In today's rapidly changing and highly competitive business landscape, companies often face numerous challenges, among those are usually growth and asset protection. The need to adapt to market dynamics, expand into new territories, and safeguard valuable assets is paramount. This is where business development firms and consultants play a crucial role. They provide specialized expertise and strategies that enable companies to not only expand but also ensure the protection of their assets. This essay delves into the reasons why many companies need the services of business development firms and consultants to achieve sustainable growth and asset security.

“Economic Literacy – Involved Conversations” seeks to examine some of the realities, root causes, dangers, and some solutions to economic illiteracy in Barbados in 2023. Among the primary reasons for this paper, is the need for more to be said, publicly (in an informed manner) on the value of the economic conversations and decisions being made, at the individual, business and governmental level, and the repercussions on society, as we emerge from the rigours of the COVID-19 pandemic, and struggle to settle into a new and more importantly, a more progressive norm. It is therefore with great appreciation as practicing professional consultants, and as Barbadians, that we address the issue of “Economic Literacy – Involved Conversations.”

Small businesses play a crucial role in driving economic growth, fostering innovation, and creating job opportunities. However, the harsh reality is that a significant number of small businesses face the challenge of survival, with many ultimately failing within their first few years of operation. Understanding the factors behind small business failures is essential for entrepreneurs, policymakers, and researchers alike, as it can provide insights into developing strategies to enhance the chances of success for these enterprises.

While developing this paper as a contributing piece towards a fresh perspective regarding the Barbados economy, we needed unbridled thoughts which allowed us to ask, ‘what if’? What if we take this opportunity in time, as a country, to embrace serious and wide sweeping reform, to rethink the approach to leadership, governance, development and management of the finances of Barbados, which, as a result of failed policies and implementation, has had a cascading negative effect on the country. This may appear to be a simple question to some, and more worrisome, possibly an insignificant question to others, but staying truthful, we can assure all concerned, and affected, that these are neither simple nor insignificant times, especially as it pertains to the serious matters mentioned prior, and others discussed further in this paper. These matters require certain truths to be told, tough questions to be asked, and positions to be taken by all, should we be serious regarding positively changing course as a nation. We therefore challenged the pragmatic possible.