St Helena : Good Business is Good for Everyone Suggests Tim
Submitted by Saint Helena Herald (Juanita Brock) 18.01.2006 (Article Archived on 01.02.2006)
This article appeared in St. Helena Herald on 13 January 2006.
Good business is good for everyone, suggests Tim
An Article Appearing in Friday, 13 January 2006 St. Helena Herald
Timothy Barnes, an entrepreneurial advisor from London, has come out to St Helena for two weeks to teach a short summer school for the SHDA. He runs similar courses in UK for students of University College, London. His aim is to give people an idea of what it takes to start a business, and what particular areas they need to look at. “The main thing in entrepreneurship” he said when we met earlier in the week, “is that you have to you have to accept that your life will change. If you start a business it’s different to anything else you’ve ever done. - even after only six months in business things will be different. Perhaps the first thing you have to accept is that certain aspects of your business are not going to be perfect.
“When you start a business money is perhaps the last thing you need to consider. The very best way to start is to take the viewpoint of the customer. Some of the best ideas in business have come about because someone realised there was a real need for a particular kind of amenity or enterprise. If you feel a need from your own experience as a punter, then it’s odds-on your business idea will take off. For example, if you find yourself thinking, “God, this place could do with a good curry house” that’s the best form of market research you can get. You’ve found out what people need, so you’ll have a good chance of success. That’s the fundamental proposition.
“Of course you have to start on a practical level. You can’t expect to build and run a large hotel from nothing: - you have to start small, and then grow the business organically. People are always nervous about starting a new business. The bigger risk from my point of view though, is that 20 years down the line you find you are in a boring job that you hate. The successful feeling you get from a running a good business is beyond all comparison.”
Tim feels that the biggest barrier to starting a business is bureaucracy. “Business is about something new: - that will always bring you into conflict with bureaucracy. When someone suggests a new venture it is often opposed. People say, “It’ll never work!” There’s a famous quote from the former head of IBM, who said, only a few years ago, that he said he could not foresee a time when people would be using computers at home. What kind of a lack of vision is that! So you need to allow people to try new things. Competition isn’t a thing to be afraid of. In fact if you stand in the way of competition you will lose. If you block a new enterprise on the grounds that it might threaten established businesses that is just not in the public interest: - you are looking at things the wrong way round, because when businesses compete, things become better for everybody.
The more licences and permits you have to apply for, on the other hand, the less likely a business is to succeed. The UK is such a great place to do business because it is so quick and easy to get started. It costs only £25 to start one up. Whereas in Germany it costs in the region of £30,000! If a business works it benefits everyone: - there is more choice, and a raising of standards.”
When I questioned Tim about entrepreneurship here on St Helena, he gave me the impression that there are countless ideas waiting to be discovered. “For a start, there is a real need for fresh food, better food and cheaper food. Another need is for the provision of a language school, in order to help visitors from places like France and Brazil, where English is not the mother tongue. Also, it’s a strange thing to come here and find that when the ship comes in the Tourist Office is closed. Why! There are all these tourists, fresh off the RMS, wandering about Jamestown wanting to spend their money, and no one seems to want to take it from them!
“If a big hotel is built, the guests who come here will want to do things like fishing, diving, surfing [!] and walking. They won’t just want to loaf about in their big hotel. For every job created by the hotel, you will find that another three jobs will spring up in the private sector. Also, prices will come down. For example, as more people come onto the Island, things like phone calls and internet access will get cheaper. Money though, is only one aspect of how life will improve if investment is welcomed. People should be encouraged to try new things.”
There has been some recent rain and this hopefully will give the seeds a good start and with care, they should have a very long life. The planting was the last in the area of land above the Paint Pallet and had brought the Millennium Forest to the junction of the road leading to the Weather Station. This year’s planting will now continue on the opposite side of the road where the land has been cleared, with 500 holes already prepared.
If you are planning to visit the forest do take water with you to water your own tree or others. Do not use the taps in the forest as they contain wastewater and are not for public use. The only fresh water tap for hand washing is near the hut at the car park.
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