tech now

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tarting this issue, Your Money eZine will, on a monthly basis, recommend products that enhance your business’ operations in

this technologically advanced era. We believe that increased use of technology can improve productivity and boost the bottom line of any business.

This month’s pick is Neat®, a scanner and software system that reduces the amount of paper your office uses on a daily basis. The system allows you to scan receipts, business cards and other documents into a digital database, which also reduces the need for cumbersome filing cabinets.

There are three products to choose from:

• NeatReceipts - a portable scanner and software combination that helps you track your expenses and organize receipts.

• NeatDesk – provides a central “inbox” for all your papers. Its patented input tray lets you scan receipts, business cards, and documents in one single batch. • NeatWorks for Mac - uses optical charac-ter recognition (OCR) technology to iden-tify, extract and organize important in-formation. Convert receipts into expense reports, create searchable PDF files and export information to Excel® and Quick-en®.

Now, what do you do with all the paper you no longer need to store? Recycle, of course. What you do with the extra office space is entirely up to you!

To learn more about or purchase Neat® products, visit their website: http://www.neatco.com/products

Tame The PaPer BeasT with Neat®

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Real Business. Real Talk.

Brought to you by:

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on’t just call it a sports bar. Sure, its name is Tracks and Records and the bar is shaped like a sta-

dium track, its patron is none other than athletics demigod Usain Bolt and there are numerous flat-screen monitors and a giant projector screen broadcasting sev-eral different sports in an endless loop. But this establishment is so far out of the league of any other bearing the some-what overused classification that to label it a mere sports bar is to miss the essence of what the business is all about.

A sports and music lounge/restaurant hybrid, Usain Bolt’s Tracks and Records is redefining Jamaican nightlife standards in the same way that its illustrious patron has revolutionized the sport of track and field. At the helm of this revolution is the quiet, unassuming Gary Matalon, a man born with business in his blood and whose far-reaching vision for Brand Jamaica is as ambitious as it is inspiring.

A serial entrepreneur active in five com-panies, Matalon was approached by fellow businessmen Kevin Burke and Stephen Shirley in June 2008 with the concept of creating a premium night-time entertain-ment venue. He was sold on the idea, so the three men, along with David Shirley Zuar Jarrett and Craig Powell formed the Kingston Lifestyle Entertainment (KLE) Group and began working on their first venture, Fiction nightclub. “Fiction was pretty much conceptualized, designed and built between July 2008 and December 2008 when we opened our doors,” Mata-lon related. For most of the KLE partners,

this was their first step into the night-time entertainment industry, although some of them already had experience planning major parties.

BRaNChINg OutFiction was an instant hit and after about a year, the men began to look around for something else to invest in, a way to le-verage that success into other similar ven-tures. Jarrett and David Shirley came up with the idea for Tracks and Records and the men ran with it.

D

Gary maTaLon BuildiNg oN BraNd Jamaica

“The concept behind Tracks and Records was to be able to take what we felt was the best of Brand Jamaica and package it into one location and have that available lo-cally to ensure that it’s home-grown and ensure that it is authentic Jamaican, but also to be able to develop it in such a way that we can ex-port it.”

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“The concept behind Tracks and Records was to be able to take what we felt was the best of Brand Jamaica and package it into one location and have that available locally to ensure that it’s home-grown and ensure that it is authentic Jamaican, but also to be able to develop it in such a way that we can export it,” Matalon ex-plained.

After five months of presentations and negotiations, the Group signed the con-tract with Usain Bolt and his management team. “He has a lot of involvement in it. In exchange for the use of his brand, we couldn’t pay him what Puma was paying him, but what we were able to do was strike a deal where he took an equity stake in the business and, in exchange for that, we use his name on certain units, certain locations,” Matalon said.

