Tips for creating a start up

I found this article online while catching up on some reading. Basically it just gives a few tips for creating a start up company. Follow the link here.

Sacrifices and balancing acts

As I drove home today, I pondered about my young magazine and the sacrifices being made into making this dream a reality. There has been some recent developments that bode well for the upcoming issues and development of the magazine over all. But the sacrifices go well beyond financial. And it is that aspect that I would like to address here in this post.

A start up venture of any sort takes time and dedication and patience. It takes time to plan and execute that plan. It takes dedication to the plan that you created and patience to see it through even when there are slow times. And thought. It takes a lots and lot of thought. And the same is true here. Any given time a decision has to be made. For example the benefits of a late evening networking event must be weighed against taking time away from family. This became evident when I decided against attending the monthly meeting of the Jamaicans of the Palm Beaches tonight. I hadn't been there in a while and as a rule I make an effort to attend meetings of various organizations every couple of months to stay connected. But instead, at the last moment I chose to skip the meeting to have some quiet time with my lovely wife Nicole Ann.

So what kind of sacrifices have I noticed thus far? Well, as I mentioned there is financial sacrifices and time. But there is also emotional and mental sacrfice as well. After all, my mind is always working on what to do next, planning, worrying about getting enough advertisers, making the next networking event etc etc etc. And of course, inevitably there is the tendency to allow the magazine to flow over in other areas of my life. Some professionals that I have spoken to emphasized that it is critical to have the support of friends and family in different ventures.

But basically it is a balancing act. And so now I am considering exploring this topic of sacrificing and balancing in the next issue. How do business owners balance time in their business and their personal lives? What sacrifices are being made? Hmm let's see what I can come up with for the next issue.

Caribbean Business Digest - Valuable resource!

I have often heard that the key to any small business is marketing. At every convenient (or inconvenient) opportunity, you should market yourself, your product, you business. Basically, it comes down to constant marketing. I recently went to the barber shop and overheard a conversation where one barber was talking about opening his own shop. I told him about the magazine that I am producing and he was intrigued. He asked about how much it would be to take out a page in advertising and seemed very interested in how I went about making the magazine a reality. I told him about the contacts that I made with the people over by the Florida Atlantic University Small Business Development Center and offered to give him the different contact info that I have. I explained what it is that the Center provides and how they can help. While there is no guarantee that he will end up using the folks over by the FAUSBDC, at least he will know that there is help available out there. The 2007 Volume I issue also has information on the SCORE organization so I will give him that information too.

Where there is an opportunity to pass on information I uncover during the production of my magazine, I am particularly pleased. After all, that is one of the aim that I have for the magazine: to be viewed as a resource.

My barber friend sounded interested in the magazine and wanted to see a copy of the next issue so I will save him a copy. There might be the opportunity to get some business from him in the future. In the meantime I will nurture this relationship and see if it pays off. He also talked about starting his own magazine catering to barbershops across Florida and even Georgia. I told him how I got started and while I am not yet at the level of Businessweek or Forbes, I think I can offer some advice on how he can get off the ground. Assuming he is serious, I would be more than willing to share my knowledge to shorten his learning curve. Who knows? This could be the beginnings of a productive symbiotic relationship. I will make sure to document any update about this in this blog. Watch this space!

T&T Town Hall meeting

This past week I attended a Trinidad and Tobago Town Hall meeting in Boynton Beach. I was invited by Gillian Smart of The Smart Group who was one of the event’s organizers. She is high on my list of people to have a sit down with in the near future. The aim of the meeting was to bring the T&T Consul General and other representatives face to face with members of the T&T Diaspora. The discussion encompassed areas such as immigration and passport requirements, the need for the involvement of the T&T Diaspora in activities back in their homeland and a growing crime problem in Trinidad. The meeting was well attended and proved to be an eye opener for me. Living here in the US and being from Jamaica I could see that the issues faced by the T&T Diaspora here is identical to the issues faced by the Jamaican Diaspora. See previous post.

