Last October, Starr Computers opened the doors of its new Business Centre and the company’s General Manager Rehman Majeed says that its primary objective is to equip small and growing businesses to enhance their operational procedures and, by extension, their efficiency and competitiveness.
It envisages the application of Information Technology-driven methods to day-to-day issues that are critical to the management of small businesses, like stock control, cash and inventory management. “We really are a one-stop shop for people who seek to improve the efficiency of their business operations,” Majeed says.
Though Majeed stops short of admitting it, what Starr seeks to do is to help revolutionize some of the traditional ways of doing business in Guyana. It is, for example, not uncommon for some small business operators to consider modernization a costly and, often unnecessary pursuit. Old habits, he concedes, are difficult to break. He insists, however, that some change in attitude has occurred with the advent of the IT age. It is, he says, about moving on. “Traditional business tools like cash registers are now virtually obsolete and the old bill book method is no longer considered to be the most efficient way of doing business,” he explains.
Computers installed at the Business Centre are programmed to provide practical demonstrations to go along with the technical advice provided during the instruction sessions. Majeed says that most of the Centre’s clientele are retailers in the food, restaurant, clothing and other industries. The ‘package,’ which Starr’s Business Centre offers its clients free of cost, includes instructions on point-of-sales administration, the use of bar codes to track stock and the computerization of VAT returns. It is, Majeed says, about rendering the operations of businesses more efficient.
For Majeed, greater efficiency equals greater competitiveness. He believes that the evolution of the trading culture has brought commerce to a point where businesses will have no choice but to embrace IT as an integral part of their trading culture. “It’s not just about installing fancy gadgets; it’s about being more efficient and being more competitive.” And Majeed believes that it is catching on. More and more small businesses are finding their way to the Business Centre; its most recent client is a businessman operating a supermarket at Lethem. “Once we were finished working with him, providing the demonstrations and giving the advice, he agreed to obtain the equipment and install it,” Majeed says.
Offering advice on business solutions, Majeed says, is nothing new to Starr Computers. That service was offered twenty years ago and according to Majeed Macdonald’s Hardware store and C&F supermarket were among the first to benefit from the service. “Our current focus is on being a definitive one-stop shop—a place where business operators can come and secure advice on a broad range of IT- related business solutions,” Majeed says.
Starr’s Business Centre also offers advice and equipment that cater to the safety and security of business houses. Smoke detectors, alarms and a range of fire extinguishers are among the equipment on offer. Majeed says that the decision to have the business embrace safety and security considerations had to do with what is often an “insensitivity” to the importance of those considerations. “Sometimes it can be more than a little worrying when you are able to persuade a businessman to purchase relatively costly equipment to improve the competitiveness of his business only to have him frown on an offer at an inexpensive smoke detector or an extinguisher to protect what is sometimes millions of dollars worth of building and stock,” Majeed says.
A small drinking water tester appears somewhat out of place among the items on display at the Business Centre. Majeed says that its purpose is to remind business proprietors of the importance of valuing their staff. “We believe that business owners should be concerned about the quality of the environment in which their employees work. People consume significant quantities of water at the workplace and elsewhere. If we are mindful of the water that our employees drink, we can, perhaps, save ourselves a great deal of time lost through illness,” he adds.
According to Majeed too often large business enterprises are established and filled with expensive stock while the staff operates under the most difficult conditions. “Managing a business is also about looking after your human capital,” he, however, points out.