Irie Tools (Business & Technology)

I have read about the value of promotions, where you hold contests and give away prizes as a way to generate interest in your business or products, but I haven’t really been excited by the idea. Well, today that changed when I came across this contest by Jeremy the founder of LinuxQuestions.org which is sponsoring the MySQL Conference and Expo 2008. Jeremy’s contest is a raffle for a free pass to the conference, and all you have to do to be eligable for the raffle is to post in this thread explaining how you work with MySQL or how you’re involved in the MySQL community along with why you’d like to attend the event.

I love this idea because it is focussed around the product being promoted. The prize is either the product or something directly related to the product (in this case a conference about the product), and best of all, the entries in the contest are basically product testimonials.

The Jamaica Business Development Centre is putting on the Small Business Expo 2008. See flyer below for details.

On the rare occassions (and by that I mean never) that I think about the recent Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) signed between the European Community and the CARIFORUM countries, I think about big industries and businesses trying to gain access to the EU market and vice versa. I do not think about small businesses like mine. So, recently when I got an invitation to a seminar to clarify the opportunities and challenges for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), presented by the recent EPA, I was less than enthusiastic.

To make things worse, the invitation then goes on to say:

At this seminar, MSMEs will have an opportunity to meet and interact with representatives from
the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM), the Delegation of the European
Commission to Jamaica, European diplomats and members of the Consular Corps representing
European countries.

I almost fell asleep just thinking about it. I thought the idea of an invitation was to make people want to go.

Anyway, I wish I could ignore this invitation, but it is obvious that this EPA is going to be very important, and unfortunately nobody seems to be in a hurry to explain to the public what was signed on our behalf. So how can I turn down an invitation to find out more? By the way, that’s a real question, please someone, tell me how I can get out of this?

Even the text of the EPA seems to be a secret (or at least well hidden). How hard can it be to put the document on a website and link to it?

I got an invitation a few days ago to a Speaker Forum at the Technology Innovation Centre (TIC), where the guest speaker is supposed to be the Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce. The invitation says to come & hear about:

• The Minister’s plans for the MSME sector.
• Policies that will address major challenges affecting business growth.
• Business incubation as a developmental tool.
• And much more.

I will admit that my first reaction to this invitation was “yawn, not another speech”. After all, why would the Minister say anything new about these important topics to such a small audience? But the more I think about it, the more curious I get. I have not heard the Minister say anything about these topics before, so anything he says will be probably be important (and some of it may even be interesting). I am also kind of curious to find out, exactly what is meant by a Speaker Forum. It sounds like a speech followed by a Q&A session, but maybe it will turn out to be something else.

The danger of course, is that I will go and get trapped at some kind of press conference that I would be better off watching on TV from the comfort of my favourite chair. Still, even that might be interesting (certainly it would be new for me). So on Monday I will see if I am not too late to accept the inivitation.

I just came across this article, Facebook Now In German - Thanks To 2,000 Generous Users on TechCrunch and I liked the idea so much I had to share it. Apparently Facebook has managed to get its users to translate their site into different languages. I don’t think this idea will work for me, but maybe it will work for your site or your product (I will let the idea roll around in my head for a while, who knows maybe a way will occur to me).

The great thing about selling software on the web is the fact that your market is virtually the entire planet. Your customer can come from anywhere and speak any language. For example, the top languages of visitors to Irie Tools over the last 30 days were:

1. US English
2. British English
3. Polish
4. German
5. French
6. Romanian
7. Italian
8. Hungarian
9. Dutch

That’s a pretty intimidating list for a small company like mine (and it changes all the time). I would love to be able to offer Irie Pascal to more people in their native language. One of these days, maybe I will.

Did you know that there was an organization made up of business associations in Jamaica, called the MSME Alliance? I had never heard of them until a week or so ago when I got an invitation to their member’s social. Anyway, I turned up at the social (which was today at the Scotiabank Sports Club) curious to find out what they were all about. I picked up a very informative brochure about the organzation and while reading this brochure I was reminded of how much goes on in Jamaica that you never hear about.

The following facts are borrowed from the MSME Alliance brochure.

• In 2003, several business associations representing the MSME (Micro Small and Medium-sized Enterprise) sector were invited to participate in the ongoing dialogue about trade negotiations through the Jamaica Trade and Adjustment Team (JTAT).
• In January 2007, the MSME Alliance was formally registered as a company by representatives from the following associations: Hardware Merchants Association, Jamaica Wood Products & Furniture Association, Jamaica Gasoline Retailers Association, National Association of Hairdressers & Cosmetologists, National Council of Taxi Associations.
• On October 25, 2007, a transition team of officers and directors were chosen to lead the MSME Alliance to its annual general meeting (AGM) in early 2008.