Tracks and Records is a venture any ce-lebrity worth his salt would want to be as-sociated with. The interior screams ‘high-end’, from the cushy banquet seating and booth areas to the chic bistro-style bar. The booths boast interactive tabletops, where patrons can place their orders via a touch-screen computer system. An up-stairs mezzanine features additional din-ing space. The projector screen covers a stage area for live shows. On the menu is local fare with fresh spins on old favou-rites, like green plantain nachos and jerk chicken quesadillas.

thE hOttEst tICkEt IN tOWNSince its grand opening in April, Tracks and Records has become the hotspot for Kingston’s young elite, high-profile business types and regular Joes and Janes

looking for a great place to hang out with their friends. As the business enters its drive phase, Matalon and his team are now looking to take the Tracks and Re-cords brand ‘to di world’. They have ap-proached international dancehall stars Shaggy and Sean Paul about their own branded operations, and talks were un-derway to establish a second venue in London - home to a large Jamaican Di-aspora - in time for the 2012 Olympics. The Jamaican contingent, including Bolt, had several meetings with industry offi-cials and went location scouting, but plans are currently on hold for the short term. “Obviously we can’t make an investment like this for such a short period of time. It has to have longer term sustainability, so

we are very cognizant of the challenges and we’re just managing that process very carefully,” Matalon said.

In lieu of going overseas just yet, Mata-lon and his team have refocused their at-tention on branching out across Jamaica. They are currently negotiating the lease on a piece of land in the vicinity of the new Falmouth Pier in order to benefit from the tourism market along the north coast. They have also been approached by interests in Cayman and New York, even as far as China. With all these possibilities, it might not be long before Jamaica gives birth to its first major franchise and Ma-talon is already preparing for this eventu-ality. “[Tracks and Records’] potential for export to other markets is tremendous. I spent a week in Washington, DC ear-lier this year at the International Franchise Expo and met with a whole host of peo-ple in franchising and we’re doing what we need to do to package it,” he stated.

“[Tracks and Records’] potential for export to other markets is tre-mendous.”

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thE BEst OF BRaND JaMaICaGeographically, Jamaica is a mere speck on the world map, but the outsize per-sonalities and talents of our citizens has propelled the country to superstar status just about everywhere in the world. Mu-sic is unquestionably our greatest export, touching the far corners of the world, but since 2008, our athletes have added to the nation’s visibility after command-ing starring roles at the Beijing Olympics. The Americans were in awe of Michael Phelps’ record eight gold medals and world records in the swimming pool, but the rest of the world was talking about Usain St. Leo Bolt and his lightning feet that almost set the Bird’s Nest on fire.

The world caught Bolt-fever and Brand Ja-maica’s stocks skyrocketed. However, we still haven’t mastered the skill of profiting from our own popularity. “Do I think as a country we have kind of come together and gotten the most out of it? Probably not. That really is one of our motivations, the fact that here we are, known by all, every corner of the globe and not really utilizing that popularity and people’s love for it,” Matalon reflected.

The KLE Group is certainly intent on taking advantage of the opportunities. “We definitely see ourselves in the next five years as an international brand and we would like to be in North American markets, European markets, even in the Far East with multiple units and really exploit the strength of Brand Jamaica in these other markets, and also to be able to offer our visitors to the island a really authentic Jamaican experience at a global level. That goes for every aspect of the model, from the atmosphere to the food to the service,” Matalon said.

Also on the cards for the burgeoning group is listing on the Jamaica Stock Ex-change Junior Market. “We have actually already engaged PanCaribbean to consult with us and to take us through the listing. Our intention is to list before the year is out,” Matalon stated. “We are in the pro-cess right now of doing all of the detailed stuff that needs to be done before we can get to that point. But certainly, with

our growth plans as aggressive as they are, we will definitely need to have ways to finance them and certainly, the Junior Market offers us a huge opportunity in that regard.”

“We definitely see ourselves in the next five years as an inter-national brand and we would like to be in North American markets, European markets, even in the Far East with mul-tiple units and really exploit the strength of Brand Jamaica in these other markets, and also to be able to offer our visi-tors to the island a really au-thentic Jamaican experience at a global level.”

