To start a business and run it as a success you have to have two things. (1) Access to capital (2) stable set of consumers willing to buy your products.
Now the question how can a poor man get the capital he needs if he cannot get a job becuase of racism?
I once heard a very wealth Guyanese timber dealer describe how he entered business. It was at a party a long time. He said that after he got married he borrowed money from his mother in law to pay for the cutting down of timber from an island. He had calculated that he could sell the timber from the island and make a profit. Now that was his access to capital which he invested and made a profit which he then invested to start his very successful company.
If you poor and you are not fortunate to have a mother in law to lend you money then the only way you can get money to start a business is by working at a paid job.
During Burnham time I notice this. Burnham and his policies created many monopoly situations for businesses. For example: There was only two major curry power companies in Guyana. One soft drinks company, One cooking oil company, one chicken feed company. Two alchol making companies etc.
So during Burnham time if you had access to capital to start a business and to bribe them PNC crooks then you have to be a real dunce for that business to fail.