective business environment where we can all work together. There are also young people who come with their business plan. We guide them on it like advising them if it is a good idea, where he/she should go for assistance,” said Ms Pillay.

Though the association is not fully established, she said it is on its way to achieving that.

“We are also there to paint another picture of entrepreneurship in the young entrepreneurs’ mind. This is because too many young people are talking of getting into employment when they leave school and not many of them thinking about getting into a business,” she said.

She believes this is because they are afraid to do so due to lack of business knowledge.

“So we want to work with the Ministry of Education to have business as a topic included in the school curriculum so kids can start gaining such knowledge at a very young age. Because if you do not tell them they will never think about it. We have to talk about business, what is business, how to start a business, why business is not a thing that can be done “du jour au lendemain”, it is like a tree which begins with a seed then flourishes. So we must start instilling that in children at a very young age,” she said.

How does the association plans on getting young Seychellois develop that entrepreneurial brain?

Ms Pillay said after the visit and training session by the Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) team from Unesco, she was one of the AYES team to talk to the young people of TVET. It was discovered they also can be key entrepreneurs even if they are not academically gifted. They can ‘use their hands’ and become farmers and fishermen for example, works that are also very good for Seychelles’ economy to develop.

“As the demand is there for us to work in collaboration with the ministry of education and the government, we will prepare a proper calendar on how we will tackle the partnership.  Like holding talks, forums, workshops in schools, visit business institutions to see how they are functioning and of course ask lots of questions,” she said.

Often popping up is also the question of finance and issues with banks charging high interest rates on loans. Ms Pillay said she agrees bank’s interests are too high and of course the small businesses will not be able to repay their loans. But she also acknowledged the importance of banks to collect collaterals as they also need a safeguard.

“We need to work around these issues with the banks and access to finance, have a policy in place where everyone is happy at the end of the day,” said Ms Pillay.

A lot of discussions are currently going on between all parties concerned, she said, so we can have a good infrastructure in place regarding access to finance. She also referred to the tireless work between the government and the Youth Entrepreneurship Board under SNYC, with chairman Olivier Bastienne at the helm and the availability of funds being allocated to young entrepreneurs each year.

“The young entrepreneurs present their business proposal where it is analysed, they undergo an interview and when approved the grant is provided as a starting base for their business. After the fund is disbursed, we follow up their performance, difficulties they are encountering, provide mentorship etc…,” she said.

But she expressed the wish for the private sectors’ support. As in the end, she said, it is the Seychelles economy we are building where everyone will benefit.

On the issue where almost everyone is doing the same type of business, which is also a concern expressed by the Seychelles Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI), Ms Pillay said the young entrepreneurs should be innovative as she considers it critical.

 “I believe we should undertake a research on which business is saturated in Seychelles; which business is lacking so it can help that young person to decide. For example if there’s a lack of farmers, they can venture into farming if they have the ability to do so,” she said.

She added she does not really blame the entrepreneurs for lack of innovation as a database of relevant information is not there.

Ms Pillay also acknowledged there is a lot of work to be done. AYES is trying their best to make the association work but members, she said, also have their own business to take care of.

“We alone cannot do it. I repeat we need key partners, both government and private sectors to make it work,” Ms Pillay said.

How does AYES work with such associations like SNYC and SCCI?

“SNYC has a database of all young entrepreneurs who are doing business and they work 24 hours with them. They keep us up to date with activities where we AYES can take part in,” she said. And one example is the Youth Buzz where a young entrepreneur brings in his/her business model where it is analysed, he/she is provided guidance. The best model gets a start-up for his/her business.

“SNYC is like an umbrella and we operate under that umbrella. SCCI is also assisting us and we hold various discussions,” she said.

Ms Pillay also talked on her retail business in which she sells bed sheet linens, towels, souvenir … a bit of soft manufacturing.

“The platform for doing business in Seychelles has changed. There have been new innovations in terms of policies and lots of good things have been put in place which have made our working environment much better than before. But it is still not easy as there are lots of competitions and you really need to know what you are doing. It does not always work in business. Sometimes there are setbacks but you have to know the next step to take. This is business. There are lots of struggles in it and I believe not everyone is cut out for doing business,” she said.

She added if a young person enters the business environment and is scared, “we at AYES are there to help him/her”.

“At the end of the day it is us the young people who have to take ownership of things for both us and our country to progress,” she said.

Ms Pillay advises all young people who are already in business but not for more than five years, to join the association. And also those who are still in school and have a business idea, can also join. They can log on to the AYES website www.ayes.sc

“If you have a talent, join us. Develop that talent as it can become a business,” Ms Pillay urged the youths.

Apart from the one-stop shop business centre, Ms Pillay said AYES has other plans for the future.

“We plan to hold forums and workshops with the young people on Mahé, Praslin and La Digue, and the Ministry of Education on how to set up a business. Hold activities where all young entrepreneurs meet to discuss and debate on what they are going through and what can be done. AYES also plans having international meetings and discussions,” she said.