his week, our CEO, Tyrone Wilson, examines the impor-tance of defining the right

structure for your business, regardless of the size of your organization.

“As a CEO, it is important to structure your company so that it is able to sur-vive for years to come, with or without you,” he states. “The first level to start is to have a governing or advisory board or a board of directors. This is normally the body that is responsible for ap-proving the company’s short and long term strategies and be responsible for the strategic direction of the organiza-tion. They’re also charged with the re-sponsibility of choosing the CEO of the company should something unfortunate happen.”

It is important for an entrepreneur, as the company’s majority shareholder, to select this board through careful consul-tation.

Why have a board?You might be wondering why you need to appoint a board when you already know what you are doing, but Wilson advises against this way of thinking. “Ac-countability. This is the main reason,” he says. “A young entrepreneur must have some form of accountability to some-one. A majority shareholder must not be left alone to make ‘individual’ deci-

sions that can sometimes lead the com-pany down the wrong road.”

In addition to having a board, it is im-portant to also lay out the other roles and responsibilities in the organization, even if they won’t be filled initially. “The reason for this is that it sets an objective and it allows you to assess whether or not you will need this individual down the line,” Wilson states. “At the start of the business, it as if you’re moving into your new apartment with limited cash to furnish the place. You have to choose the furniture and appliances you will need first. When starting a compa-ny, you will need to know what is most important. This is where an organiza-tion chart comes in.”

Look out for Part 2 of Corporate Structure where we will share some more insights on how to structure your company.

CEO’s ThInk TAnk

yourmoney ezine

Corporate StruCture for young entrepreneurS

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CEO Think Tank is a weekly discussion between Your Money reporters and our CEO, Tyrone Wilson. It will focus on pertinent business issues that are dis-cussed on a regular basis among cor-porate executives, entrepreneurs, small business owners, political leaders and other key leaders in our society.

ceo’sthink tankbyTracey-Ann Wisdom

Tyrone WilsonCEO of eZines Limited

Business Lounge Real Business. Real Talk.

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ith less than three years as a fulltime employee at sagicor

Life Jamaica (sLJ) under his belt, Wayne Thorpe has already amassed a stagger-ing list of accolades. On March 16, he was announced the 2010 Employee of the Year at the company’s annual awards banquet and, to top off a stellar season, he was also presented with the sagicorian award at the regional group of companies’ ceremony in Barbados, where sagicor is headquartered. At 23 years old, he is the youngest recipient of either award.

“I felt like I was floating when I was an-nounced sLJ Employee of the Year and I felt like dancing when I was announced as sagicorian in Barbados,” he enthused. “I was really ecstatic! The moment was somewhat surreal even though I knew I had performed admirably and did two great interviews.”

Winning the awards at such a young age might be unprecedented, but Thorpe has been a model employee since he was first hired as a summer worker at the then Life of Jamaica in 2005, referred by no person less than hon. R. Danny Williams, company founder and fellow Jamaica College old boy. he returned each summer until 2008, when he was employed as a temporary worker and has been on a steady ascent since. “I have been promoted four times within the last three years. I was selected to assist the Tampa Office in the UsA in 2009 on a special one-week project. This was a great accomplishment since I had been with the company less than a year,” he said.

Thorpe, who grew up in Portmore, st. Catherine, overcame a rebellious patch during his teens, but eventually settled down to become a Prefect, Vice Presi-dent of the Interact Club and Editor of the school magazine. he developed additional skills at the University of the West Indies (UWI) as Editor-in-Chief of the student newspaper, Campus Beat, a group leader in the Quality Leadership Programme and public relations offi-cer for the UWI chapter of the JC Old Boys Association. “My challenges and opportunities have made me into the professional I am today - my outgoing personality, creativity, adaptability and eagerness to learn and contribute,” he said. “My volunteerism has also contrib-uted to my personal development and has made me respectful of the great things happening in my life.”

Thorpe is admittedly pleased with his exploits, but he is not resting on his lau-rels as he settles into his role as Am-bassador-at-large for the entire sagicor Group. “There is a heightened sense of responsibility and accountability that I now have, since I’m representing an almost 4,000 [employee] strong multi-national organisation,” he stated. he is also dedicated to his next goal, which is to attain an MBA within the next three years. In seven years, “I see myself as a senior Underwriter at sagicor who would have contributed a great deal to the development of the company’s multi-national operations.”

he also has some strong words of ad-vice for fellow young professionals: “I would say work hard and keep [your] goals in mind. Take a look at your com-pany’s mission, its goals and objectives and measure your work against those important credences. stay focused and determined and always give self-praise and motivation.”

YOUnG sAGICOR PRODIGY On ThE RIsE

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Wayne thorpe

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“My volunteerism has also contrib-uted to my personal development and has made me respectful of the great things happening in my life.”

