Barbadian start-up CEO encourages Caribbean entrepreneurs to take advantage of RevUP’s training programme
In the competitive world of business, Caribbean entrepreneurs should be taking greater advantage of the opportunities that exist for regional collaboration so that their businesses can grow bigger and stronger at a much faster pace. This is the advice of Barbadian Kim Butcher, a start-up CEO who has shown full support for RevUP Caribbean as a one-of-a-kind virtual business incubator with the potential to make strategic partnerships an easier possibility for entrepreneurs in the region.
Butcher is a Project Specialist in the Office of Barbados’ Prime Minister, the Hon. Mia Mottley; the founder and CEO ‘Okoye By Kim’, a lifestyle brand; Principal of the ‘Event Project’, a consultancy, educational, and event management company, and the co-producer and host of a TV series called ‘Buy From Bout Hey’ that shines the spotlight on entrepreneurs. A woman of many hats, she is no stranger when it comes to helping people unleash their full potential.
In 2022, Kim participated in Cohort 2 of RevUP’s virtual 5-month business incubation programme where start-up founders undergo intense and immersive management and investment readiness training towards building their businesses, accessing much-needed financing and networking with like-minded entrepreneurs. Coming out of the programme, she couldn’t pass up on the opportunity to share her experience and advice.
‘It was a credible, dynamic programme that absolutely delivered,” Butcher said. “Though I was there from Barbados, it is a Caribbean-relatable programme that would be beneficial to any Caribbean entrepreneur. We have to see ourselves as connected and not separated in this region. There is tremendous value in getting perspectives from people who don’t live in the space that you share. Especially for smaller Caribbean islands, if you only engage with people in your space or at your level then you really won’t grow beyond where you are now.”
Butcher sees RevUP as a potential catalyst for joint ventures and other collaborative ventures among entrepreneurs in the region because of the value the programme places on experience sharing and networking. She put forward, “That is an additional opportunity that can be tapped into. I know that I will be collaborating with some of the persons from Cohort 2 so that is immediate business-to-business collaboration across countries which is really and truly what we were trying to do with CARICOM, to ensure that businesses can expand their reach and connect. I strongly believe that RevUP can be an excellent catalyst for B2B in the region.”
Following her participation in the programme, Butcher also has plans to become the first angel investor in Barbados through RevUP. Meanwhile, she gained a clearer sense of direction as it regards her lifestyle brand, ‘Okoye by Kim’, a business offering obi wrap belts which give women the confidence to celebrate their shape. Her plans for growth include bringing other types of accessories on board and joining CaribShopper–the largest online marketplace for authentic Caribbean-made products–which will see her brand strengthening its reach, even to the Caribbean diaspora in North America.
“I’d encourage other Caribbean nationals to be a part of RevUP’s programmes. I now have an extended family in Jamaica that I absolutely love and adore. I can’t measure the value that they have added to my life,” she said.
Just last year, RevUP Caribbean inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) for the extension of its transformative programmes to the Chamber’s over 350 financial members further deepening its ties within the region. The virtual business incubator admits two cohorts per 12-month period, each of 5 months duration.