Rarebirds

Yvette is a stalwart and well-seasoned entrepreneur in the Belize ecosystem. She believes she was born with an internal locus pushing her forward to start a business, even as a child she dreamed of starting up a small business venture. She used to come up with some ideas on how to convince her friends and the neighbourhood kids to buy her slightly used toys, comic books and chips.  After obtaining a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration in 1993 and marrying her husband who is an engineer, she decided to take the plunge and all the risks associated with it, and started a small importing and distribution business in 1995/1996.

Her firm Belize National Paper Converters imports and distributes paper, printing products and equipment, medical supplies, chemicals and textile materials. There are two main employees and along with husband they primarily manage the assets.  Her market is the private sector and government.  The use of computer technology has helped her to make the company more efficient in terms of quick communication and response time to orders or inquiries. With the support of her husband and family, she has been able to establish and maintain an extensive network of customers to reach her market. In the first few years the challenges involved how to use formal scientific and management processes to bring about innovation.