Entrepreneurs Urged to Pay Themselves First

Starting a business takes courage. Keeping it profitable takes discipline. That message is at the heart of this year’s EntreCon, where more than two hundred and thirty entrepreneurs, investors and industry leaders are exploring how small businesses can move beyond survival, attract investment and create jobs. But one speaker says that growth must start with a basic shift: owners need to pay themselves, know their numbers and build wealth outside the business. News Five’s Shane Williams reports.

 

Shane Williams, Reporting

Entrepreneurs often pour everything into their businesses: their money, time and energy. But if they neglect their own financial wellbeing, they may also put the business at risk. That warning is shaping the conversation at this year’s EntreCon, BELTRAIDE’s flagship entrepreneurship event.

 

Ishmael Quiroz, Executive Director, BELTRAIDE

“It’s the bringing together of entrepreneurs, uh, investors, different agencies, government and private sector, as well as academia, to share ideas, information, experiences about what it takes to start and run a business successfully.”

 

Under the theme “From Grant to Growth: Building Investment-Ready Enterprises,” the event is challenging business owners to think beyond launching an idea. The goal is to build enterprises that can attract financing, expand and employ more Belizeans. Prime Minister John Briceño says families are already making sacrifices to keep their businesses alive, and the government must improve their access to support and investment.

 

Prime Minister John Briceño

“Today Belize families are making sacrifices of their own to have enterprises succeed. As Prime Minister I take seriously our responsibility to improve the opportunities available to them. That means helping more Belizeans access appropriate support, prepare for investment and build businesses capable of providing for their families and creating employment.”

 

But funding alone will not guarantee success. Guest speaker Kalilah Enriquez Reynolds, CEO of Money Media, says entrepreneurs must stop treating their own financial needs as an afterthought. She argues that owners who continually pay themselves last can lose motivation and weaken the businesses they are trying to grow.

 

Kalilah Enriquez Reynolds, Guest Speaker

“Some of the key points that I want to really bring home are, one, entrepreneur needs to take care of themselves financially, ’cause you often hear that in business the entrepreneur pays themself last and I kinda wanna flip that on their head, because if you don’t take care of you, the business is gonna fail. You’re gonna become demotivated.”

 

Reynolds says business owners must also know exactly how much they earn, spend and keep as profit. Without that information, they cannot make sound decisions or convince investors that their businesses are ready to grow.

 

Kalilah Enriquez Reynolds

“You have to know the numbers behind your business. You’d be surprised how many entrepreneurs, you ask them, ‘How much revenue did you make? How much profit did you make? How much were your expense?’ They have no idea what the numbers are. And then finally, I want to encourage entrepreneurs to build wealth beyond the business. So as business owners, many of us often put all of our effort, all of our energy, all of our time, all of our money into the business, and we expect the business to pay us, and we rely 100% on the proceeds of the business. But I want to encourage you to have assets outside of the business as well.”

 

BELTRAIDE says it wants participants to leave with more than inspiration. The agency is connecting entrepreneurs with incentive programs and advisory services that can help them invest in technology, expand production and introduce new products.

 

Ishmael Quiroz

“What we really want to raise awareness of are the different, um, incentive programs that BELTRADE administers, specifically to enable businesses to have breaks when it comes to bringing in inputs into their business. So if you wanna take your business to the next level through technology, through introducing a new product, come and talk to us for our incentive programs or advisory services.”

 

EntreCon’s message is clear: starting a business is only the first step. To move from a small operation to an investment-ready enterprise, owners must understand their finances, protect their own wellbeing and build businesses capable of growing without consuming everything they have. Shane Williams for News Five.

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

Watch the full newscast here: