With any small and medium sized business there is no shortage of challenges. Oravae Cottage has weathered its fair share – especially when a tsunami destroyed it in 2007.
Today Oravae Cottage is an idyllic set of three beautiful overwater lagoon bungalows located on a small private island 20 minutes boat ride from the island of Ghizo in the Solomon Islands.
Built in the late 1990’s by Patson and Naomi Baea they are joined today by their daughter Nagarita and extended family in running the business. Patson’s sisters are heavily involved looking after housekeeping, grounds and laundry.
BLP spoke to Nagarita who manages administration, reservations and marketing/promotion.
Ngarita says guests are mostly from Australia and New Zealand, with some expat residents who come across to the island for weekends. When staying in the bungalows, guests receive a package including full breakfast, lunch and dinner – so there’s plenty to do in this small family business.
Discussing some of the challenges facing the business, Nagarita says one of the biggest is securing consistent bookings which are crucial to allow sufficient funds to complete regular upgrades to the facilities. “We are not a Fiji or Vanuatu, so we don’t get the large volumes of tourists.”
“Smaller operations like Oravae Cottage that are locally owned 100% depend on cash flow, without consistent bookings we struggle to manage constant maintenance on our bungalows, and also struggle to do the necessary upgrades that are required. This is a real issue.”
Oravae Cottage has received two BLP grants that Nagarita confirms have made a significant difference to the strength of the business, both on its ability to save time and money, but also to be more environmentally sustainable.
Faced with a significant water supply issue in 2023, they approached BLP and applied for a grant to enable Oravae Cottage to increase the water storage on the island.
“We were finding that when all the bungalows were full, we were running out of water and having to take the boat back and forth to Gizo(mainland) to get buckets of water. This was extremely tiring and not something we could or should continue to keep doing.”
“With the grant we were able to install a proper water catchment system, a main tank and header tank plus piping system to each of the three bungalows and restaurant. This is a big accomplishment for us! We are very grateful to BLP for this financial assistance to help us overcome this significant issue.”
In 2024, the business applied for a small solar system to power the island. “We had a diesel generator that ran power for 24 hours a day, if need be, but diesel was becoming more and more expensive and as we all know very damaging to the environment. Now with our new solar power, we get 24-hour power, and we only need to use the backup generator if we have rain for more than four days or if using power tools or anything that consumes a lot of power.”
Ngarita says she is really impressed with the BLP grant process. “I like the way BLP has a simple process, and the application process is not too difficult. For small businesses particularly, they just don’t have some of things that larger businesses have. BLP understand this and works with you to help you with the submission process.”
With the support of BLP financial assistance, today Oravae Cottage upgraded climate resilient equipment makes it a stronger operation, able to better withstand whatever the environment throws at it.
BLP facilitates access to business advisory services and financial support. To start your journey with BLP, you can self-assess your needs by using the free online tools available to help small- and medium-sized businesses diagnose areas in their businesses that an advisor could improve.
The first step can be the online Business Health Check. You can also check your business’s resilience to respond to crises or climate change challenges on the Business Continuity Planner and the Climate Action Sensor. If you prefer to meet a local BLP representative in person to discuss your business, get in touch with our local partners to arrange a face-to-face Diagnostic.