Economic Opportunities for Women in the Pacific - Case - IFC

66
Leilani Curry
Business Name: Zodiac Cafe, Beer Garden &
Community Centre
Country: Samoa
Zodiac Beer Garden & Community Centre has become
a popular hang out for Samoan locals, tourists and
expats alike. Whether you are looking to take one of
the many dance, yoga or music classes offered, to relax
with a Reiki treatment session or simply have a meal
with friends off the beaten track, you need look no
further.
Starting Out When a friend asked Lelani Curry if she
would be interested in going into business to set up a
café and community centre, Leilani was delighted to
accept. The New Zealand born Samoan had previously
thought about opening a café in Savai’i and saw this as
a great opportunity to pursue this ambition as well as
providing a community centre for the area. “Our vision
was to have a really nice, clean, functional place where
people could eat great food, not too expensive, and
have an opportunity to learn something.”
Leilani and her friend Karen successfully registered the
business in May 2008, but the process was far from
straightforward according to Leilani.
The pair was required to take out two business licences
at a cost of WST $220 per annum each, one for the
café and one for the community centre. In addition,
they were required to obtain a liquor licence for the
café at a cost of WST $1,000 per annum. However,
as they discovered through numerous inquiries to
the government authorities, in order to proceed with
applying for a liquor licence they were first required to
get approval from the Department of Lands and Titles.
In order for the Zodiac Café to be granted approval
from the Department of Lands and Titles, they were
required to obtain 15 signatures of approval from local
chiefs.
Once Leilani and Karen obtained the signatures of
15 chiefs, they submitted their application to the
Department of Lands and Titles for approval. After this
they were able to finally apply for a liquor licence with
the Samoan Liquor Board.
Leilani and Karen also had to negotiate over the
length of the lease on the land for their business. After
negotiating and losing out on one site they were able
to secure a 5 year lease on the land for their business.
Leilani admits she would very much like a longer lease
agreement and will try to negotiate for a longer term
in the future.
Leilani describes the entire process of establishing a
new business as very confusing and suggests that there
is a lack of clear information from government offices
on the rights and responsibilities of a new business
owner in Samoa.
She says, “I went to the Ministry for Commerce,
Labor and Industry to find out about the labor rights
and regulations that I needed to comply with for my
employees. I was referred to the full legislation which
was very confusing. It is only now after talking to
other business owners and through word of mouth
that I have found this information is available in a
condensed form on the Ministry of Commerce, Labor
and Industry’s website.”
Not long after they registered the business, Karen
was forced to pull out due to other commitments
and Leilani took over the business along with another
partner.
While initially they were able to start and run the
business from their savings, by October 2008 Leilani
decided to apply for a small business loan in order to
buy a stove, construct toilets and pay for provisions.
They applied for, and were granted, a loan with
overdraft facility through the Small Business Enterprise
Centre (SBEC). However, after advising the bank that
they would like to activate the overdraft facility for the
month of December they were shocked to learn that
the bank did not process the request until December