Young entrepreneurs gain retail skills

Forty-five young people, aged between 18 and 35, were selected from over 100 applicants to take part in the week-long training, running until the end of this week at CYP South Pacific Centre, Lower Panatina.

The aim of the five-day workshop is to strengthen the retail skills of young entrepreneurs and managers in the Solomon Islands. It is being conducted by consultant and business owner Steve Cordeiro with the training support of managers from natural cosmetics and beauty chain The Body Shop, and with logistical support from CYP South Pacific and UNDP’s Pacific Centre.

CYP South Pacific Programme Manager Mr Sushil Ram says it’s a chance to give young Solomon Islanders real skills to carry into the workforce.

UNDP’s Pacific Centre representative Kate McCarthy says the workshop is a good fit for UNDP Pacific because it addresses poverty, promotes entrepreneurship and is an example of a good partnership.

“One of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is to work in global partnerships for development and this is a good example of three organisations – one of them a private sector company – working together to give people skills they can use,” says Ms McCarthy.

Workshop participant Robert Iamaea says the workshop has been a real eye-opener for him.

“I’d like to start a downstream processing business, which would provide a lot of opportunity for young people, and this workshop has provided a lot of examples I can learn from and is encouraging a pro-active approach,” says Mr Iamaea.

Participant Yvonne Constantine echoes Mr Iamaea’s statements.

“We want to get out of relying on other people to give us a break, or on luck, we want to be proactive about it,” says Ms Constantine.

“A lot of Solomon Island women would like to go solo and start their own businesses, but we don’t have the confidence – after this workshop we’ll have the confidence to deal with it.

It’s teaching us how to think outside the box and how to really build something really successful; how to give your products the wow factor and how to go solo,” says Ms Constantine.

Lead workshop trainer Steve Cordeiro, a business owner and consultant in Australia, has been running the workshop in the Pacific for seven years now and says each time, depending on the country, the workshop is different.

“Everyone is really participating here,” says Mr Cordeiro. “There seems to be a real optimism about their futures; a real desire to succeed.”