them in the future.

That is the view of Bermuda Small Business Development Corporation Michelle Khaldun who spoke at Hamilton Lions yesterday.

"We need to look at changing the state of mind of the small business owner,'' she said, adding that small businesses working in isolation risked failure.

Ms Khaldun, BSBDC general manager since September, 1993, also said small business in Bermuda, much like the rest of the world, is in transition.

And the US small business market is rapidly changing with a major portion of the growth coming from women entrepreneurs. US women are currently forming companies at twice the rate of men, she said.

Citing BusinessWeek magazine, Ms Khaldun said that US small business is creating a substantial number of jobs while big business employment numbers have plummeted.

Ms Khaldun said smaller companies are succeding partly because they can adjust to change quickly and are closer to the customer.

In Bermuda, the biggest concern from business owners is "lack of access to flexible and alternate financing resources'' while small businesses are also concerned about the Bermuda environment's lack of standards.

As general manager, Ms Khaldun oversees the strategic planning and management of the Government funded organisation established to provide technical, business advice and financial support to small business enterprises in Bermuda.

The BSBDC has provided financial support via bank loan guarantees to small businesses. For the fiscal year ending March 31, 1996, the corporation issued 25 guarantees totalling $781,000 in support of loans in excess of $1.8 million.

Over the past year, more than 300 individuals have attended the BSBDC's four seminars.

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