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Speak with one of our Business Banking Officers at the nearest Scotiabank branch or call 1 -888-472-6842 Visit www.jamaica.scotiabank.com
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Meet the New Scotiabank SME Team Banking With Mobility Time to get Social Sitting Happily in the Success Corner How to Spot Opportunities Before Your Competition Reinventing A Product; Not The Wheel Scotiabank Vision Achiever Closing Cerimony Scotia News Scotia Calender
In the KNOW
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Meet the New SME Team
“Having a happy and engaged team produces happy customers and sustainable business.� - Dudley Walters
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In the KNOW
Asquith Brown, Manager Sales & Service Coach SME, provides coaching and analytical support to the small business team, while ensuring excellent customer service delivery.
Avril Leonce, Director, SME Development and Partnership is instrumental in the development of SMEs, identifying and formulating strategic partnerships in aid of development and growth of the SME portfolio.
Meet the New Vice President Small and Medium Enterprises
Dudley ‘Peter’ Walters Dudley Walters affectionately called “Peter’ joined the Scotiabank team in January 1976. He has served in many leadership capacities and has a wealth of experience in Operations, Corporate & Commercial Banking and Retail Banking. In February of this year, he was appointed Vice President, SME and previously served as District Vice President, Metro West. Peter has signaled his keen interest in investing his experience in the development of the SME business and contributing to the development of his team members. His vision for the SME portfolio is “to make Scotiabank the financial institution of choice for its small business customers and provide them with solutions to enable growth and development.”
When asked what advice, would he offer to any SME, he stated, “Always be conversant with the changes in the market and be willing to make the necessary steps to adapt to these changes. Take advantage of all opportunities and make every effort to negate possible threats.” Peter is very passionate about people development and he believes small business owners should spend the time to invest in their people and also implement systems and or strategies to drive this e.g. business coaching. He also stated, “having a happy and engaged team produces happy customers and a sustainable business.”
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Banking With Mobility In our fast-paced world, many people have become accustomed to immediate results for everyday activities such as, making purchases online or transfering money to third parties online. The days of waiting in line to pay bills or to conduct a simple transaction are history, as mobile banking and online financial services facilitates an easy and effortless banking experience.
Online banking revolution The internet has provided us with cutting-edge technology that has enabled us to perform more efficiently on many levels. Banking with ScotiaOnline has made transactions easy and efficient for busy customers and has the ability to perform regular transactions without having to visit a bank. Mobile transactions With Scotia Mobile Banking, you can view your personal account balances, check the five most recent transactions on your deposit accounts, transfer funds between your own Scotia accounts, and pay your bills. Business accounts are not accessible via your mobile at this time.
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In the KNOW
Secured mobility Rest assured that Scotia Mobile Banking is very secure, as it is backed by our Online Security Guarantee. This states that you will be reimbursed in the event that you suffer direct financial losses due to unauthorised activity on your accounts through our online financial services. If you lose your phone, ask your carrier to disable it, and also reset your password at Scotia Online. How to get mobile If your smart phone is equipped with a data plan for internet usage, you will be able to use Scotia Mobile Banking. Once you have registered with Scotia Online, you can go to scotiamobile. com, or download our free Scotia Mobile App designed for iPhone and Blackberry devices to start banking with mobility.
Time to Get Social! Pilot your business into the 21st century through tweets, likes, hashtags and more. Social media is the engine that generates valuable information like market trends, target audience, and how goods or services are being received. Here are 4 tips to get you started with your social media strategy.
1. Know your advantages
3. Keep things interesting
Do you know the best social medium that benefits your business? • Consider the platform that your client base uses most • Start with “the big 3” Facebook, Twitter, Instagram -- Facebook for products -- Twitter for services -- Instagram for visibility
Keep engaging your customers in order to keep the medium alive. Share purposeful and valuable updates to keep customers and followers guessing. • Consider giveaways and benefits to customers to encourage followers, friends and likes for an active page. -- Ask your followers to submit pictures of themselves along with your products -- Ask them to post testimonials, links to content that relate to your business.
Use Facebook for promotions and products/services offerings as a base for information for your business. Use Twitter to update clients’ profiles, share feedback, and make essential announcement to your business. Instagram is a very visual medium, lending itself best to products which can be photographed. Being social media savvy is about quality usage of the right channels.
Utilize these tips effectively and your social media space will be a lucrative branch of your business. So what are you waiting for? It’s time to get social!
2. The right time for posting Are your postings being read and received? • Consider your target audience, and when are they online • Start with your market penetration -- Who are your customers and when is it likely that they are online? Posting without information being read will not benefit your business. Ensure that the message has been relayed and received by customers and potential ones. You’d be surprised just how important timing is when it comes to social media.
