There is still the impression in the community that large amounts of financing will be needed to cash in on the numerous America’s Cup business opportunities. Far too many are operating under the belief that expensive equipment or guaranteed contracts are required to get in the game.

However, there are a great number of small business opportunities that should require minimal overhead. As such, the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation has been preaching the bootstrapping approach to entrepreneurship with our Ice House programme for the past two years.

The Cup will be here for a short window, and it will be here soon. Accordingly, there is a need for businesses to get started with planning and financing. The volume of demand will be eye-watering and businesses will be able to get paid back before the end of the Cup. The following cases, which came up at the six “Local Biz Opps” public meetings held during the past month, can be easily resolved with an entrepreneurial mindset and a bootstrapping approach:

• Ice: It is estimated that the need for ice will be something substantial; like 160,000 bags of ice per day. Buying an ice machine to handle this volume would cost a lot, and it would need to be shipped in and probably shipped back out. Why not instead buy a refrigerated container full of loads of pre-bagged ice? People could come to you, or delivery could be added to the business offerings. Other costs may be getting a few electrical plugs installed and renting some space to unload the containers.