The main activity of the MSME Alliance is listed as:

Participate in the development of an Enterprise-Wide Risk Management & Financing Programme (ERMFP) in partnership with the Technology Innovation Centre (TIC), UTech, and the Institute of Law and Economics (ILE) that seeks to:

1. Minimize and manage credit default and other risks and to facilitate the expanded use of credit (especially for working capital and fixed assets) to accelerate growth of MSMEs and
2. Minimize the risk of business failure through a range of strategic interventions, in particular training, that will enhance the capacity of MSMEs to compete and to achieve profitability and sustainable growth.

I will admit that I don’t really understand exactly what the ERMFP is all about, but it sounds interesting.

The contact information for the MSME Alliance is:

Secretariat:
Suite 55, Princeville Plaza,
95-97 Constant Spring Road,
Kingston 10, Jamaica
Tel: (876) 925-5276/(876)924-0715
Email: msmealliance@yahoo.com, msmealliance@gmail.com

I have just come across a very useful blog that I just had to share with you. The blog is called SmallFuel Marketing and is about marketing your small business. What makes this blog so remarkable and useful is that it is filled with short, easily understood articles on a wide range of marketing related topics. For example, here is a list of some of the articles:

• 5 Things People Want to See Before the Sale
• What Apple Can Teach You About Marketing
• Not Just Different: How to Be Outstanding in Business
• How To Distinguish Yourself from the Crowd
• 15 Effective Sales Letter Ideas That Just Work
• How To Write a Compelling Small Business Email

By the way, I am not connected to this blog in any way, and I do not receive anything for recommending them.

OK, now its your turn. Do you know of any other blogs or websites with useful information that you want to share?

I am continuing with the start-up paperwork for Irie Tools Limited. I just filed two more forms with the Companies Office of Jamaica (The Office of the Registrar of Companies has changed its name to the Companies Office of Jamaica). Anyway, the two form I filed were the following:

1. Notice of appointment of/change of company secretary (Form 20).
2. Notice of address of registered office or notice of change of address of registered office (Form17).

The companies office was a little bit crowded and a little disorganized but once I got to inside everything went smoothly. The entire process took about an hour and cost $5,000. I was charged an extra $1,000 because I did not file the Form 20 within 14 days of the incorporation of the company. So if you plan to incorporate a company in Jamaica, you might as well learn from my mistake and file the Form 20 promptly. By the way, remember that you have to get a company Taxpayer Registration Number (TRN) before you can file the Form 20, and you have to register with the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) before you can apply for the company TRN.

Here is another little penny saving tip, if you need to file forms with the companies office then download and print them from ORC Downloadable Documents. If you get the forms from the companies office you have to pay a fee.

I am going on a short vacation to Ocho Rios (only for the weekend).

When I get back I will continue to jump through the hoops necessary to get Tools Limited registered with the various government agencies. So far I have:

1. Incorporated the company.
2. Registered with the National Insurance Scheme (NIS).
3. Got a Taxpayer Registration Number (TRN).

So far it has not been difficult, it is justing taking a lot of time and patience.

Stil to do.

1. File a notice of appointment of company secretary.
2. File a notice of change of company address (I used a temporary address during the incorporation).
3. Heart registration.
4. Education Tax registration.
5. General Consumtion Tax (GCT) registration (maybe, I am not very clear on this one).

Latest News

It has been a while since the last time I posted to this blog. Below are a few of things that have been happening with Irie Tools.

Incorporating Irie Tools

At first I thought incorporating a company would be simple, I had heard how the new Companies Act of Jamaica made incorporation in Jamaica so much easier than before. Well, that may be true but after doing some reading I decided I needed to get some legal advice. I eventually got a lawyer to handle the entire process for me, and everything went smoothly. I still think the process was unnecessarily complex and costly, but Irie Tools is no longer just a business name, it has been incorporated as a limited liability company (Irie Tools Limited) with the Office of the Registrar of Companies. There are still some loose end to tie up, I need to change the corporate address (I used a temporary address to start), and I have to appoint a company secretary.

Technology Innovation Centre

I am about to apply to the Technology Innovation Centre for Irie Tools Limited to be a virtual tenant. Assuming that my application is accepted, that should solve my corporate address problem. As a virtual tenance, I will not actually have an office at the TIC, but I can use them for my corporate address. The TIC is a really beautiful looking place and one of these days I hope to be a full tenant.