“If 89% of the economy are small businesses then the only way to survive is to work together”, Nikhil Kukreja.
Great Bay, St. Maarten – According the Chamber of Commerce, small businesses account for 89% of St. Maarten economy. This indicates that small businesses will play a significant role in the recovery and rebuilding of St. Maarten’s economy post – Hurricane Irma. However, this will happen more successfully if existing small businesses find ways to collaborate with each other. This is the perspective of Nikhil “Nik” Kukreja, who is hoping to become the small business representative on the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (COCI) on December 15, 2017.
“As we, at Lazy Lizard, reopen it is important for us to work with other local businesses and create win-win situations that help all of our businesses grow. This will be part of the ‘rising up’ economics that will impact St. Maarten on a whole,” Nik stated in a press release. Nik encourages other small businesses to do the same and the community of St. Maarten to support the local businesses that are focused on collaboration.
The importance of collaboration is not only seen by Nik but by many other entrepreneurs who are finding ways to support each other and cocreate services that will allow them to survive and rejuvenate St. Maarten’s economy. However, this is still fragmented and needs better coordination to yield better results. One of the reasons, why I’d like to represent small businesses is to re are many ways to collaborate in order to create a mutually beneficial relationship while better serving the community.
“With more than 15 years in business across several different kinds of industries, I’d like to help other small businesses like mine to thrive and not just survive. This can’t be done alone. We all need each other”, Nik stated.