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Sitting Happily in the Success Corner Top Performer Haedi-Kaye Holmes Thankful for ‘Eye-opening’ Scotiabank Vision Achiever Experience Haedi-Kaye Holmes took a leap of faith in 2000 and opened Creative Kids Learning Academy, a small private preparatory school located on Windsor Avenue in St Andrew. The school started with five students, and 16 years later, it now has enrolled 150 students, from 18 months old to sixth graders. As the school expanded, Holmes knew she needed more than passion to manage the changes while maintaining the institution’s high standards. That’s why she applied to the Scotiabank Vision Achiever programme in 2015. “I had absolutely zero business sense. My school was growing, and I wanted to learn to become a better leader and a better business person,” said Holmes, who graduated from the University of Western Ontario with a degree in psychology. The move paid off: she not only fulfilled her goal of learning more about business administration, but copped the Scotiabank Vision Achiever Top Performer award. “Scotiabank Vision Achiever was amazing; it really opened my eyes to the world of business. It made me look at the school in a different light. It made me more aware of my numbers and definitely a better leader,” she said, adding that being in an environment with other entrepreneurs who shared the same struggles was also comforting and supportive.
Holmes has been steadily implementing principles learned as a Scotiabank Vision Achiever to improve the running of her school. She has put a number of systems in place in the administrative department, worked on developing the right ‘office culture’ amongst the staff, and has taken a more active role in managing the school’s finances. “I’m very aware of my financial position, and I find that I have better communication with my team,” she said. Holmes has also sought to pass on some of the lessons learned while participating in the programme to her students, such as identifying their own vision and using positive affirmations. Her efforts are paying off. Creative Kids Learning Academy students have always performed well in the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT), but they topped their peers in Kingston and St Andrew in The Gleaner’s 2015 GSAT rankings. Overall, Holmes is pleased with what the Scotiabank Vision Achiever programme has done for her and her school. She also encourages other small and mediumsized business owners to consider applying to the programme. “You may think you know a lot - maybe your business is at a certain level and you think it’s okay, but until you’ve done Vision Achiever, you’ll never even begin to imagine how much possibility there is for growth in every aspect of the business,” she said. Tracey-Ann Wisdom -Writer
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In the KNOW
How to Spot Opportunities
It’s a jungle out there in the world of business, as companies jostle for precious consumer dollars in an ever-expanding marketplace. In order to succeed, you have to keep up with the competition, or better yet, stay one step ahead. Discounts, specials and customer appreciation days are nice, but wouldn’t it be better to spot a gap in the marketplace and fill it before your rivals realize it was even there? It’s possible to ‘scoop’ your competitors. All it takes is a little time and some strategic thinking, and you could be on your way to creating the ‘next big thing.’ Here are some tips to help you: 1. STUDY YOUR INDUSTRY Look at where it’s coming from, where it is now and where it’s headed in the future. You’ll be able to see what has worked and what has failed; opportunities that were missed or poorly capitalized on in the past that you can now tweak and run with; even peek into what your rivals may be doing, which could spark a new idea for your own business.
4. LOOK FOR PROBLEMS While you study the current trends, go one step further and look for potential problems that may eventually be created by what’s hot now and move to offer the solution. By anticipating upcoming issues, and creating solutions ahead of time, you position your company as an industry leader, which provides a strong competitive edge.
2. GO INTERNATIONAL This may not apply to all types of businesses, but it might be beneficial to cast a wider net while studying your industry. You might just find an idea that you can ‘localize’ to grow your business or even start something new. For example, Wisynco created ‘Boom’ as the local answer to popular energy drink Red Bull.
5. GET YOUR TEAM INVOLVED Brainstorming works better when you have people to bounce ideas off of, so don’t be afraid to consult members of your team, even those not on the ‘creative’ side. Each person comes with a unique perspective, and they may have noticed things that can be changed or done differently, or spotted a gap that you can’t see from your corner office.
3. FOLLOW THE TRENDS Keep abreast of trends in your industry that might reveal a step you can take to better your business. Study business-related trends as well. Your business may not be in the marketing field, for instance, but you can certainly take advantage of information about this field that can help you devise new strategies to promote your product or service and attract and retain customers.
6. LISTEN TO YOUR CUSTOMERS They are the ones using your product or service, so they will be better able to tell you what’s working for them and what can be changed or improved. Sometimes, a little tweak to your own offerings may be just what you need to move ahead of your competitors. Tracey-Ann Wisdom -Writer
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ADS BUSINESS FINANCES 10 MORE WAYS TO TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR
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Check your real-time balances
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Pay bills to local utility companies
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Pay employee salaries directly to accounts at any bank
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Set up recurring bill payments
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Pay suppliers
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Send funds to another Scotiabank customer or another bank
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Make wire transfers
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Bank online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
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Transfer funds between your Scotiabank accounts
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Bank securely from your computer, tablet or mobile phone
Speak with one of our Business Banking Officers at the nearest Scotiabank branch or call 1 -888-472-6842 Visit www.jamaica.scotiabank.com
Re-invent the Product; Not the Wheel
We’ve all been told to “think outside the box” at some point in our lives, and many entrepreneurs muse on this phrase as they rack their brains trying to come up with a bold, disruptive idea for a product or service that will make them into mega-billionaires. But what if you just “think next to the box” and stop trying to reinvent the wheel; use what is already there (the much maligned box) as the launch pad for something new - or at least different? Yes, it is possible and perfectly okay to reinvent a product or change the way something is done. Businesses do it every day, and many of the companies that are making headlines today have become what they are by tweaking or making improvements to an idea that’s already out there and has proven to be successful. Taking this approach means there’s already a market for your ‘new’ product, which reduces your risk.