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Wayne ThorpeSagicor Life Jamaica Employee of the Year

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insights

t is aezineslimited2008popular say-ing that the only two things that we cannot avoid are death and taxes,

but taxes still apply once you have died. Your surviving relatives pay between 15%-20% in taxes to distribute your es-tate. These costs include:

1. Transfer Tax. Under the Transfer Tax Act, the government identifies certain assets that have to be transferred to your loved ones. These include any real estate owned in Jamaica and overseas, shares owned locally and overseas and debentures. The Act is not retroactive, so anyone who died before June 2005, the tax was 15%; after June 2005 it was seven-and-a-half percent; after May 2008 it was six percent; after January 2009 it was five percent. The rate now sits at four percent for per-sons who died after August 2009. If as-sets have not been transferred one year after death, six percent interest is added to the tax.

The tax is calculated using the net mar-ket value, which is the value of your as-sets less the value of your liabilities. The deductible liabilities are funeral expens-es, reasonable medical expenses (those incurred 30 days before death), mort-gages and contract debts such as credit cards. Mortgage from building societies or life insurance companies cannot be deducted due to liquidation.

2. sTamp duTy. All applications for Grant of Probate (by the Executor of a valid Will) or Grant of Administration (in cases of intestacy) must be certified

by the stamp Office to be legally binding. This rate is between one to three per-cent of the estate’s net market value.

3. aTTorney’s fees.These range from five to seven percent of the gross market value of your estate. You are charged 5% for Grant of Probate or Grant of Admission plus three percent for transferring assets.

4. execuTor’s or adminis-TraTor’s commission.This is 6% of all monies the Executor or Ad-ministrator handles in dividing your as-sets – money from your bank accounts, proceeds from life insurance, dividends from shares, income from rental prop-erties, etc. If you have more than one Executor or Administrator, the 6% com-mission is divided among them.

Mrs. henry James also identified some ways to decrease the ‘death tax’ burden. “The more assets you own jointly, it’s not in your estate and [the transfer tax does not apply],” she explained. These include joint tenancy in real estate, joint bank accounts and having a named ben-eficiary on life insurance policies. “Once you have a named beneficiary, it’s a con-tract which is saying the money is going to be paid to your beneficiary and not in your estate to pay the 15-20% tax.” Also consider giving property as gifts to your relatives while you are alive. This attracts only four percent tax. The gov-ernment has also reduced the stamp duty on this procedure from three per-cent to $25.

I

“The more assets you own jointly, it’s not in your estate and [the transfer tax does not apply],”

byTracey-Ann Wisdom

and taxeSdeath

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Start upsRead. Believe. Succeed

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Small Business Banking

inning down Brandt Fuller, owner and General Manager of Blitz Web Design, for an inter-

view is no easy task as he is constantly on the move, whether in or out of of-fice. When Your Money finally caught up with him, he was getting ready to move again, but he graciously shared with us his entrepreneurial journey.

In 2004, the internet wasn’t as per-vasive and influential as it is now, but there was vast potential to make mon-ey as a web designer, a fact Brandt soon discovered as he worked on a start-up venture with some college friends, where he was tasked with de-signing the website for the business. “In the course of that, I learned a lot of the software and I had previous experi-ence from working at a printery, so I was able to use that knowledge to put together websites,” he said. “Then af-ter that, I saw that there was a need for the services and I quit my job and started the company.”

since it first began operating in 2005 out of Brandt’s mother’s home, Blitz Web Design has overcome the typical new business hiccups like tight financial constraints and difficulty finding a good location to carve out a thriving niche for itself in the still-evolving Jamaican tech-nology landscape. The company cur-rently offers a range of services includ-ing custom website design and content management solutions, website hosting and server provision, graphic design,

bulk text message dispersal and pho-tography for the web and advertising. Its roster of clients features corporate entities such as Montego Co-operative Credit Union and Continental Baking Company, government agencies like the Auditor General’s Department and smaller companies like Ideas Jamaica, Millennium Paving stones and hose Assembly and supplies.

Brandt eventually took on a business partner, Joel Jones, to strengthen the company’s operations. “he caught on very quickly to what we were doing,” Brandt said, particularly in web devel-

opment. Joel now works as the compa-ny’s Business Development Manager.

The hallmark of any successful partner-ship is working towards a common goal and, together, the men – both gradu-ates of Wolmer’s Boys school and the University of the West Indies, have placed the company on a path to suc-cess. They are now aiming to expand its market share both in corporate Ja-maica and among individual users. “We build custom websites but we want to then package what we do as more of a product that can reach more people. We’re looking into retail… doing things that are more accessible to the aver-age person and bringing the power of a website to the average person, not just big businesses,” Brandt explained. “We’re also looking to more customize what we sell and package it [for] the corporate market. We want the cor-porate market to be able to easily ac-cess our services, believe in our service and benefit from it.”

up The anTe

Brandt Fuller and Joel Jones oF Blitz weB design

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start ups

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“We build custom websites but we want to then package what we do as more of a product that can reach more people. We’re looking into retail… doing things that are more accessible to the average person and bringing the power of a website to the average person, not just big businesses,”

byTracey-Ann Wisdom

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