The objective of this research was to examine the utilization of social media by SMEs as a marketing tool in Trinidad and Tobago. A review of the literature in the field was undertaken on themes such as social media marketing, the value of social media for SMEs, and the challenges to implementing social media campaigns. The empirical process consisted of 35 qualitative semi-structured interviews with SMEs throughout Trinidad and Tobago to examine the experiences and impact of their social media strategies. The participants had businesses in sectors such as food and beverage, clothing, health and wellness, and sporting goods. The study concluded by giving recommendations such as developing a formal system to manage social media performance, conducting a due diligence before social media channel selection, embarking on and developing a strategic marketing plan for SMEs when the decision has been made to incorporate the tools of social media as a significant marketing channel.

This paper investigates the Client Selection process in Business Incubation and provides lessons learnt from the National Integrated Business Incubator System (IBIS) Programmein Trinidad and Tobago. The concept of Business Incubation has been gaining prominence to increase the supply rate of entrepreneurs, create jobs and assist in economic development. Business incubators are viewed as entrepreneurial hubs that can channel the entrepreneur and allow them to unleash their ideas and business enterprises to markets. These enterprises would be operating from a position of strength by virtue of the nurturing environment of a business incubator which increases their success rate to 90%. Nonetheless there is competition for resources and business incubation placements and the success of the Business Incubation Programme hinges on the performance of the client and their business enterprise. The Client Selection process is a critical component of business incubation so that value for resources can be achieved while simultaneously ensuring there is a right fit with the client and the objectives of the business incubation programme. The lessons learnt sprang from internal and external perspectives gleaned from the implementation of the IBIS programme. These perspectives ranged from staff recruitment, communication strategies, community engagement and client diversion systems.

There has been a global movement to support the creation of sustainable business enterprises via entrepreneurial activity. To encourage the growth and supply of entrepreneurs, training programmes have been designed to deliver knowledge at various stages along the entrepreneurship continuum. The pedagogical approaches of experiential education has been making its way into the delivery of entrepreneurship education programmes as a unique variable in programme implementation. This research article investigated the impact of the deployment of experiential learning into the delivery of an Entrepreneurship Boot Camp. It was revealed that the experiential techniques made a positive impact on the delivery of the curriculum and it was recommended that future Camps adopt a customized approach by an entrepreneurial assessment at the application process, the provision of mentoring services, a post after care support programme including an agency referral system and an expansion of the programme into the Secondary School system

The global energy market is currently undergoing a transformation at all levels within their supply chains as there is a gradual shift from the fossil fuel paradigm towards sustainable renewable energy (RE) sources and energy efficiencies (EEs). This research study examines this issue by employing an empirical research process. A survey was undertaken with fifty companies operating in Trinidad and Tobago and investigated their interest in adopting RE management systems and EEs. The research revealed that most of the companies have a low level of interest in RE management systems primarily because of current low energy costs for their operations and limited knowledge about current public sector energy incentives. To ameliorate this situation, educational campaigns, training package development, and complementary energy workshops are suggested to motivate and encourage business enterprises to consider the EE pathway.

On the global stage the contribution of women entrepreneurs in the business economic landscape is increasing. Women entrepreneurs have also been positioned as the new engines for growth and the rising stars of the economies in developing countries to bring prosperity and welfare to all sectors of society. However, despite the increasing number of women entrepreneurs there is limited knowledge into the motivational factors of women entrepreneurs in the developing country context which leads to a strategic gap in the formulation of policies and programmes to cultivate a female entrepreneurial class. This paper addresses this gap by investigating the motivation of female entrepreneurs in Trinidad and Tobago and providing recommendations to support their development. As a result of the research process it was determined that the three main reasons that women stated for becoming entrepreneurs were to fulfil their personal goals, to be their own boss with a high level of independence and to contribute to society. The recommendations included the centralization of entrepreneurial support services information, cultural socialization towards women in entrepreneurship, development of women entrepreneurial networks and integration of gender dimension in policy and legislation frameworks.