Barbadian Startup Launches Amidst COVID-19 Crisis

As many countries prepare to open and others are still recovering from the coronavirus pandemic, A Barbadian startup has launched amidst the crisis. List It Caribbean was launched June 15th, 2020, and is the culmination of five months of development and research by the husband and wife team Christopher and Shaquille Millar. Christopher is a UI/UX designer and Shaquille is a control technician, social media manager and freelance administrator.

The business concept is to provide an all-in-one platform for Caribbean people to market their services and discover other listings that exist in the Caribbean. This may include businesses, jobs, events, real estate, and vehicles. “I would have found that it was a little difficult to peruse different listings, especially for real estate and vehicles on Facebook. So I was wondering wouldn’t it be cool if everything was just all in one place?” Christopher said. He further added that in trying to make things more efficient for himself he realized that it would be more efficient for others if they could also find everything in one place.

Already they have 9 Clients, 12 listings, and are growing; however, Christopher admits that there is still far to go. “You can build a product, you can have a good product but at the end of the day. If no one knows about your product, they won’t use it. So I would say one of the biggest challenges is marketing. Social media plays a pretty big role in our business right now. It’s the main way that people find us and connect with our brand. we’re trying to build some brand awareness and build our brand on social media to let people know about the product so they can start listing as well.” He stated.

“If there was a case where new businesses could be discovered very easily in Barbados and across the Caribbean. I think it would help. List it Caribbean is a mechanism that can also be used to handle that in the future.”

His Message To Other Entrepreneurs

Christopher encourages entrepreneurs to understand that their idea is valuable. ‘Take note of your idea and do some research to see if it’s actually what the market wants or if there’s too much competition out there, as it may be difficult for you to get into the market… Some days are going to be challenging. There are some days where you may not feel motivated and there are some days where you feel like throwing in the towel and giving up. But what I would say to entrepreneurs is perseverance and patience will always see you through.”

“…set goals, set milestones. Celebrate small victories and even when challenges come along be sure to keep the bigger picture. Remember why you would have created the thing you would have created. Remember, all the people’s lives that could potentially be impacted by what you have created. And then you can continue to move forward even on those challenging days, being confident in your product. ” He further stated.

Source: Christopher Millar Co-founder of listitcaribbean.com