Frustration leads to book - Kimala Bennett launches 'Starting a Business in Jamaica'

 Mel Cooke, Gleaner Writer

If necessity is the mother of invention, then frustration is the father of Kimala Bennett's Starting a Business in Jamaica.

Speaking at Thursday evening's launch, held before a large gathering, liberally sprinkled with business movers and shakers at the Devonshire Restaurant, Devon House, St Andrew, Bennett said "five years ago, I had an idea. A simple idea that came out of what I thought was frustration".

Coming back home to Jamaica after graduating from Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, USA, she was accustomed to a situation where everything was laid out in manuals.

For someone wishing to start a business, however, Jamaica was a different case entirely. However, Bennett said "instead of complaining, I decided I was going to come up with a solution. I believe that success happens when opportunity meets preparation".

And she put a lot into the preparation. "I cried, I gave up Sundays. But I knew I had to be prepared," she said, thanking the Tourism Product Development Company at that juncture. Digicel Business and NCB SME threw their support behind Starting a Business in Jamaica at the launch.

Being prepared

Then the Jamaica Business Development Corporation came calling and Bennett emphasised "if I was not prepared they would probably have said 'you are not prepared'. But the manuscript was just about completed".

She pointed out that Starting a Business in Jamaica is part of a bigger plan, a two-day business seminar. Bennett thanked a number of institutions which provided information for the manual, among them the National Housing Trust, the National Insurance Scheme and the Jamaica Intellectual Property Office.

Education Minister Andrew Holness stated the ministry's intention to have the manual available to students. He said there is a need for us, as a people, to mould our individual capacity.

"The way to do it is to see your business idea as a seed you are planting," Holness said, opining that Starting a Business in Jamaica will plant many business seeds.

Joseph Matalon of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) gave a good business forecast for the book, saying "I predict that this is a manual that will become an essential reference tool that will sit on the desks of budding entrepreneurs, and will be regular reference material".

There was also a resounding endorsement of Starting a Business in Jamaica from Patrick Casserly of the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce.

Bennett also made the classroom connection for Starting a Business in Jamaica.

"I see the manual not only for entrepreneurs and budding entrepreneurs, but also for schools. We want it to be on the booklist. We don't want people to dodge taxes anymore. We want them to know it is OK to pay taxes," she said, to applause.

And in thanking her family, Bennett said "from I was a little girl I was never afraid of pursuing my dreams because I knew that they would support me".