I never intended to become an entrepreneur.

I graduated from high school intending to become an engineer, and spent the next 5 years studying for two degrees in order to practice what I thought would be a lifetime profession in the sciences.

It wasn’t until my father started his own company that it dawned on me that this could provide me with the autonomy, challenge and purpose that I wanted more than anything else from my career. But to be honest, I don’t remember a single one of my classmates at Wolmers aspiring to start their own company.

Now, I think that the tables have turned completely, and word of mouth tells me that most would say that starting their own business is what they are either doing or dreaming of doing one day. The sooner the better.

How could our education through high school have left us so disconnected from something that we now believe to be so important?

I like to answer the question with an observation: have you ever noticed that the customer service you receive from doctors, lawyers, accountants and other professionals here in Jamaica is no better than any regular small shop in the plazas… and oftentimes it’s even worse?

Long waits, unanswered phones, unexplained delays, arguments over nothing, a failure to apologize for obvious failures, not replying to emails, not keeping posted hours, etc. are all run of the mill habits.

How is that so many years of education and business ownership don’t translate into doing the basics of business properly?

The answer is an easy one. People underestimate how difficult it is to provide good customer service, and often end up being quite bad at it (sometimes without having a clue as to how badly they are doing.)

In country like Jamaica which relies so much on tourist dollars to keep our weakened economy afloat, it’s amazing that such an essential skill is treated as if it didn’t exist.

It’s also amazing that the source of our company’s economic future (small business ownership) is a subject that is hardly seen as important to our teenagers. What’s wrong here, and what can be done to fix it?

Teaching Students that Everyone Will Want Their Own Thing

Students can be made to understand that regardless of the profession, they are likely to have the desire to be the person who owes the business, whether it be a private medical practice, an engineering consulting firm or a law chamber. Anyone who starts their own company faces many of the same challenges (such as customer service,) and must deal with them effectively in order to make a sustained profit.

Through ignorance, many believe that running a company is as easy as being an employee, and make mistakes that put themselves out of business before they even have a chance to get started.

They can be shown quite easily that regardless of the path they take, that most of them can lead to entrepreneurship.

Hiring Entrepreneurs to Teach

Statistics show that one of the most important predictors of someone becoming an entrepreneur is whether or not a parent or guardian owns their own business. Apparently entrepreneurship is contagious.

The typical school, however, is bereft of business owners and more likely to be staffed by teachers and administrators who might leave to start their own company, but are hardly likely to flaunt the fact that they own 2 mini-buses and 4 rental properties on the side.

Yet, these are exactly the real life mentors that students need to help them see entrepreneurship as a viable career choice.

One option is to bring business-owners to the classroom to give students some exposure to the kind of life they are quite likely to aspire to as adults. They can be brought on as teachers, speakers at career days or coaches on sports team – -anything to bring them into direct contact with students who would benefit from having them around.

Encouraging Junior Achievement Programmes

This programme in which students start their own company and manage it for several months is one that wasn’t available at my school when I was a student. My sister, however, played a prominent part in her school’s Junior Achievement programme, and I remember how excited I was to hear about her company and the things they went through to try to make a profit.

While I showed no real interest at the time, I did observe that starting a company was not difficult, and that it could be fun. These are invaluable lessons to place in the mind of a teenager, and when the time comes for him/her to start a company, the positive experience would only help in breaking down the fear that many have of starting something on their own.

Summary

Our youngsters’ aspirations need to be much better aligned with our nation’s needs, and if we were to take the task seriously, we’d not only have better companies, but we’d also have better employees. They’d be the ones who have an idea how business works, and would help provide the key to reigniting the Jamaican economy.

Francis Wade
President and CEO
Framework Consulting Inc.
High-Stake Interventions
newsletter@fwconsulting.com
www.fwconsulting.com
954-323-2552 876-880-8653
3389 Sheridan Street #434
Hollywood, FL 33021, USA