CEO and co-founder of Honey Bun, Michelle Chong, is calling on small businesses to adhere to best practices and implement good corporate governance.

She made the call at the opening of the three-week Economic Growth and Sustainability Summit at University of Technology last month.

According to Chong, implementing good corporate governance in her own endeavors is one of the five steps that have led to her own entrepreneurial success,

She says the other steps that attributed to her success included identifying and relying on a mentor, planning each goal, executing these goals, and investing in people.

“Identify a mentor; put meticulous plans in place for your business; make sure to execute these plans, fix and learn from mistakes; and find and motivate people to work towards objectives and not just tasks,” she said.

Since its opening as a store front pastry shop in 1982, Chong has directed the day-to-day operations of Honey Bun, a company she started with her husband Herbert Chong.

Honey Bun has since received numerous awards for best practices including the the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) 2014 PSOJ Award for Best Corporate Governance as well as the JSE 2014 Award for Corporate Disclosure and Investor Relations (for its third year in a row).

The was listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange in 2011, and now is exporting to mainstream markets in the UK and Canada.

The summit was held under the theme ‘Powering Economic Growth and Sustainability through Investment, Innovation, Productivity, and the Law’.

It was part of the College of Business and Management’s thrust to produce graduates who contribute to nation growth.