identical phones with me to Jamaica but
one of them needed to be unlocked.
However, there was only one person in
my hometown, Black River, who knew
how to unlock cell phones.
This person was not available to
immediately unlock the phone. He told
me that I would have to wait for a day
and was going to charge me more than I
had paid to unlock my phone in the UK.
That’s when a light bulb went off in my
head. Why not create a phone unlocking
business? It was an idea worth pursuing
but I knew I needed to know more about
phone software and unlocking. I asked
my mom to get internet access in our
home and I spent 16 hours daily
browsing the internet on my laptop
learning how to unlock phones and
researching equipment that I would
need.
I purchased the tools from overseas.
They arrived a few weeks later and I was
ready to start my business. Brochures
were made and distributed in Black
River and surrounding communities.
Soon after, several people started coming
to me to unlock their phones. The
Mobile Phone Doctor was born. Instead
of returning to the British army at the
end of my one year medical leave, I
stayed in Jamaica to build the business. It
grew quickly and I started to employ
people. I managed to put together a great
team including three brothers who still
operate the business to this day.
It was time for a change in 2012.
Inspired by my love for music, I opened
a recording studio.
Wow! What was the experience like
starting a recording company?
Music is something I am passionate
about. Therefore, the decision to start St.
Bess Records wasn’t difficult. The studio
was the perfect outlet for me to use my
Issue �: January ����
sound engineering training and I
hoped to transform it into a big label.
It had its own sound and vibe that
attracted a lot of artists across the
country including Konshens, Glen
Washington and many others who
would occasionally visit the studio.
I took a break in 2013 and returned
to England for a while. However, the
studio started developing internal
issues that were irreversible. So, I
decided to close it and use my
resources to venture into ecommerce
which was another passion I had.
Why JA Deals?
Ecommerce was a venture that had
piqued my interest a few years before
I had opened the studio. Finding a
local web developer who could build
the type of platform that I wanted
was
challenging.
Nevertheless,
closing the studio meant that I had
more time on my hands to focus on
this new business venture. The first
step was for me to move to Kingston
and spend some time doing a
feasibility study. I wanted to
understand how brick and mortar
stores in Jamaica’s city operated and
how I could integrate them on an
ecommerce platform.
The skillset to build a website wasn’t
something I possessed at the time.
However, I knew that I didn’t want
to try another developer who might
not finish the project properly. The
only feasible solution was for me to
learn how to build a website. This
was another 16 hours per day
process. My aim at the time was to
make it simple, clean and functional
and I would view it from the
customer's perspective as a guide.
The first batch of products listed
were products I had been selling at
The Mobile Phone Doctor store.
The website went live in January
2014 and I sold my first product a
few weeks later. I was elated!
Traction was slow but I steadily
worked on making the website
better. Website traffic improved and
customers began asking for products
that weren’t listed. The platform
slowly grew into an online
marketplace with approximately
50,000 visitors monthly. It now
offers electronics, pharmaceutical
items, grocery items, auto parts,
appliances and many more items.
How does the JA Deals
process work?
1. Vendors register to sell their
goods at JAdeals.com.
2. The goods are listed on the
website once approved.
3. Customers visit the website
and have the option to pay
using a credit card, bank
transfer / deposit, PayPal or
cash on delivery. Customers
may also pick up goods from
the vendor's physical location.
4. We offer delivery locally and
internationally with a wide
range of delivery options
Describe JA Deals in one word
Futuristic. Our aim is to become
Jamaica’s Amazon and we intend
to achieve this objective through
remaining constantly innovative
and forward-thinking.
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