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thROugh thE FIREThings have certainly been going well for Tracks and Records, but the business al-most never got out of the blocks. After going through the process of applying for and being granted attraction status, it qualified for the attraction incentive through the Ministry of Finance, which al-lowed Matalon and his team to bring in capital goods duty- and GCT-free. This helped them to put in all the high-end fix-tures and interactive elements that make Tracks and Records stand out. However, about eight weeks before the sched-uled opening date, the waivers suddenly stopped coming, throwing plans into a tailspin. With several hundred thousand US dollars worth of goods on the wharf incurring storage costs, plus rent and sal-ary expenses, the team had to negotiate a payment plan to get the goods released and pay the duties over time. To date, there has still been no explanation from the Ministry, even though the Group is appealing the issue. “Luckily, we perse-vered to the point where we’ve been able to open the place and make it a re-ality,” Matalon said… “Our focus is not so much on what happened but how we can go forward, what we’re going to do to keep going.”

Part of that forward thrust is getting more tourist business. The business cur-rently sees a number of overseas visitors among its clientele on any given day, and the Group is negotiating arrangements with tour companies to put the Tracks and Records on their Kingston routes. They have also developed relationships with several hotels, which see some of their guests stopping by. The retail end of the business is also doing well, selling

Tracks and Records-branded memorabil-ia as well as Bolt’s memoir. As someone who has achieved great success in a num-ber of business ventures and overcome significant challenges, Matalon had this to say to aspiring entrepreneurs: “You’re going to need to work as hard as you’ve ever worked. You must know that hard work is definitely the key ingredient in your success but also smart work. That means you need to seek out the answers and you need to be passionate and you need to get it done. There is a lot of in-formation out there. You can speak to people that have had successful business-

es and have been through it. You find that people are always willing to share their success stories and talk about what they have done, so take advantage of that. But don’t be afraid to think outside the box and change the game.”

“You’re going to need to work as hard as you’ve ever worked. You must know that hard work is defi-nitely the key ingredient in your success but also smart work. That means you need to seek out the answers and you need to be pas-sionate and you need to get it done.”

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insightsbyTracey-Ann Wisdom

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enture capitalists and investors with an eye on Silicon Valley

have reason to celebrate as social gam-ing developer Zynga recently filed with regulators for its IPO, which is currently valued at US$1 billion. The creators of popular games such as FarmVille and Mafia Wars joined the growing cadre of internet companies to go public, includ-ing LinkedIn and Pandora. The US$1 billion figure Zynga gave in its filing is for calculating registration fees, and the final size of the IPO could be different.

Zynga has achieved great levels of suc-cess in just four years of operation, reporting earnings of US$235 mil-lion during the first quarter of 2011, more than double the amount earned over same period last year. That level of sales and growth suggest Zynga is on course to generate more than $1 billion in revenue this year. According to the company’s prospectus, Zynga’s common stockholders broke even on revenues of $235.4 million at the end of the quarter.

Zynga’s success is due to a combina-tion of factors: the games are free; they require no specialized hardware and – perhaps the most important feature – they are hosted on the world’s largest social networking site, Facebook. The company’s IPO offers potential inves-tors an alternative to traditional video game companies, which have seen sig-nificant decreases in their share prices in recent years. Zynga has also been eating into the US$60.4 billion video game industry. While the games are free, approximately 95% of the com-

pany’s revenue comes from selling the virtual goods players use, which has in-creased 127% between the first quar-ters of 2010 and 2011. It also makes money from online advertising.

