The time has come once again for entrepreneurs to show their mettle and put the best of their products on display for the judges of the reality TV show Bank On Me, which was launched on Wednesday in Bagnall’s Point Gallery, Pelican Village.
Managing director of Blue Waters Productions, Alison Saunders, said that this year one of the many aims of Bank On Me was to attract more foreign investors to the show.
“We want to extend the investment aspect of the show by attracting investors from the diaspora,” she said.
“This time we want to have investors from Barbados, North America, UK, and so on, and we’ve already started making those kinds of connections so that you (the contestants) will have the opportunity to draw from an even wider and hopefully richer pool of investment,” said Saunders.
She also mentioned the other changes and additions to the show, such as more time for the contestants to prepare for challenges, training in pitching, and other tools to aid the contestants in attracting investment.
“This show is primarily about how do you get the necessary investment for your business, as the name suggests,” she said.
Management is also a vital part of business and chairman of Blue Waters Productions, Dr Basil Springer, said that business was very fragile and could collapse before real growth was attained. He said contestants would learn much about this in the new series of Bank On Me.
“The good news is that we’ve identified why these businesses fail and it’s because they are not well managed,” said Springer. He continued: “Management is a cyclical process beginning with a plan, organisation, putting people into those slots within the organisational structure . . . then you have the leadership which executes the plan and every month or so you monitor to see if the objectives you’ve set within the plan are achieved . . . and it goes on in a cycle,” he said.
Speaking on the legalities of business and how they relate to the Bank On Me show, attorney at law Lynette Eastmond said that the success of businesses, specifically partnerships, rested on the involved parties being clear and open about their intentions.
“If you are working with someone else I think it is very important that you write down what your understanding of the relationship is, what each person is responsible for,” said Eastmond. “And more importantly, where this show is concerned, how are you going to actually share any benefits that come out of the programme.”
Bank On Me was not only a success on the air but also for the winners.
Grand prize winner Kristina Adams of Adams Aqualife said she saw increased investment and production in her business, while the second and third prize winners Dane Saddler from Caribbean Villa Chefs and Julia King from Torchworkx said they saw similar growth within their respective businesses.
The new season of Bank On Me officially begins on September 20 with three workshops at Scotiabank in Sky Mall. (SM)
