Island Grill Restaurant, Samoa
Resilience is the key to Island Grill survival
Rosie Ripley Vaai, the joint owner of Island Grill Restaurant which first opened in 2017, exemplifies the resilience needed to get through tough times. Unable to secure funding to set up the business, Rosie and her husband cut back on expenses and made do; in the months before COVID, serious flooding caused major damage to the restaurant; and then COVID decimated international trade and with restrictions in place for local customers the business all but foundered.
While the restaurant had established a great reputation and was working well up until the end of 2019, it was obvious to Rosie that they now needed some serious help to rebuild and reimagine their market. Talking through these issues with their local Chamber of Commerce advisor, it seemed the Business Link Pacific adaptation grant was an ideal option. With the advice of BLP’s representative, the application process went smoothly, and the resulting grant was exactly what was needed to give the grill a real boost.
The grant has been put to excellent use, first to build a solid retaining wall to strengthen the building and reduce the site’s susceptibility to flooding; and second to extend and expand services to online orders, teaming up with local food delivery services to get food out the door.
The grant couldn’t have come at a better time,” says Rosie. “It was the extra help we really needed to sort out our financial records to help us to apply for extra funding, and along the way we learned ways to improve our services.”
The lockdowns have been very hard for all hospitality, and Island Grill is no exception. With borders closing and only irregular work, staff numbers have declined from 16 to five with some leaving to return to their home countries to weather the storm of COVID.
BLP’s adaptation grant was a real blessing for the restaurant, and we are so grateful it was there for us just when we need it. BLP’s advisor was one of the main advantages for us – they followed up kept us on track. It was an extra hand when we were putting together proposals for financing, giving us an indication of where the business was at and offering suggestions for ways to improve in the future.”
We are starting to increase our staff numbers again with the new business coming in from online orders. This has really helped us to sustain the business through the period where there are no tourists, so we are able to hang in there for now. We are all looking forward to borders opening again, but at least we have a workable plan to get through until then.”
While “comfortable” is not a word Rosie would use to describe their financial situation, the business can at least survive.
There is nothing normal in this life anymore, and sadly we always seem to need more. We will pull through with the support of BLP. It has taken us to the next level in our business.”
BLP’s Finance Facility enables access to capital for stabilisation, recovery and growth of viable but financially distressed Businesses in the Pacific Islands due to COVID-19 impact on the regional economy.
The Facility opened applications to Business Adaptation Grants across eight Pacific Islands in January and June 2021. Adaptation Grants have benefitted over 200 businesses to date, and Business Link Pacific is currently processing a similar number of grants to be disbursed before the end of the year.
To further support recovery and growth, Business Link Pacific is negotiating key partnerships with Financial Institutions to offer concessionary lending to small businesses in the region and will soon make information available on accessing those products. The Finance Facility also offers curated information about financial products for businesses on its free online tool, the Finance Finder; visit today to find out what is available to your business right now.