ZiNG Caribbean – May-June 2019

May - June 2019 | http://www.liat.com ZiNG CARIBBEAN | 71

TEN

SAYS:

“NEVERALLOW

PERFECTION

TOBECOME

THETHIEFOF

PROGRESS.JUST

STARTANDKEEP

BUILDING.IT’STHE

ONLYWAYWE

CREATESCALABLE

ENTERPRISESTHAT

TRANSFORM

LOCAL

COMMUNITIES

ANDREGIONAL

ECONOMIES”

1

Don’t let perfection become
the thief of progress. Most
entrepreneurs spend too much
time and effort trying to perfect
solutions before moving forward
and putting their idea out there,
which can stymie growth and
stunt progress.

2

Iteration is important.

Doing things quickly, learning

from mistakes and moving

forward with the lessons learned

is integral to the entrepreneurial

journey. Let perfection come in

the act of doing, not in simply

planning all the time.

3

Know that your success as an

entrepreneur is limited only

by your mindset. If you want to

be successful, act that way. Failure

is only failure if you give into it.

Every setback is an opportunity

to evaluate what went right and

what went wrong, and then to

move forward.

4

Know that building a

business is never going to

be easy. Prepare for struggle and

have a system that will allow you

to move through the process

iteratively. Every step takes you

closer to your ultimate goal.

5

Embrace and invest in the

notion of building teams,

collaborating and sharing. Many

entrepreneurs have a fear of

sharing and working together, so

they make the concerted effort

to go through the journey on

their own – but no successful

business has ever been built by a

single individual.

SELWYN’S TOP 5 TIPS FOR ENTREPRENEURS

development. “TEN helped to bring my business from
the lightbulb stage,” she says. The noted chef already
owns Coconut Baby, a popular eatery that offers vegan
desserts, snacks, salads and drinks, and is now expanding
her services through Plant Lyfe to provide easy access to
delicious vegan food that is fast and affordable. Having
won the Caribbean Startup Pitch Pit in 2018, Allison was
entered into TEN’s Hybrid Accelerator programme. She
adds, “It helped me to fl esh out my idea and make my
business a reality.”
Simera also praises the support she receives from
TEN, and its innovative approach to entrepreneurship.
“It has been instrumental in providing institutional
support that I can utilise while seeking and receiving
initial funding from international development agencies
to pilot initiatives,” she says.
Simera’s business, BitEgreen, is seeking to solve the
Caribbean’s waste management challenge. It is looking
at incentivising wider participation in recycling by
providing rewards that appeal to a broader cross-section
of society; tackling issues of sorting garbage at the source
by implementing schemes to achieve separation of
recyclables within homes and businesses; and developing
a reliable collection and disposal network for recyclables.
BitEgreen, which uses gamifi cation technology to turn
trash into a currency of cash for citizens and organisations,
has caught the attention of regional recyclers, as well
as the European Union. It has also begun a regional
conversation about how Caribbean states can turn waste
into resources. Simera says, “TEN Habitat has offered
support through a nurturing community of creative
thinkers and mentors to collaborate with during the
multi-disciplinary process of building out my idea into
a tangible, scalable business venture.”

HOT HUB
Such entrepreneurs, who are entering and making strides
in the global landscape via TEN Habitat, are helping to
create what Selwyn calls “Startup Caribbean”, a global hub
that he believes can put the region on the map when it
comes to innovation and entrepreneurship. The team at

TEN Habitat maintain that “Startup Caribbean” could

become a hub for entrepreneurship that would rival

those found in places such as Silicon Valley and

Beijing. The fi rst step in this plan is expanding

TEN Habitat’s reach by opening hosted habitats

in every Caribbean community.

“We are taking the same framework and

placing it within existing organisations that

are interfacing with entrepreneurs to deliver

support,” Selwyn says of the expansion plan.

“We will help them set up the structure and

use the resources and methodologies, which

will allow more regional entrepreneurs to

open global connections and have access to

the Hybrid Accelerator.”

EXPANDING HORIZONS

The TEN Habitat approach to entrepreneurship issimple

but radical. Selwyn and his team follow the formula

that they outlined for the entrepreneurs under their

leadership: identify a regional problem and provide

scalable, investible solutions to fi xing it. This method has

proven benefi cial for the leaders of TEN Habitat, helping

them to not only attract collaborators from throughout

the global entrepreneurship community, but funding

from the Inter-American Development Bank’s Multilateral

Investment Fund programme and the European

Commission. This support has been integral to helping

them act upon and expand their vision for Caribbean

entrepreneurship and innovation.

Selwyn says that he and his team encourage

entrepreneurs in the TEN Habitat community to live bya

simple mandate: “Never allow perfection to become the

thief of progress. Just start and keep building. It’s the only

way we create scalable enterprises that transform local

communities and regional economies.”

Through its innovative approaches to

entrepreneurship, and its belief that building global

connections by way of a cohesive community is key, TEN

Habitat is taking regional entrepreneurs to new heights

and changing the face of Caribbean entrepreneurship.●

BRIGHT BUSINESS

 WWW.TENHABITAT.COM