‘...there are opportunities out there to reinvent products or services’
Let’s take a look at some of the people and companies that have successfully thought outside of the box: Uber - We’ve all used taxi services before, right? This is a variation of that service, which allows customers to use a mobile app to book rides. The system uses GPS-guided dispatch software to locate where you are requesting the ride from and send the nearest verified Uber driver to you. Users register for the service online, then download the app. The service charges your ride directly to the credit card on file with your account. GoPro - Action junkies longed for a camera they could take on their adventures, and in 2002, fellow action junkie Nick Woodman delivered. It stemmed from his surfing trip to Australia, where he couldn’t get any highquality action shots as amateur photographers couldn’t get close enough, or lacked the professional level equipment for long range shots. The US$2.25 billion company now offers several portable photo and video camera options and accessories.
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Munch Mitt - Anyone who’s a parent knows the frustration of teething. In addition to your cranky, crying baby, you have to constantly be cleaning regular teething toys that are dropped or thrown. As the name suggests, this is a teething mitten that’s put on your baby’s hand - no throwing or dropping, which frees up your hands and also makes travelling with baby easier. Levi Roots - Sauces are a dime a dozen. There are whole supermarket aisles stocked with different brands. What helped Levi Roots ‘reinvent’ the sauce was the fact that he added a distinctly Caribbean spin on it, and living in the UK, that proved to be gold. Since his successful 2007 appearance on the British TV venture capitalist show Dragon’s Den, he has gone from selling 4,000 bottles of the original Reggae Reggae Jerk sauce to building a food empire worth more than £30 million.
As you can see, there are opportunities to reinvent products or services. The next time you get frustrated with the design or functionality of something you use regularly, think it through and maybe, just maybe, you can come up with your own brilliant reinvention. Tracey-Ann Wisdom -Writer
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SCOTIA NEWS BRAD SUGARS BILLIONAIRE TOUR
Brad Sugars (centre), shares the lens with past Scotiabank Vision Achiever graduates: Judian Wright (left), Patriakaye Aarons (2nd left), Jovan Evans (2nd right) and Ayanna Dixon (right). Joining the team is Certified Business Coach, Marcia Woon-Choy who took the graduates through a 17-week capacity building programme.
Brad Sugars (left), CEO and Chairman ActionCOACH, shares a few tips from his book, “Billionaire in Training” with Kristofferson Nunes (2nd left), President of UWI Entrepreneurs Builder’s Club during his Billionaire Tour. Sharing in the moment are Jaden Grant, UWI student and Patsy Latchman-Atterbury, Executive Vice President, Retail Banking.
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THE ENTREPRENEURSHIP TALK
Dudley Walters (2nd left), Vice President SME Scotiabank shares some business tips with Tyrone Wilson (left), CEO of e-Media Interactive Group Ltd during Entrepreneurship Talk held at UWI Mona. Looking on are Patria-Kaye Aarons (right), CEO of Sweetie Confectionery and LaceyAnn Bartley, Managing Director of Bartley’s All In Wood who were members of the panel.
Kristofferson Nunes (left), President of UWI Entrepreneurs Builder’s Club happily shares his story with Dudley Walters (2nd left), Vice President, SME Scotiabank during an Entrepreneurship Talk held recently at UWI
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Mona. Sharing in the moment are Lacey-Ann Bartley (2nd right), Managing Director of Bartley’s All-In-Wood and Shawniel Bailey, President of Club Billionaire, University of Technology.
SCOTIABANK ‘In the KNOW’: SERMAF
Sharon Denny Tomlinson (right), has the full attention of Professor Vanus James (left), SERMAF Risk Rating Consultant, and former Scotiabank Executive Wayne Henry (middle). Sharon outlines a number of reasons why her participation in the the Scotiabank Enterprise-Wide Risk Management and Financing (SERMAF) Programme for Small and Medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) was so important. Ms. Tomlinson was one of 1000 of the participating entrepreneurs to have been part of an extensive 2 year research project developing psychometric variables for managing credit risk for small businesses. Pamela Douglas (left), Scotiabank Branch Manager and Professor Rosalea Hamilton (Centre), SERMAF project director, have a chat with Edison Galbraith(right), Development Bank of Jamaica executive at the closing ceremony of the Scotiabank Enterprise-Wide Risk Management and Financing (SERMAF) Programme for Small and Medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) held recently at the Courtyard Marriott. SERMAF had just concluded a 2 year research on utilising alternate credit risk rating scores for SMEs. In the KNOW
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