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The issue was one of many concerns highlighted at a conference for small business owners which was held last weekend.

Organised to address the state of crisis now facing that industry, the event drew close to 300 participants eager to discuss how such factors as inequitable taxation, high operating costs and gross barriers to hiring have placed their operations at a disadvantage.

"They're not looking for handouts," insisted Keetha Lowe , organiser of the event. A small business owner herself, she well understands their plight.

"What was expressed at the conference, is that many are looking for a fair and equal opportunity to become a part of the infrastructure. They're looking for conditions that will allow us to strengthen and to serve. And there is a really strong sense of frustration, because it's evident that for far too long we've been overlooked.

"All we're asking for is a fair and equitable opportunity to make these things a reality. When we look at legislation and policy, it's often driven by an interest or necessity, to stabilise the economy ? that's fine.

"But don't do it at our expense. Level the playing field. If you are prepared to put systems in place to negotiate, to collaborate, to organise, to develop opportunity to the interests of international business and government agencies, do the same for us."

The advocate said that stress is a common affliction for many small business owners, challenged daily to succeed without the benefit of tax concessions or subsidies. To illustrate the degree to which many are affected, she described how she had personally suffered as she worked to establish her own business while raising four children on her own.

"It is a drain. I can speak from experience. Like many small business owners, I knew the health risk of running a small business but many of us learn to master the art of stress. We internalise it. We don't show it on the outside. I started my business in 1993 or 1994 and, in 1998, I went into the hospital for what was perceived to be kidney stones.

"I expected to have a simple operation that would take an hour and then I would be out, recuperate for a couple of weeks and then head back to my business."

Her operation lasted five hours, after which Ms Lowe was informed she had lost a kidney.

"In my case the stress I suffered became a life-threatening matter," she explained. "I'd walked around for approximately five months, with a protrusion that made me look as if I was between five and seven months pregnant.

"What happened was that my body had developed a sac to absorb whatever poison or fluid was coming from the kidneys. The sac grew so much that it was affecting the performance of my liver. I couldn't breathe properly. My temperature constantly hovered around 102. I'd developed a level of anaemia that was so dangerous, they had to wait a few days before they could operate.

"It's just one example of what can occur ? what does occur. The medical explanation I was given was that I'd been under so much stress and so much pressure, that my body identified the weakest spot in my system and it attacked it. As a result a kidney was lost."

Shocked as she was by the unexpected loss, Ms Lowe said her thoughts soon turned to her business.

"There are many elements that come into play when you have that sort of risk factor in your life," she explained. "As a small business owner, financially, it becomes critical right away. Management-wise, it becomes an issue right away.

"If I'd only had the stone removed, maybe I could have been back in my business in a week or two. After I lost my kidney, I didn't go back until two months later ? and I returned that quickly out of necessity, not out of wisdom ? because I could not afford to stay out of my business any longer.

"It's a testimony that I know many small business owners can relate to. Our stresses and our pressures attack us on different levels. I share this story not just as a testimony of what I experienced but to help to generate a higher level of understanding.

"I'm not asking for sympathy. We experience highs and lows ? consider the other things we're already up against ? but matters like this can throw your businesses off forever."

The conference, held at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess Hotel, was a "monumental success" drawing males and females of all ages, from all classes and races. Asked what attendees gained by the end of the day, Ms Lowe cited a fulfilment of three conditions ? alliance, affiliation and representation.

"I was extremely moved by was their commitment to their cause," Ms Lowe added. "First and foremost, they're looking for alliance ? they no longer want to stand alone and they're very cognisant of the fact that they have, for far too long.

"The second need is affiliation. They would like to be affiliated with those sectors of the community that have their best interests in mind. The final need is representation. They're calling for a voice to represent their interests.

"They would like to see an association of small businesses come forward. They want the same calibre and level of representation as the Bermuda Hotel Association. They want the same calibre and level of representation as the Bermuda International Business Association (BIBA).

"They want an organisation driven, not just by the thrust, interest and energy of small business, but one facilitated by the other sectors of the community ? international business and Government. Such an organisation would enable the powers that be to understand that the concerns and matters that we put forward are comprehensive. They're not individual cases. They're not isolated cases. They are legitimate."

Such an organisation would also enable small businesses to be better positioned for the Bermuda of the future, Ms Lowe suggested.

"What they would like to see is a system that takes forward planning into consideration. Where is Bermuda going to be in another five years? Where will it be in another ten years? How do we fit into that? What do you need from us? How can we better improve our product and our services? In what ways can we work with you to make sure that everything ? from duty to taxes to getting our products into Bermuda ? is a more feasible process?

"We're looking to discover what is not in place and work out how we can put it in place."

Ms Lowe said she felt the island's small business owners could benefit through the assistance of the Bermuda Employers' Council.

"There doesn't seem to be a structure in place to facilitate the small business community," she explained. "Many of us with small businesses believe it could help ? what more of an entity could there be to assist in that type of facilitation than the Employers' Council?

"They're involved on all levels of business and in many respects, their opinion and their regulatory advice is taken into consideration at the Governmental level. My intent isn't to put them under a microscope, but to see how we can work together ? so that we can benefit the community and the community can benefit us.

"Many small businesses grow to a size that meets the mandate of the Bermuda Employers' Council, so it would be helpful for us to work together in the early stages."

The organiser said that many in attendance at the Small Business Conference left, inspired by the real-life tales of how some local companies had managed ? against all odds ? to succeed.

With the event held under the auspices of the United Bermuda Party, the guests expressed their delight that it dealt with pressing issues and left politics on the backburner.

"One of the biggest topics of all was taxation. It is driving small businesses crazy. How is it that, at a time when international business seeks Bermuda as a tax haven, we are experiencing it as a tax trap on a day-to-day basis?

"At a time when international business is able to come into our country and experience infrastructures and buffers and cushions that are in place to assist in the facilitation of their success, how is it that we, the brothers and sisters of the soil, find that same structure exists as a challenge and to our demise?

"These are just questions. In no way are they intended to paint a picture of doom and gloom. So many of us that are succeeding. But it could be better. If we create structures that enable more of us to succeed than to fail, the country as a whole benefits."