When Ulric Bascombe retired from the corporate world two years ago, he opened a small bookstore in Chaguanas and sat back to enjoy the carefree days of his retirement.

Or so he thought.

What was supposed to be an easy road, turned bumpier each passing day as Bascombe, a former senior systems analyst, was forced to use all his hard-earned business savvy to cope with the perils of owning a small business in a rapidly changing world.

By the time the effects of the global economic crisis hit, Budget Books was already feeling the pinch of a technology-driven world and of competing with the bigger, high-end bookstores in the industry.

’Used books are easier to sell, because of the obvious reduced cost, but even so there has been a slowdown over the last year,’ Bascombe tells the Business Express.

Budget Books offers several types of books, from paperback novels, motivational and religious books to kids’ favourites.

But even with the wide variety of books on offer, Bascombe has had to diversify what he sells to cover his costs.

’We moved into kids’ novelty items and items that attract the eyes of the parents and the children who come into the bookstore with them,’ Bascombe says.

Despite all the innovative ideas and marketing gimmicks, Bascombe walks the hard road of a small business owner, which is statistically among the first victims of tough economic times.

However, Stephen Cadiz, president of the Chaguanas Chamber of Industry and Commerce, believes his location is an asset.

’In our area (Chaguanas) we have not seen the level of business failure that many are talking about,’ Cadiz said in a telephone interview.

He noted that the Chamber was conducting a survey to determine the effects of the global economic crisis on the small and family business in Chaguanas.

’Most of the business in the area are family-owned and operated,’ Cadiz said. ’To their credit, the businesses seemed to have managed their expenses well, because after the initial reports of job losses earlier in the year, we have had no reports of continuing job losses.’

Cadiz said that meant the businesses have been able to stem the losses by adapting business practices to the changing economy.

He said the small and family-run businesses have managed to reduce their monthly expenses and by so doing have reduced the cost of doing business.

But he warned that the true economic picture may only come into focus by next year.

’I think we will see the true effects of the economic crisis next year. We are still riding the income stream of 2008. The issues we experienced in 2009 will only be seen in 2010,’ he said.

’But in their own quiet way, the small business owners have been making do with what they had to deal with this year,’ Cadiz said.

Imitiaz Ali, president of the San Juan Business Association, said all of the almost 200 members of the Association, are family-run businesses.

He credits the survival of small and family-run businesses with the mindset of the owners.

’We survive because we have no choice. We just have to do it. There is no other choice for us,’ he said in a telephone interview recently.

Ali said family businesses also succeed because of the personal stake that family members have in the business.

’Small and family-run businesses have ten times as much of a personal stake in the way the business is run and if the business succeeds,’ he said.

Rennie Dumas, Minister of Labour, Small and Micro-Enterprise Development was practical about the subject.

’While smaller businesses do have the capacity for quicker turnaround some of them lack the available capital requirements that make that change possible,’ he explained in a telephone interview recently.

’The reality is that in times of economic stress, more small businesses succeed where larger businesses fail. Several small businesses can then fill the void created by the failure of the one big business,’ he said, adding that there was no magic mantra for small businesses to follow in terms of rate of development.

Dumas said adapting Government policies to encourage the expansion of small businesses could positively impact on the rate of employment and stimulate economic growth.