Growth & Jobs | Some 40 entrepreneurs trained in business-management practices

More than 40 entrepreneurs were trained in goal setting, financial planning, record keeping, marketing, managing debt, customer service, and preparing business plans at a Goal Setters Workshop, put on by JN Small Business Loans (JNSBL), at the Grand-A-View Restaurant in Montego Bay, St James, recently.

The event was the second in a series of workshops hosted by the micro finance company to educate its clients about vital business-management processes.

“Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) require support in specific ways, depending on where they are in the business life cycle,” said Jacqueline Shaw-Nicholson, communication and client services manager, JNSBL, who is also responsible for training at the loan company.

She pointed out that “many business owners have learnt, over time, some of the basic aspects of keeping the business running on a day-to-day business through various experiences. However, many require training in key areas to achieve growth, make their businesses successful, and to gain wealth.”

“Therefore, the workshop forms a part of our wider Business Mentorship and Accelerator Programme to provide meaningful support and training for our clients to assist them to sustain and grow their businesses,” Shaw-Nicholson explained.

“These workshops will be ongoing, and the main objective is to focus on the clientele in the loan company’s portfolio,” she shared.

“We will be executing different types of workshops under this programme geared towards our clients in our goal setters’ category, which includes offering business-development training to entrepreneurs across sectors. We have also tailored workshops for specific sectors, and we will be conducting more training during the upcoming months,” she added.

Interactive and practical

The communications and client services manager said that the topics were carefully selected and the views of the JNSBL clients were also a factor in determining the information presented.

“We make the workshop sessions interactive and practical. By the end of the workshop, each participant would have executed the key learning goals, including developing ‘SMART’ business and personal goals for themselves. They would also know how to complete a cash book, and execute a simple business plan. This ensures that at the end of the workshop, each entrepreneur is able to apply what was learnt to their day-to-day operations,” she added.

Colin Coley, senior business development officer, JBDC, advised the participants that MSMEs needed to keep proper records so that they could effectively monitor the financial performance and growth of their business.

He explained that he did not want to discourage participants from doing things, such as paying school fees for their children, purchasing lunch, or other things that are difficult to track. He advised that “instead, you should pay yourself from the business and use the funds that you pay yourself for those purposes.”

He further explained that, “regardless of the size of your operations, you need to record all your expenses such as phone credit, lunch, and transportation,” He also added: “Any business that you operate demands that you keep proper expense records and accounts. These documents are important when you go to obtain loan funding or seek investments. Therefore, I beg you to keep proper records, if it is even a notebook that lists all your spending,” he added.

Dawayne Jackson, studio engineer and video editor, who participated in the workshop, said that he and the other participants were grateful for the information they received.

“The information passed on today will be beneficial to us and our businesses,” he said. “We learnt a lot; and we are grateful for the knowledge. Most of all, we thank JN Small Business Loans for educating us about adopting good business practices such as keeping proper records, showing us how to do it consistently, planning for the future of our business, and how we, too, can benefit from investments and other financial tools.”