Small business owner Geraldine Gordon Ferron is eager to elevate her business after being selected for a joint programme between the Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC) and Access Financial Services (AFS).
Under the memorandum of understanding signed last month, the JBDC will deliver a series of workshops to provide AFS business customers with training for capacity building, marketing essentials and tailored financial advice.
Gordon Ferron, who operates Tek Life Variety Store & Gift Shop in the busy Cross Roads Arcade in St Andrew, has been invited by the microlender to participate in one of three upcoming workshops designed to help customers to level up.
For Gordon Ferron, who has had dreams of expanding her business, this is a golden opportunity.
"I'm sorry we never had this chance four or five years ago, but I'm glad we're getting it now and I'm eager to take full advantage. I'm really looking forward to it. I'm a firm believer that knowledge is everything and I'm ready to see how far it can take me and my business," said Gordon Ferron.
The small business owner is kept busy in her shop daily, providing gift items as well as breakfast and lunch options.
In the 12 years since she took over the running of the business from her mother, Gordon Ferron says she has come to see the value in business financing. The businesswoman explained that she started out selling clothes from the back of her vehicle and did well on her own by saving and reinvesting in the business. She later realised that taking a business loan helped her to grow the business faster.
"I've taken loans at different points to achieve different things. Whether it was a van for the business, or for a functioning warmer, or a fridge once I started running the shop. I always advise fellow business owners and those starting out, your tools are very important. Once something is not working, don't hitch. Tackle it right away so there is no downtime," said Gordon Ferron.
With dreams of extending opening hours or expanding her franchise to other busy town centres, Gordon Ferron says she knows there are areas in which she needs some guidance and she's hoping the JBDC/AFS workshop will provide that.
"I want to be more savvy when it comes to financial accounting and planning, and I want to be able to use social media to market the business. Right now, I don't know much about this social media thing. I usually call my son to help me, but I want to know how to manage myself," she shared.
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