Philip Bernard, General Manager, JN Small Business Loans Limited.
General Manager of the JN Small Business Loans (JNSBL) Philip Bernard last Thursday urged students in the final year marketing programme at the University of Technology, Jamaica, to be innovative and know their customers’ needs, if they plan to operate businesses in the current economic climate.
Mr. Bernard was speaking at the 33rd staging of the annual Marketing Seminar, by students of the School of Business Administration, under the theme, “Business Ventures; Empowering Innovators,” at the Jamaica Conference Centre in Kingston, last Thursday, (March 24).
Pointing to the economic challenges which businesses in Jamaica have been experiencing since the global financial crisis of 2008, Mr. Bernard said entrepreneurs had to be different to survive.
“The dollar continues to slide impacting all aspects of doing business. However, some people are finding the right solutions. Despite the challenges, their businesses continue to thrive, as a result of their novel approach,” Mr. Bernard stated.
He highlighted the strategies which several members of the small business sector used to maintain their businesses despite the stagnant economy. And, he also drew attention to the creative way in which Jamaica Producers had repositioned ripe bananas in the market place.
Mr. Bernard added that, “In developing and maintaining a business innovation is important. A few years ago, Jamaica Producers came up with an inventive way to package and sell bananas when the industry was down. They changed how they marketed the product, which provided jobs and helped to revive the industy,” he said.
Mr. Bernard also emphasised that being creative was not the only way to guaranteed that a business could survive; as it was also important to know one’s customer’s needs.
Drawing attention to a report in Forbes Business magazine, the JNSBL General Manager stated that, “Many businesses go under because they fail to meet the needs of their customers, in other words, they do not offer what their customers want.”
And he pointed out that “another reason for failure was that there was no differentiation between the products and the services offered in one shop and the next. Hence, their products and services were not unique; and the client can find several other places to purchase the same product and service at the same price.
Mr. Bernard added that for businesses to succeed communication was important as it enabled businesses to assist customers.
His call for businesses to employ clever approaches in the market place was supported by Harold Davis, Deputy CEO of the Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC), who urged the students to think global as they sought to be entrepreneurs.
“We are not innovative enough in Jamaica. A business does a lot better when it is creative. Innovation will play an important part in determining how well a business does in this global environment. In coming up with this new product, or way of operating, the modern entrepreneur has to think and act globally,” he stated.
Maxine Henry-Wilson, Executive Director of the Jamaica Tertiary Education Commission (J-TEC) also highlighted the need for students to come up with interesting approaches in doing business in a global economy that has been affected by a recession.
“You must also bear in mind that all countries that have been able to lead the way in ground-breaking discoveries have citizens with sound education. Education is important at all stages and it through reading that you will be able to come with creative ideas,” she emphasized.
In her presentation, marketing student Renae Reid outlined that surveys done among a group of university students indicated that most wanted to be employed full-time while owning businesses. She said many of those who students hoped to be self-employed eventually when the business became successful. She said many wanted to go into new areas of business with the ICT sector being one of the popular areas.
Other speakers on the day included Dolsie Allen, CEO of the Consumer Affairs Commission and Stephen Spence, CEO, SMS Communications.
