Talent, passion and networking!
By Anika in Business opportunities, Free Zone Aruba News on 15. Nov, 2012No Comments
‘Talent, passion and networking’ were the keywords of Hilary Bengochea’s (Coach Bengo) presentation during the main event of Aruba Small Business Week 2012.
The Small Business Week is hosted by the Aruban government, and is taking for the second time this year during the week of November 12th – 16th. During the week, experts, entrepreneurs, startups and students come together to interchange information and to obtain guidance through workshops, seminars and breakout sessions to contribute to the success of small businesses in Aruba.
This year, export was is in the spotlight. Aruba’s geographic location, culture, language and knowledge bring many export opportunities for our local entrepreneurs, even for the smallest companies. Free Zone Aruba as one of the main sponsors of the event, invited Coach Bengo to give a presentation about export and opportunities in the region.
Coach Bengo is born and raised in Trinidad. Due to his experience he highlighted great examples of export which can be easily done from Aruba. A few great examples Coach Bengo gave were : Caribbean skin color make-up, Caribbean carnival costumes, music, coffee flavors, and more.
Coach Bengo’s presentation was an inspiration for many entrepreneurs. He pointed out that Aruba’s location, language and cultural knowledge together with the people’s talent, passion and network is the key to start (grow) business and to make use of the opportunities in the (Caribbean) region. From caterpillar to butterfly…..
Coach Bengo really rocked the stage! He was the main topic of conversation during that day.
Bert Vermaas (director VCC Freezone N.V) was also one of the speakers during our breakout session, “How Free Zone can help your business grow?” , which took place in the evening of November 12th at Renaissance Convention Center. Free Zone Aruba invited Bert Vermaas to speak about his experience on starting and running a Free Zone company and his current experiences about exporting from Aruba. He really spoke the language of the audience and was very clear about everything that is involved in starting a business and exporting services. His best advice to the audience was: ‘Your customers are your best salesmen!’
A big word of thanks goes to Coach Bengo, Bert Vermaas, but also Betty Heyliger and Lucia White from Free Zone Aruba for their great presentations and cooperation during the Small Business week.