Small entrepreneurs need greater support

Audrey Marks, Contributor

Never before in our history as a nation, has the concept of leadership been so talked about, yet so in need of greater manifestation.

For too long we have regarded our politicians as our primary source of leadership, but it is said that "A politician prepares for the next election while a statesman prepares for the next generation." While there are some statesmen in our midst, the challenge is for our business leaders not just to prepare for the next financial statement, but also for the next generation.

Business leadership calls for the vision to conceptualise, the solution to bridge the gaps between how we operate now and how we will need to operate tomorrow in a world of changing dynamics. It brings to mind an advertisement I saw for the ISP(Internet Service Provider) firm PSI Net. Their slogan is "innovate or vegetate." Entre-preneurs are the innovators, the free minds in the system and constructive leadership should recognise the value of entrepreneurship.

Sixty per cent of businesses in the strongest economy in the world today, the United States, is driven by entrepreneurial service corporations. In Jamaica, the Government would do well to encourage the same. An active partnership between the public and private sector in the United States, has seen an expansion of venture capital opportunities to invest in entrepreneurial endeavours all over that country. In facilitating venture capital financing and creating tax incentives for venture capital firms, the Government would provide a platform for the establishment of meaningful pools of funds which could be accessed by many firms and not just the one or two oligopolies that previous forays into this area have yielded.

Creating new business

Our large companies, which may not have the flexibility to innovate, must begin to consider the benefits of buying into smaller companies that do. Again in the U.S., the business landscape is filled with examples of creative partnering; Capital Cities/ABC and Go.com, Microsoft and ATHome. Another example of large and small companies working together to create new business in the area of outsourcing is right here at home - Paymaster. The reality of our existence is routed in the shared vision of The Jamaica Public Service Company (JPSCo), Cable and Wireless (Jamaica) Ltd., (C&W) and The National Water Commission (NWC) to empower the consumer. That is the power of co-operation and the buying in of an entrepreneurial vision ­ it works.

Another area of partnering is in mergers, the blending of the best that two entities may have to offer. What we see happening on a global scale is companies with the traditional brick and mortar distribution systems partnering with knowledge-based enterprises that are rapidly reshaping the distribution landscape into a virtual world of order fulfilment, service delivery and payment processing at the speed of thought.

Can the proposed synergies of an AOL/Time Warner merger give food for thought to their local counterparts?

The point is, we must build bridges and alliances with the innovation that often accompanies start-ups and eliminate the predatory practices that characterise the "search and destroy" mentality that is far too pervasive among our larger enterprises. We must foster the growth and development of original ideas in partnership with, not in competition with this energy. Because until we realise that all our future prospects are inextricably linked to the vibrancy of entrepreneurship, we will never realise true economic growth.

Moral and ethical values

I read with keen interest the other day an excerpt from a recent speech that was given by one of our distinguished business leaders and also the chief executive officer of Grace, Kennedy and Co Ltd., Senator Douglas Orane. Senator Orane has been speaking quite emphatically lately about the concept of corporate governance. I sincerely hope that we have all been listening carefully.

Specifically, he defines corporate governance as "putting in place the systems which ensure the maintenance of effective and efficient business practices within a framework of moral and ethical values." This is a very important definition because it speaks to "effective and efficient business practices", citing the framework, indeed the foundation, the all-encompassing environment within which these practices are to be executed as moral and ethical values.

Today, therefore, I am using this opportunity to challenge Senator Orane and other corporate leaders of big enterprise to build bridges for entrepreneurs to flourish by establishing moral and ethical values in their relationship with small businesses that is no longer predatory but facilitatory/conciliatory.

I challenge the Government to provide the type of governance which will foster a risk/reward support structure rather than a structure which stifles growth and penalises success.

'Find your own Calcutta'

I challenge each and every one of us to encourage the entrepreneurial process, and to illustrate what I mean let me give you a quick anecdote. A lady once wrote to Mother Teresa requesting to join her in Calcutta. Mother Teresa wrote back to the lady telling her to "find your own Calcutta." So I say find your own 'Calcutta' by recognising, nurturing and encouraging the entrepreneurs that you encounter in your daily lives. For example, just recently someone was in a position to sign a document for a young businesswoman which would have saved her thousands of dollars and the person refused to do so. The reason given, to use the vernacular was that "she mek it aready, I am not doing anything for her."

And so, sometimes it is not the Government, it is not the system, it is not the monopolies or big business, but our own selves that are our own worst enemies. God made us perfectly beautiful with black, brown, blue, green, grey and hazel eyes ­ but not red. So my final challenge is for all of us, in whatever capacity we hold to encourage individual effort and achievement and celebrate each other's success for ourselves and Jamaica.

Audrey Marks is managing director of Paymaster Jamaica Limited.

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