JUSTIN & FABIAN WORRELL  -  WORRELL BROS MUSIC STUDIO (WB)

Justin Worrell is 24 years old and his brother Fabian Worrell is 17 years old.

Justin, a bass player since his teens,  trained at a Canadian music college in MUSIC TECHNOLOGY and returned to Barbados two years ago and began to teach music technology part time (5 hours a week) at Barbados Community College.

Fabian, his younger brother, has displayed a natural flair for producing music tracks, having produced several already despite his young years. (However, he always had to use other company's recording studios.)  Since graduating from secondary school he has been attending Barbados Community College (BCC)  studying Economics, Law, and Accounts. He graduates this year in May 2006  after which he will join the WB Business full time.

Justin's and Fabian's father was a musician in his early years and still supports Barbados own music genre, Spouge, through the Heritage Music Foundation. However, he became a successful accountant to support his family. So he has championed his sons' endeavours to become financially independent through music, an option which was not available to him. Nonetheless, he is insisting that his sons must make it on their own; and after initial start-up support, he is leaving the business's success or failure to their efforts.

Justin is the senior entrepreneur working at WB at this time and is determined to repay the BYBT loan as soon as possible.  According to WB's mentor, Lorna Garner, a retired businesswoman who managed an international marketing, sales and distribution business in entertainment and media industry for 22 years based in London and Los Angeles,  "Justin is extremely serious, committed and conscientious in fulfilling the BYBT goals and in making his business succeed. When Fabian joins him shortly full time in WB, the pair will make an excellent team, their skills and talents complementing each other."

Worrell Bros Music Studio Inc. (WB) received the BYBT loan funds B$25,000 (US$12,500) in October 2005, after already expending their own and family funds in initiating the building of the Recording Studio over the previous few months. The BYBT funds were used  (i) to complete the studio's sound proofing and also (ii) to purchase the latest music technology required for a mid level recording studio.  WB is registered as a  limited liability company and 8% of the BYBT loan is repaid.  Loans are repaid consistently and on time.

Previously when the Brothers started the producing work for a music track, the musicians had to go elsewhere to do a professional recording. In January 2006, they could do the recording in their own Studio, and in most cases, to a higher level as they had the latest equipment.  The Worrells have cleverly identified a niche in music studios in Barbados - not the super studio of Eddie Grant, neither the bedroom setup of many others.

In three months, the Worrells have produced, arranged and recorded five tracks for clients.  It is important to note that they are not simply providing the recording facility,

using good technology, but are also producing and arranging. Their income from this in the first quarter is approximately B$500 per week. And they are breaking even operationally, which is an excellent accomplishment for a start up business.

The Worrells have won a prestigious contract with Barbados National Cultural Foundation to preserve the recordings (and improve them technically) of all the Calypso

Songs for the last twenty years of CROP OVER, which is Barbados Premier Festival.

This will provide guaranteed income on delivery and will give WB a good reputation which will hopefully lead to further archive work of Barbados musical heritage.

Justin's main efforts are going to complete this project in time for 2006 Crop Over in June. This will provide B$ 15,000  (US$7,500) net profit to WB.

WB's intention is to offer a further service to clients of putting ONLINE the music tracks for downloading over the web and making sales internationally - something never done before in Barbados.  

They also intend, when funds permit, to do a joint venture with a local video house and do music videos for showing on three American cable outlets which are willing to show

Caribbean music.  This will increase the possibilities of sales.  They will also look for outlets in UK and Europe.

Justin and Fabian are not only pleased that they have the opportunity to use their music talent and skills to earn a living, but that they are learning the fundamentals of good business practice through meeting the demands of BYBT.

As Justin says, ‘Learning to prepare a business plan, facing a credit committee with their pointed questions, learning Quikbooks to do the company accounting, and developing the discipline to attend to financial and business matters are things that BYBT has caused to happen already.

"The mentorship programme of BYBT is especially good, because the requirement for regular meetings forces one to meet deadlines. The mentor also gives an ‘overview' of the company's current operations when you can get lost in the detail of day to day work.

The fresh outside perspective and advice of a mentor is valuable."

The Worrells are building a foundation in the early days of their studio.  Over time, their combination of music creativity and business/financial training and experience will provide Barbados with a successful music recording studio and producing team.

The Worrell Brothers display strong entrepreneurial characteristics and already the younger members of the Barbadian community are looking up to them to help them produce their music instead of going to older more established studios.  Their approach is fresh, the mere fact that they approached BYBT for assistance signals their commitment to the company and its success.