Similar to the Jamaican Diaspora movement, the T&T consul general Gerald Green echoed the call for T&T nationals here to invest back home. That is similar to a presentation made by Jamaican Aubyn Hill last year where he urged Jamaicans to “come back home”. Both shared the view that the Caribbean is ripe for investment. Green, last week also spoke about the 2020 Vision where T&T aims to be a developed nation by year 2020. As such, there is an effort to maintain a database of T&T nationals here along with the skill set that they possess. The T&T government can use this database as a pool to draw from to complete projects that can’t be staffed back home. Again, the Jamaican Diaspora is looking to do the same.

And of course, the question of crime in the Caribbean islands came to the forefront. The T&T representatives did point out that crime is on the decline in Trinidad and that often time crimes are being committed by deportees from the US. This appears to be reaching endemic proportions across the larger Caribbean islands.

I did learn a bit from the meeting regarding the 2020 vision as well as the fact that the University of Trinidad and Tobago offers free education to its citizens. With higher education as costly as it is, that is definitely a huge investment that a country can make in its citizens.

The organizers did well with this event and I hope to be invited back to many more. From the point of view of the Caribbean Business Digest magazine, it is essential that I make inroads into the T&T Diaspora as well. If this kind of event that engages the T&T Diaspora continues to develop, I think that they will make a huge impact among the Caribbean Diaspora here in South Florida. I do wonder though if the T&T Diaspora and the Jamaican Diaspora will develop strategic alliances with each other on a formal basis so that the Caribbean American group will become a potent force in economic and political terms.

With the Jamaican Diaspora looking to get organized I think that is possible. It may be way too early to guess on this but all the signs are there.

Caribbean professionals in the news - Ricky Wade and Lowell Hawthorne

A couple items came to me recently about sucessful Caribbean entrepeneurs in the news. The first is in the Palm Beach Post concerning Ricky Wade the owner of several McDonalds franchises. Click here for story. I met him once and hope that he will feature in a future issue.

Second, is a story in the Jamaica Observer about Lowell Hawthorne of Golden Krust, the sucessful Caribbean bakery and grill franchise. Read story here. Hopefully, I can make contact with him at some point.

Rally Round the West Indies

Well, the World Cup is under way in the Caribbean and the Windies have won their opening match. My Dad would no doubt be happy. Hopefully he gets to see one of the games.

From all indications the host countries are doing a fine job. Sure, there have been reports of some minor hitches so far but overall the reports have been good. There are reports in Jamaica about journalists having to pay high charges for internet access (click here). And there was an editorial coming out of Trinidad’s The Guardian that maybe the visitor expectation may be a little bit overstated (click here). But, overall the tournament is getting top billing around the world.

If this latter situation is true across the region, I would not be too up in arms about this. Sure, we would like to have visitors in the region that would occupy every single hotel room available and then some. But even if we do not achieve that, I think the publicity will bode well for years to come and the region itself will benefit in the long run. The infrastructure in the host country will provide a useful life that will extend for years to come. The service sector in the region appears to have aligned itself to deal with the heavy influx of travelers. This effect can have a lasting impact that will extend beyond the tournament. As I said in a prior entry I hope that the public and private sectors do not allow the residual effect to dissipate once the tournament comes to an end. That way the popular cry to “rally round the West Indies” will extend beyond the cricket pitch.

Reactions: JAUSACC Networking Event

The Jamaica USA chamber of commerce did it again! Many thanks must go out the chamber president Marie Gill and the hostess Catherine Malcolm of Jerk Machine for the organization of this event as black history month drew to a close. In fact it was a fitting conclusion to Black History month. And that was some good food! Nuff respect every time…………

This is the second event I can remember going to put on by the JAUSACC (the first was last year honoring the Jamaican entrepreneurs) and both were very well put together events. Although, somehow I am getting notice of these events at the last minute. (Hint: Check with the Marie Gill on my member ship status). Consul General Alicock was inspiring and the NAACP representative Marsha Ellison was passionate. Talk about differing styles. I was impressed with the turnout and the camaraderie that was evident. I was especially proud to look around the room and see various well dressed people representing different professions, most of whom shared a common background (wi come fram Yaad; meaning we are Jamaicans)

The response I got in relation to the CBD was more than encouraging. Regrettably, I did not have a sample of the magazine (Omar Spence thought that was a sin). I am expecting the shipment by Thursday or Friday. The idea was well received however despite the handicap, and people wanted to know more. So, the next few days will be spent sending email versions of the latest issue out. Hopefully, I will be able to further gauge the interest which will then help in the planning of the next issue.

