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garage, and they often refer cus-
tomers to him.
“Because of the state of the
economy, I tend to deal with any-
thing that comes into the garage,
so I can’t be specialising right now,”
said Farquharson.
Funding has been a major chal-
lenge in starting and maintaining
his business and so to cut back on
expenses, Farquharson has decided
to hold off on hiring someone to
assist him.
“So the whole running of the
business and everything, I have to
be doing by myself. Most of the
times I have no idea what I am
doing, but in terms of the book-
keeping and things like that, I am
trying,” he said.
Fortunately for him, he had
received a lot of training while
working with his previous company
and these lessons have proven
invaluable as he tries to keep his
own business afloat.
He credits his vast experience in
customer service as one of the
major reasons for his ability to
attract customers. Farquharson
knows that he has strong competi-
tion and just going a bit above the
rest for his customers will help him
to stand out.
“I am not going to say I am
cheaper than everybody else; I am
cheaper than a lot of other places,
but how you relate to customers,
how you treat with your cus-
tomers; I think that has a lot to do
with it,” he said.
Among other things, Farquhar-
son offers free delivery to some of
his clients, despite the fact that this
is not financially profitable.
“If somebody wants some oil,
they don’t have to leave their
office, because in the lunchtime,
the places are packed. I don’t
charge for delivery, so if they need
some parts, I deliver it to exactly
where they are and they are good;
they don’t have to do anything. I
take out all the hassle of running
up and down,” he explained.
MAINTAINING SOLE OWNERSHIP
Although it’s a struggle to break-
even some years, Farquharson has
refused the several offers he has
received from investors who
approach him as he wants the busi-
ness to remain solely his. He prefers
to invest his personal savings in his
business and about two years ago,
he took out a loan from a commer-
cial bank to stock his container.
“In terms of money, I don’t really
owe anyone, except for the loan
that I have outstanding, and I
should be finished paying that in
July or August,” he said before
adding, “I have everything invested
in this right now.”
Farquharson believes it is a major
accomplishment when a small busi-
ness owner can be debt free, as he
found out early that everything
takes money when taking on a ven-
ture such as his.
“Everywhere you turn is money. If
you need to get a business plan done,
that’s money. If you need to get some
auditing done, it’s money. Every-
where you turn it’s money,” he said.
It wasn’t long before he realised
that the business plan he had
invested in was useless given the
fiscal challenges facing the country.
“I don’t think it has helped.
Sometime you try to work with the
plan and say boy, this is where you
want to reach, and so forth, but
because of the economy, you can’t
really confine yourself to it,” he said.
He believes, too, that enough is not
being done to educate aspiring entre-
preneurs about the process of opening
up a business, and so individuals like
himself are at times shocked by the
number of things that are involved.
“You are so focused on start-
ing your business, you don’t
know about these things,” he
said.
“I enjoy serving people. I enjoy
when somebody is looking for
something for their car, it may be
small, but they can’t find it any-
where, but when they come to me I
have it,” said Farquharson.
JBDC ready
to help
Help is available for small
business operators like Sean
Farquharson. If you need
help contact the Jamaica
Business Development Cor-
poration (JBDC), which
offers a combination of
products, services, publica-
tions and expert referrals to
help clients get current and
comprehensive business
information on a wide range
of topics.
These include:
1. Advice on operating
challenges in your existing
business;
2. Review of your business
plan and strategies;
3. Guidance in starting
your new business;
4. Advice on purchases of
existing businesses;
5. Preparation of your
loan request;
6. Financial analysis and
budget development;
7. Financial support, i.e.,
loans geared at supporting
the manufacturing sector;
8. Technical support serv-
ices, including product
development and incubator
resource services;
9. Back office support
services
Contact the JBDC at 928-
5161-5; 928-5167; 928-
0275; 928-3201; 928-4136
Email:
info@jbdc.netSean Farquharson inside the container that houses his business, Your Price Auto.
‘Everywhere you turn is
money. If you need to get a
business plan done, that’s
money. If you need to get
some auditing done, it’s
money. Everywhere you
turn it’s money’
– Farquharson