Barbara Ellington, Lifestyle Editor

Digicel Young Entrepreneur Award winner, Stephen Spence, (right) proudly holds his prize aloft after receiving it from company chairman, Denis O'Brien, at the ceremony held at the Hilton Kingston hotel, last Thursday. - Peta-Gaye Clachar/Staff Photographer

Digicel began operations in Surinam last Thursday giving the telecoms giant its 23rd worldwide. This makes Digicel the fastest growing wireless telecommunications GSM operator in the Caribbean and a Jamaican home-grown multinational company.

Company chairman, Denis O'Brien, made the disclosure at the Young Entrepreneurs Challenge Awards (YEA), last Thursday, at the Hilton Kingston hotel where he was guest speaker. Digicel has also pledged a three-year $23 million to the YEA.

Stephen Spence walked away with the Digicel YEA.

Mr. O'Brien told the group that many successful Jamaican entrepreneurs prevailed because they were pioneers, adventurers and visionaries for whom the words 'no' and 'can't' meant nothing. He encouraged the young group to maintain the old attitudes of those role models towards work.

"Success as an entrepreneur in Jamaica who employs one or two persons, is as important to Jamaica as those who employ 50 or more," he said adding that many such young Digicel entrepreneurs are now deployed across the world to help the company with start-up operations.

Mr. O'Brien said though many people tout education as important, to become an entrepreneur education is just one item in the tool box. "An Oxford degree will not make you an entrepreneur. If you can count to 10 you can be an entrepreneur; you have a sense that you can be more and see your way through adversity and have very special intelligence. Be flexible in thought when doing a business plan so it can change if demand for your product is not there," he said.

essential tools

Using his personal experiences of failure and success in business ventures, Mr. O'Brien engaged his audience with the following essential items in the entrepreneur's tool box:

Have a plan.

It is better to have two or three investors in case you don't get along with a single partner, one of the others can be the voice of reason.

Mission statements propagate nonsense, the environment is changing too rapidly for them and what you stand for today might not be what you stand for tomorrow.

Research is good, but don't spend too long doing them (two months is good).

If you have a company, put a board of directors in place and meet monthly to chart your progress, the business is never too small for a board.

Smart entrepreneurs start with a culture of accountability.

Believe in grey hairs by involving people with years of experience; there are many in Jamaica.

Pay your directors fees when profits increase. Recognise that directors have a great reservoir of useful contacts.

All entrepreneurs need to be able to sell, from convincing the bank manager to the customers you serve, suppliers and staff. The sales ethos must exist across the company from the person answering the phone to the one dealing with sales from his van.

Failure is possible so it must be admitted, confronted and used as a lesson to move on, every entrepreneur makes small steps, you falter but you move on.

Big numbers sound more credible so when you are negotiating, don't be afraid of big figures.

Take a smaller amount of the shares initially.

The future is in your hands so don't be afraid of the naysayers.