"FIMI speaks volumes of the opportunities created by pooling resources," says Mr. Henry, explaining that by doing just that, he and his partners, Colin Daly, Colin Steele, Anup Chandiram and Gary Chin were able to build the company on equity instead of debt, the route often taken to finance emerging businesses.

The company, which was honoured by Digicel this May as the mobile service provider's number one dealer, was formed in January 2001 and began operations in April of that year. Mr. Henry says FIMI Wireless was established to take advantage of the opportunities that resulted from Digicel's presence in the local telecoms market.

According to the CEO, strong relationship with its external partners has helped FIMI Wireless to secure its place among the leading dealers across the island. "We have a strong relationship with all our external partners," says Mr. Henry. "With Digicel the partnership extends to all levels of the company and their success has helped our business tremendously," he says.

"As a company, they have changed the whole concept of marketing in Jamaica and have done an excellent job of positioning themselves as the market leader," he says. "The Irish influence has also changed the way business is done in Jamaica," says Henry of Digicel, which is owned by the Irish firm, Mossel. "Their approach has been one of not taking no for an answer, pursuing their interests aggressively while thinking outside of the box and this has transformed the way we approach opportunities as well," says Mr. Henry.

FIMI has also forged a partnership with Paymaster, which facilitates utility payments including Digicel bill payments, at two of the company's 10 locations across the island. Additionally, the company is a designated outlet for the Internet service provider, Cybervale, giving the company's customers the opportunity to pay their monthly bills at any FIMI Wireless location or to sign up for membership there.

With over 1.6 million mobile service subscribers in Jamaica, just over a million of whom are Digicel customers, could the possibilities for growth in the local market be exhausted? Not so, says Mr. Henry, in fact he is confident that the numbers will see increases within the next year and way into the future. "People underestimated this market," he says.

CHANGING PHONES

"Jamaicans are changing their phones at a faster rate than traditional industry averages dictate," he says. "Instead of changing a cell phone very 15 months, people tend to buy new phones every four months," says Mr. Henry. "Consumers are extremely fashion conscious and want the latest models with the best features at competitive prices and Digicel is able to meet those demands," he says. "As Jamaicans we're also very nomadic, and prefer not to be tied down to a particular location and a cell phone makes it that much easier to do what you want whenever you want to," he says.

"Since Digicel places special emphasis on its network quality, providing coverage across 99 per cent of the island, many persons who did not have access to fixed lines or were not offered extensive coverage because of remote locations, now have phones," says Mr. Henry. He also observes that current trends indicate increased usage in wireless technology by consumers instead of fixed lines because of the flexibility it offers. Another contributor to growth in the local telecoms market are Jamaicans living abroad who travel between the island and their homes overseas. "We tend to forget that these persons are in need of service when they return home. They make up a segment of customers who often spend more on phones and make a considerable amount of calls," says Mr. Henry.

Facing the challenges associated with running the business is also part of a day's work for the wireless dealer. "Technology changes rapidly so you have to maintain close contact with your customers to understand their needs and meet those needs," says Mr. Henry. "Being one step ahead of the competition by providing products and services that they do not provide and delivering them at the most affordable prices is also challenging because there are some good dealers out there who work very hard to attract new business and maintain their current customer base."

Content in his current position at number one, Mr. Henry says the company will accept nothing less. "Our mission was to become a household name in Jamaica and we have succeeded, now the challenge is to maintain our reputation," he says. He attributes the employee friendly corporate culture of FIMI Wireless to its current competitive advantage, and says the company strives to provide a balanced work environment for staff, which is comprised of a total of 60 employees.

"We know that our most important assets are our employees," says Mr. Henry, "No matter the job description, each one of them has helped us to achieve success."

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