Born in the Caribbean and presented to the world, The Value is a business show for entrepreneurs, business owners, and investors interested in building and investing in companies that are scalable and highly valuable. The show is hosted by Kevin Valley, a Chartered Business Valuator and business consultant who has spent over a decade evaluating companies for debt and equity investment. During this time, Kevin found that while many business owners possess the passion and zeal to build enterprises that solve big problems and change the world, their business models and practices had common blindspots that prevented them from being attractive to investors, and able to command high valuations. Kevin thus decided to use his voice to educate business owners at scale while working with investors to source profitable opportunities. The result is The Value. Do enjoy.
Episodes
Sunday Sep 17, 2023
095: Purposely Driven by Veekle | Cherie Williams
Sunday Sep 17, 2023
Sunday Sep 17, 2023
Today, we are with Cherie Williams, an accomplished entrepreneur and visionary. Cherie is the founder of FIRM1040, a tax firm assisting clients in different aspects of their financial lives, and owner of Veekle.
Purposely driven, Veekle is a digital peer-to-peer car renting business. She is an experienced accountant holding certifications from the New Jersey Certified Public Accountancy Board, an MBA in Finance, and a Bachelor's degree in Accounting. Having gained valuable experience in corporate leadership roles before starting her own ventures, Cherie is well-positioned for the entrepreneurial journey. She has a deep passion for helping others.
In this insightful episode, Cherie glances at her journey as an entrepreneur venturing into various start-ups. She shares with us the inspiration behind Veekle, how she turned this concept into reality, and how she manages the challenges any self-funding business faces.
Highlights:
- Cherie's journey to entrepreneurship
- How the concept of Veekle came to being
- What is MVP and why utilize it
- How to keep your sanity through the process
- How the Veekle platform works
- Pitch competitions, their benefits, and how to prepare for them
- Taking the business to the next level
- Biggest challenges in growing the business
- Advocating your business, getting feedback, and taking the risk
- The actuality of running a business
- Cherie's advice for entrepreneurs
Contact Cherie Williams:
LinkedIn: Cherie Williams, CPA, MBA
Instagram: @iamcheriewilliams
Find out more about Veekle:
LInkedIn: Veekle™
Facebook: facebook.com/justveekle
Instagram: @justveekle
Twitter: @justveekle
Tuesday Dec 20, 2022
088: Adding Value with Tech | Jason Valley
Tuesday Dec 20, 2022
Tuesday Dec 20, 2022
Operating at the intersection of technology and business analytics, Jason Valley has spent over 2 decades using technology to add value to businesses.
His exemplary career spans the finance, oil & gas, and telecommunications sectors where his projects improved turnaround time on business processes. His unwavering commitment to efficiency and excellence earned him the honour of ‘Employee of the Year’ in 1998 and 2010 while his team was recognized as Best-in-Class globally for process optimization.
Following these successes, he ventured into the rewarding world of entrepreneurship seeking to help small to medium-sized businesses optimize their operations.
This interview is jampacked with stories, lessons, and advice on:
- Opening doors for emerging talent using tech
- The Importance of Passion and Profits in deciding whether to pivot or scale
- The difference between being "One in a million" vs "One of a million" and what that means for your value
- The importance of market research and testing seemingly good ideas to identify the right business opportunity
- Using free trials to sell your Value proposition
- The importance of a database of leads to build brand awareness and facilitate new business development
- How to generate client trust with technology
- How Caribbean service providers can use tech to maximize time and money.
Resources:
Thursday Nov 10, 2022
086: Web3 for Business | Jay Harris
Thursday Nov 10, 2022
Thursday Nov 10, 2022
Jay Harris makes an appearance on the podcast to discuss the exciting world of Web 3. Web 3 or Web 3.0 is referred to as the next generation of the internet’s technical, legal and payment infrastructure. Its focus is on ownership and incorporates technologies and concepts such as decentralization, token-based economies and blockchain.
Our conversation sheds light on some important themes in Web 3 and instructs listeners on the key differences between these digital platforms & technologies.
We discuss:
- Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Ethereum, NFTs and the Metaverse (what they are and how they are used)
- The first step in building a crypto wallet
- Mitigating risk in an unregulated market
- How businesses can capitalize on these digital platforms
Jay Harris is the Founder of the W3 Podcasts (Digital Leaders, Web 3 Leaders & World Tech Forum); audio shows aimed at educating and encouraging Web 3 communities.
The tech expert is an engaging speaker who effortlessly connects with the needs of his audience, inspiring performance, collaboration and change. In fact, many of Jay’s listeners credit him with providing the motivation they needed to launch their Web 3 projects.
In the corporate world, he is known as a creative thinker and provider of robust tech solutions for complex business problems.
Plug into this episode to learn more about the next generation of digital platforms.
Resources
Tuesday Dec 11, 2018
033: The Hardest Part is to Start | Toni Thorne
Tuesday Dec 11, 2018
Tuesday Dec 11, 2018
Who is Toni Thorne?
- Entrepreneur who started her first business at age 7.
- Self-starter: “If I say I’m going to do something, I find a way I get it done.”
- “The hardest thing is to start.”
- Pursue what you are interested in and what will energize you: “You have to be very clear in what you want from life.”
- Motto: “Be true to yourself.” – you are your own biggest obstacle.
Experience of Business
- Pursue Your Interests:
- Know Your Business Inside Out
- Believe in Yourself
- Align Your Interests
- Finding a Mentor
- Understand and Embrace Failure
- Favourite Failure Story.
Black Entrepreneurship
- There is a mindset issue which is keeping Caribbean businesses, particularly Black businesses, from growing as they should: “People would rather own 0% of nothing than 5% of something.” – instead of collaborating and supporting one another, they would rather compete.
- The Black experience in Barbados, a predominantly Black country, is one in which Black people are treated as minorities and racism is an endemic issue
- Upper financial class does not reflect the racial composition of the country, which affects the level of entrepreneurship and business entry
- Experiences of being Black worldwide are unique experiences
- A study on the business loan process conducted by Harvard University revealed Black entrepreneurs in the USA have to deal with much more stringent policies and procedures than White entrepreneurs with similar or lesser qualifying requirements. This experience of different rules for Black business owners and Black entrepreneurs is also true in Barbados and serves as an obstacle which Black entrepreneurs have to determine how to overcome.
- Black parents have until recently tended to be more conservative, encouraging children to follow a more secure, traditional path and may not have supported entrepreneurship as it seemed too risky
- This stems partly from a historical experience of oppression and disadvantage which has caused them to be more risk-averse.
- That mindset is slowly changing, which is necessary to spur on generational wealth and generational business growth
- White peers may have a different upbringing and exposure to family businesses and business mindset earlier on
- Black entrepreneurs must recognize that although social structures may cause them to be at a disadvantage, they can and must then make their own paths to success, be creative in how they pursue structuring and financing their businesses and set their own goals for measuring success.