Beauty profs explore expanding business to Ja at JN Expo
THE JN Group Expo in Brampton, Canada, on March 25, was more than an opportunity to enquire about mortgages, savings and other commercial banking and financial products for businesswomen Karen Hinds and Joan Kelly.
Hinds and Kelly embraced the expo, which attracted some 5,000 patrons, as an opportunity to finally explore the possibilities of expanding their emergent businesses to Jamaica.
“I did not know that it was so easy to do business in Jamaica when you have the right documents, such as your passport,” commented Hinds, who operates Dreads and Natural Hair Studio in Brampton.
Her company caters mainly to black women with natural hair, and she was impressed with the information she received from companies in the JN Group, a range of Jamaican government agencies, as well as real estate and construction companies present at the expo.
HUB FOR BLACK COMMUNITY
Hinds combines her salon with a value-added line of hair and body treatment products, which she creates and sells through an adjoining store. Her thriving brick-andmortar location in downtown Brampton is a hub for the Karen Hinds pauses for the camera with her daughter as they tour booths at the JN Group Expo at the Pearson Convention Centre in Brampton, Canada, recently. The beautician is hoping to expand her business, Dread and Natural Hair, to her country of birth, Jamaica. large black community in Brampton and Greater Toronto Area, as well as an employer for many.
The 39-year-old Kingston, Jamaica, native, who migrated to Canada at age 15 and who has been operating her studio for 10 years, employs 14 persons on a full-time and part-time basis, comprising stylists, who are commissioned, and administrative staff. However, she believes there are rich opportunities for the growth of her hair products in Jamaica, noting that some 80 per cent of her clientele are Jamaicans.
“My idea is to have multiple locations and to expand the business elsewhere,” she said, noting that her vision is to be in main towns and cities across Jamaica, eventually.
Some key ingredients for her hair and body care products are also sourced from Jamaica. She believes that in the long term, her business could also be a boon for industries in the island.
“My long-term goal is to be able to source raw materials in bulk from Jamaica. This could encourage increased growing of castor beans and coconuts in the agricultural sector to influence manufacturers to expand agro-processing,” she opined.