Doing Business in Barbados
Starting, registering, and running a business in Barbados becomes a single, joined-up digital journey instead of a multi-agency paper chase.
What we’re building
Epics & the forms that make them up
Each epic below groups the government forms and services this theme delivers.
Starting a Business
As an entrepreneur starting out, I need to reserve a name, register my company, and appoint a registered agent in one joined-up online journey, so that I'm not discovering missing requirements halfway through and having to start again.
- →Reserve company name & society name
- →Business name registration (enhanced – AI-assisted document checklist and instant name availability)
- →Articles of Reincorporation & Declaration Forms (domestic, IBC, non-profit)
- →Registered Agent Application
Licensing & Compliance
As a business owner, I need a single consolidated licence covering all the agencies that regulate me, so that I can stay compliant without visiting multiple offices and re-entering the same details on different forms.
- →Business licence – consolidated (multiple licences → one form, data shared to all relevant bodies)
- →Trade licensing & vendor licence application
- →Agribusiness farm registration
- →Fisheries worker registration (FD13)
- →Amateur radio licence & telecommunications spectrum licence
- →Cyber cafe registration
Events & Specialist Permits
As an event organiser or vendor, I need to get all the permits I require — police, health, licensing — in one application, so that I can put on my event without spending days walking between offices.
- →Music permit application (consolidated multi-agency)
- →Special event permit
- →Beach/park vendor permits (already live, now with interoperability platform link)
Credentials & Good Standing
As a business needing to prove its status to a client, lender, or regulator, I need to share a verifiable digital credential instantly, so that I'm not waiting days for a paper letter just to confirm I'm legitimately trading.
- →Certificate of Good Standing – as verifiable credential
- →External Company Notice of Cancellation
- →One-stop business lifecycle: registered + licensed + tax-registered in one session
Grounded in citizen research
User needs this theme meets
The needs below come from the 2,054-citizen survey and are what this theme sets out to address.
As a person registering a business or filing with CAIPO, I need to see a complete list of required documents and steps before I begin the process, so that I don't discover halfway through – or after waiting weeks for a response – that I'm missing something and have to start again.
As a business owner who has submitted an application or filing to CAIPO, I need to receive confirmation that my submission was received and updates as it progresses, so that I know it hasn't been lost and I'm not chasing for information.
As a citizen who needs to deal with a government service, I need to get everything done in a single interaction – whether online or in person – so that I don't have to make multiple trips, take multiple days off work, or repeat the same process across different offices.
As a citizen who has started a government process online, I need to finish the entire process online – including payment, submission, and receiving the outcome – so that I don't have to take time off work to visit an office for the final step of something I've already done most of digitally.
As a citizen dealing with multiple government agencies, I need to have information that one government department already holds be available to another department that needs it, so that I'm not spending my time and money travelling between offices to shuttle paperwork that the government itself generated.