As with any other IPO, investors are no doubt looking for stability and prof-itability, which they will find in Zynga. However, its biggest appeal will be the chance to technically invest in Face-book, which is what venture capitalists have been chomping at the bit to do ever since CNBC speculated that the social network could go public as soon as the first quarter of 2012 with a valu-ation of US$100 billion. Zynga’s pairing with Facebook is a mutually beneficial partnership – Zynga has access to more than 500 million members of Facebook while helping to keep people returning to the site to play. However, potential investors must note that the company relies almost exclusively on Facebook for its revenue and players; therefore, “Any deterioration in our relationship with Facebook would harm our busi-ness,” it stated – and see backers losing significant amounts of money.

There has already been friction be-tween the two over a change in Face-book’s policy involving the credits Zyn-ga players use to purchase virtual goods. Facebook wanted to take a 30% cut of transactions and Zynga threatened to walk away. Zynga eventually acceded; however, its bottom line has not been adversely affected by the move.

Zynga has yet to state how many shares it is planning to sell or give an expected price range.

PLAYING THE MARKET WITH US$BILLION IPOzynGa:

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start ups

Read. Believe. Succeed.

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Small Business Banking

n his 1954 book Motivation and Personality, famed psychologist Abraham Maslow coined the term

‘self-actualization’, noting that man is al-ways striving to realize his full potential as a human being. This drive is expressed in different ways, according to the indi-vidual. For Wayne Jones, Jr., founder and director of Hybrid Technology Solu-tions, self-actualization would only come from creating his own path, so he made the leap to entrepreneurship in October 2010.

“The idea of Hybrid Technology Solu-tions did not come packaged in one eu-reka moment, but was rather an amal-gamation of ideas, projects and side hunches I had developed over time,” Jones said. He was an active member of the Scotiabank Chair Club Billionaire at the University of Technology and was searching for an “edge” to his business idea when he was introduced to the concept of cloud computing and its po-tential impact on the business world.

Taking a business from idea to inception is no easy feat, but Jones got a boost when he won last year’s Churches Co-operative Credit Union Entrepreneurs Award, valued at J$300,000.

Hybrid Tech offers services in website development, graphic design and social media marketing, all of which are vital to success in today’s competitive business environment. “Social media provides an opportunity for customers to openly disclose why they love your brand -or not. It’s an easy way of getting feedback,

broadcasting information with the op-portunity of having [it] spread faster than you could imagine or even do your-self. The world is growing more social and so should businesses.”

There have been the typical challenges associated with startup companies, in-cluding the difficulties of maintaining sustainable recurring revenue and ac-quiring clients. “Another challenge so far is to convince potential clients that, even though our portfolio is not as competitive as other more established companies yet, we are actually capable of producing superior work, in many cases,” Jones said. However, he is not daunted by this perception; instead, his two-member team recognizes the need to ”be creative in our thinking and ag-

gressive in our approach.” They are steadily building up a solid clientele, which currently includes UTECH, Opti-cal Elements, Kemtek Development and Construction and several startup com-panies as well.

This approach will also see them getting into mobile application development, especially for the Blackberry platform. “We have started that and [are] doing much better in much shorter time than we had originally envisioned,” he said. “We are also working on some proj-ects for the company itself. We’ve been thinking about extending into other ver-ticals outside of services and actually build products too for sometime.”

Jones advised other young people inter-ested in entrepreneurship to “do what you love. Starting a business in a sense gives you control over what you want to do and where you can go with it. Also, mentorship is very important, especially being that you’re young and inexperi-enced.” His team has had to learn the ins and out of business on their own, which can be tedious and distracting from the ultimate goal, at times even discour-aging, he said. “However, those who have been successful haven’t reached where they are without hard work and diligence. If you’re interested in starting your own business, you have to mentally and physically prepare your mind for the hardship ahead, but I guarantee it will all be worth it in the end.”

WayNE JONEs, JR. giviNg compaNies a techNological edge

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“The idea of Hybrid Technology Solutions did not come pack-aged in one eureka moment, but was rather an amalgamation of ideas, projects and side hunches I had developed over time.”

byTracey-Ann Wisdom

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