Although many an entrepreneur can have a wonderful and exciting business idea that they swear will be the next Facebook or Google, few are prepared to plunge their lifesavings to make the idea come to life. Melarka Williams of Ingenuity Technologies in Jamaica did just that – and not only lives to tell the tale, but has also created recognised tech innovation company. In our interview with Melarka, he shares some insight into why he and Ingenuity Technologies have thrived when others have failed, and now that some financial success has been achieved, what now drives him, and what are some of his goals for the future.
Episode is also available in Apple iTunes and on Stitcher!
Taking a business idea from an unproven concept to reality is no easy feat. It is more so exceptional when the business has blazed a trail of success, as has occurred with Melarka Williams, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Ingenuity Technologies, a software engineering, quality assurance and testing company, headquartered in Jamaica.
Melarka Williams
Launched in 2012, Ingenuity Technologies has been growing from strength to strength, and winning recognition and awards along the way. Pivotal to the organisation’s success is Melarka: an Electrical Engineer, who has been relentless in ensuring that Ingenuity Technologies not only evolves to meet the needs of its customers, but also becomes a tech and innovation leader in Jamaica’s business sector, and that of the wider Caribbean.
In our interview with Melarka, we cover a broad range of topics, including:
- Why Melarka started Ingenuity Technologies, and what the company does.
- His childhood, and when did he get bitten by the entrepreneur bug.
- What it is like to be an entrepreneur in Jamaica, and his thoughts about the country’s start-up environment/culture.
- Melarka’s opinion on what are some of the challenges of having a business in Jamaica.
- His thoughts on the support that is available to small businesses in Jamaica.
- What he considers his greatest strength as the leader of an organisation, along with his greatest weakness.
- The biggest lesson he has had to learn in running his own business.
- Insight into how Ingenuity Technologies has been able to evolve and successfully grow when other businesses have not been as lucky.
- With Ingenuity Technologies on more solid footing, what now motivates Melarka to stay hungry, and what are some of his longer-term goals for the company.
- Finally, tech trends he is excited about.
Select links
Below are links to some of the organisations and resources that were mentioned, or might find useful:
- Ingenuity Technologies
- Technology Innovation Centre
- Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship
- Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship (Jamaica)
- Action Coach (Jamaica)
- Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ)
- Development Bank of Jamaica, IGNITE Programme
- Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC)
- The Compound Effect, Darren Hardy
- Software as a Service (SaaS)
- General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
- Jamaica Data Protection Bill
- Jamaica Computer Society (JCS)
- Jamaica Information Technology and Services Alliance (JITSA)
Image credit: TheAngryTeddy (Pixabay); Facebook
Music credit: Ray Holman
Excellent interview.
I like, particularly, the clearly shining positiveness of the interviewee. This is clear esp where he deals with support/doing business in Jamaica. He catalogues the sources of help available in Jamaica with a lot of enthusiasm. The description of the business environment is in superlative terms.
I don’t think I was able to get anything highlighted on how the interviewee sees the transition from “entrepreneur” to a “businessperson”.
Thanks for the feedback, Kamutula. Question though: how would you distinguish an “entrepreneur” from a “business person”?
What’s the difference?
Firstly, I want to be clear the intention of my point on this was my wish to hear this particular view in the interview. Different people hold different opinions, and hence the reason I sought to hear the view.
My understanding is that the difference arises at a certain point in the business lifecycle when the entrepreneur steps back out of the day-to-day running of the business and of paving new paths, allowing for specialists to do so in the business.
Admittedly not an easy point of discussion to sustain in such a broadcast interview. The more reason I sought to hear the viewpoint/s.