Construction
Construction
sourced. Also, a manufacturer’s guarantee
gives confidence to a sale, so that should
Southern Electrical happen to sell a
product that has slipped through the
quality control of the maker and has a
fault, then Southern Electrical is able to
provide the customer with a new item and
then arrange a refund or replacement with
the manufacturer directly.
PHOTO: TONY MCQUILKIN
savings, and borrowed all he could, to buy
freehold a plot of land off the government.
That plot is where the business now
proudly stands and prospers in the neat
steel-framed building that was bought in
the USA, shipped to Grenada, erected,
and quickly moved into.
Emmanuel Duncan Sr retired towards the
end of 2007 and his son, Jr, became the
managing director. Emmanuel Sr is
still the sole shareholder and
drops in occasionally when his
advice is needed, but it is his
son who has successfully
run the business since
then. In 2007 there were
12 members of staff yet
by early 2015 he had
almost doubled this to 20.
The shortest tenure of any
of these employees is four
years, and, furthermore, the
longest serving member is Teresa,
mentioned earlier, who has worked with
the family-run business from the start
in 1996, and who has a son who now
also works here—that’s a sign of great
employee relations and no doubt brings
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exceptional loyalty and commitment.
Since 2007 Emmanuel Jr has also more
than tripled the revenue from EC$1.7m
to roughly EC$6m. Of this, roughly 22%
goes on running costs. About a further
63% goes on the costs incurred in sales,
such as the transport and import duties
involved in getting the items to Grenada
and into the shop. This is so
high because Southern
Electrical
focuses
on being a bestvalue business
and makes a
high turnover
that
returns
a
smaller
profit
on
each item, but
which sees a
greater
number
of items sold. The
well-stocked
shop
sells everything from small
electrical appliances, such as microwaves
and blenders, to electrical items for the
residential, commercial, and industrial
projects on the island. “We also sell
www.businessgrenada.com
some plumbing-related items, such as
PVC fittings”, says Emmanuel Jr, “along
with a lot of tools for electricians”. One
of the reasons that Southern Electrical is
such a five-star enterprise is that it seeks
to service the needs of all its customers
and will quickly place an order when the
required items are not in stock.
“There are three aspects of brand
dynamism”, Emmanuel Jr explains, which
are “best value, expert advice, and quality
products”, Every customer deserves and
receives a high-quality experience of each
of these.
Southern Electrical achieves best value by
ensuring that its products are competitively
priced: management actively strives to
ensure that customers can’t buy similar
quality products for less in Grenada. As
for expert advice, staff members receive
complete training and there is always
someone available to discuss a customer’s
needs, and ensure that the best solution
to an electrical problem is provided.
Quality is assured by supplying products
that have been rated by a standards body
in the region from which the product is
Southern Electrical is environmentally
minded in more ways than one might
reasonably expect and does it’s best to
reduce the island’s pollution. Emmanuel
is very pleased with the stability of the
electricity supply and believes that the
grid provided by Grenlec is “one of the
best I’ve ever seen”. However, he would
like to reduce the shop’s carbon footprint
and electrical bill by installing a renewable
green energy. “Solar is a phenomenal
opportunity for us in the Caribbean”, he
says, but points out that “the net billing
with Grenlec today makes the investment
difficult and so you have to build twice
the size you need”, and that some level
of tax concession is necessary to help
him bear what would be a “massive
investment for six years, that will benefit
my business and in many ways the island
as a whole”. Another way it is able
to reduce its own carbon footprint is
through product development and new
product awareness. One obvious energysaving policy that Emmanuel mentions is
that his business has ‘converted our airconditioning units to the new invertertype,’ which has ‘saved us about 20%’
Yet another method is by the smart
use of modern lighting bulbs. Emmanuel
Jr is a passionate advocate of the use
of low-energy bulbs, though not the
mercury-containing bulbs that pose an
environmental disposal hazard. Instead,
he recommends LEDs: “our electricity bills
have gone down because we’ve invested
in LEDs all the way
through”. He adds
with a smile that these
two policies have
reduced his electricity
bill “from EC$8,000
down to a little over
$4,000”.
Southern Electrical
is so keen on the
advantage of the
new bulbs that it
makes presentations
at businesses we visit,
to the management,
about how they can
reduce their costs
with our products.
He explains that, for
his large clients, we
arrange deals where
we say “we will take
payment depending
on the difference of
your bill. We’ll supply
you with the lights
and after your next
bill you can give us the
difference until you’ve
paid for the lights
and they are yours”.
“This way”, he says with
confidence, “they can
never be out of pocket”. One business that
has benefitted f rom LEDs is the Real Value
supermarket, which bought 1,000 LEDs
and ‘reduced their power for lighting by
50%.’ Many of Grenada’s other retail stores
and most of the hotels have also moved
to the LED bulbs, all of which will benefit
the businesses and Grenada by reducing
energy consumption and pollution.
chose to come to this shop. He thought
for a brief moment and then replied that
there was always room to park his car,
the staff would help him carry out the
larger items, and that whatever he wanted
was available: “It’s just grab, phwoom,
phwoom, and swoosh I’m gone”, he
said—then quickly paid for the items and
hurried out of the shop back to his project.
As this writer was leaving the store I
noticed a busy-looking electrician who
was filling his basket with several items
from the shelves. I asked the man why he
Southern Electrical can be contacted on
473-444-3042 and you can browse the
available items by visiting the website at
www.segrenada.com/
www.businessgrenada.com
www.businessgrenada.com
PHOTO: TONY MCQUILKIN
BG
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