As I drove home last night (and it was a long drive), I had time to reflect on the event and what was said. Alicock in his speech made mention of the fact that right there within the room were people who can make or are making a difference. In terms of the magazine I would say right in that room were a ton of stories that could very well feature in coming issues. Marie Gill is due some column inches as well as the JAUSACC, Jerk Machine along with its successful owners and much more. There was Jasmine Calder who started her law firm, another lady who designs shoes (or was it sandals?) who would make for fantastic articles. And that’s just to name a few.

Additionally, I am hoping to form some alliances. Certainly there are opportunities. The founders of CMM (Michael Lewis and Tyrone Robertson) mentioned they were talking about doing a magazine later at some point; there was a freelance writer and of course marketing people. So now, I have to do my homework and put together a plan to approach these folks and start the dialogue.

Without a doubt, the close to 30 business cards that I collected will have to be made full use of. My work is certainly cut out for me as I would like to keep the interest alive and strike while the iron is hot (or mek hay wile de sun shine). My night was rounded out with a chat with Winsome Charlton as she gave me pointers on how to make use of effective advertising and some basic do’s and don’ts. This was three hours well spent and worth the time and effort. I am looking forward to more events like this.

As I made the turn into the driveway of my Hobe Sound, Martin County house I am left remembering bits and pieces of two of the numerous conversations I had that night: Marlon Hill encouraging me to “force the door open” to get into the a couple organizations in the Palm Beach county area and seize the initiative; and David Muir (Wright Muir P.A.) pointing out that the idea behind the magazine is good as it presents a new way for the people present to market themselves and the relationships formed can be symbiotic.

And in a cruel twist of irony, as I open the front door, there off to the side was a box containing the latest issue for the magazine. It was only three hours late!

View the magazine's website at www.caribbeanbusinessdigest.com

Magazinelaunch.com Online Forum

I remember talking with Hugh Sinclair from Irie Spice where he mentioned that he keeps up with online forums pertinent to his line of work. I am attempting to emulate his example and found this website that deals with people launching a magazine call magazinelaunch.com. I remember reading a while back a post where the expert advised not to put too much emphasis in getting a whole bunch of printed media kits. His view is that things change from time to time and having this fancy glossy paper media kit could be a waste of time and money. Most advertisers and subscribers will probably end up getting electronic copies anyway. Alas, I did not heed the advice and I went out and spent hundreds of dollars on a media kit and business cards. As it turns out it is good to have business cards but I am stuck with the box of printed glossy media kits in my drawer. Most of the people I contact for advertising do end up getting the kit in a PDF format. Lesson learnt here. I am thinking of making some changes to my magazine going forward, possibly having a smaller finished copy instead of the 8.5 by 11 that I now have. If that happens then I will have to change the rate structure.

More recently, there was an item posted where the expert advised that whatever online presence you have i.e. website; you still have to actively market and sell your ideas to get advertisers and subscribers. Having a website doesn’t mean people are going to flock to it an all of a sudden advertise and subscribe. That was timely for me. I just got my website up and running. But now I know that while I try to use the website to establish an online presence, I have to still make the calls and follow up. The website is just a tool that I have to use properly and not the end objective. I plan to keep reading and contributing to this forum as it is proving very beneficial. Good job magazinelaunch.com!

Connection problems

For a couple days last week I could not get online. There was some congestion in the wireless network where I could not get online from my laptop or my desktop. In the end, all I needed to do was to unplug the modem from the electrical outlet and wait 60 to 90 seconds and then reconnect and turn the computer back on. It worked! (If that is all it takes, I could be a network technician!)
But all the time that the network was down and I could not get online, I was out of the communication loop. I could not check my emails and that presented a huge problem. It got me thinking: What if I had a small business and could not get online access because of problems outside of my control. We are dependent on the BellSouth, FPL and other service providers that are so large that a small business means little. I wonder how many small business owners plan for this type of thing. At least, if my networking issues continued I could go to a local library and some other place to check my email. But I assume that for some businesses it may not be that easy. The next time I get to chat with some business owners I have to bring that up.