(Barbados Nation) The four young people behind the textbook rental business, Book Line, were told that their idea would never work.
Even after more than a year in operation, they are still hearing that the business may not be sustainable.
But Rochelle Walrond, Ivan Cox, Chenika Moore and Kevin Bishop are determined to prove the sceptics wrong as they seek to help students deal with the high cost of books.
Rochelle, 22, came up with the idea back in 2011 while studying at the University of the West Indies (UWI) and discussed it with her three friends who quickly came on board.
“We started coming up with how it would work and writing business plans,” Rochelle said. “Then Chenika and I went to [The Student Entrepreneurial Empowerment Development Project] class at UWI with coordinator Ayana Young-Marshall. She helped us to further develop the idea and write it into an official business plan.”
The quartet also received assistance with the business plan from the Barbados Youth Business Trust. The company was registered in May 2011 and officially began operation in January 2012.
Even as detractors told them they were too young to be in business, they began by seeking out students who had books they wanted to rent to others until the company had the resources to begin purchasing books.
Ivan, 27, said the cost of books was a big challenge for many students.
“You would have to do a subject for one semester and the textbook costs 200 and something dollars. Then the lecturer might not use the textbooks; the lecturer might put the notes online so you’re $200 out,” he told the SUNDAY SUN.
This is why the group encourages individuals to rent the books they don’t need to others.
“They may not necessarily want to sell them . . . but they can rent them for the two semesters or so and then have them for their library as well as have some money back in their pocket,” Rochelle explained.
Book Line has been a hit with students. So much so, the young entrepreneurs find it difficult to meet demand sometimes.
“The name is growing,” she said. “We try to not make it grow too much so it doesn’t become a case where people say ‘they never have the book’.’’ As can be expected with any group, differences arise but Rochelle believes this is what makes the business work.
“I might come up with an idea and think it’s the best idea but because it’s a group, there are other people saying, ‘Rochelle, that ain’t mek no sense’. Even if we do argue or we disagree, we know it is for the benefit of the business,” she said.
Furthermore, Chenika recalled that from the start, they were advised not to let the business get in the way of their friendship.
Book Line is one of five Barbadian businesses among the 20 finalists in the United Nations Development Programme’s Caribbean Innovation Challenge (CIC).
CIC is an entrepreneur competition and business start-up accelerator for young people in CARICOM member states. It is aimed at helping young people to generate ideas that benefit their societies and communities.
Over the next few days Book Line will be preparing for the CIC Finals, Expo and Awards Ceremony which will take place on Thursday and Friday at Hilton Barbados. There they will be provided with international visibility and feedback from experts and the public along with networking opportunities with potential clients and investors.
The group had initially debated whether or not they should enter CIC. However, they put a lot of effort, and late nights, into their entry and were delighted when they were chosen as finalists from among almost 500 regional entrants.
“You had to produce marketing videos and you had to have a website, Facebook or a blog. Certain things we already had in place so we just presented our best and hoped for the best.
“Then we received the email that we were finalists and we’re ecstatic . . . with some nerves,” Rochelle said.
They all agreed that CIC was a good learning experience for entrepreneurs and said they were confident their efforts with Book Line would be rewarded.
