If you are one of those who believe that Entrepreneurship is only for a certain kind of people, then Dr Dawkins Brown – the Executive Chairman of Dawgen Global, is sure to debunk your illusion. A humble background squished his childhood dream of attending medical college. He chose to focus on the subjects of business as they were affordable. After graduating from Kingston College, he took up a full-time job at Jamaica Library Service and completed two A-levels in one year via evening classes.
His experience in the Library service opened the doors to a degree in Library Studies from the University of West Indies. But his intuition nudged him in another direction. Residing next to an accounting firm in Kingston Gardens aided in developing his fascination for accounting. Additionally, the number of accounting vacancies in the newspaper intrigued him.
He adopted a "work-study" routine to complete Business Studies at the University of West Indies and ACCA qualifications. Pivoting from a secure and well-paid job at the library to an underpaid entry-level position in the world of accounting was a challenge. Fear clouded his decision for some time. But his intense love for accounting eventually won. Brown says, "It was not an easy decision. But I regarded it as an investment for my future. In 1993 I accepted a position at Lee Clark Chang (EY Associate Firm in Jamaica) as a Trainee Auditor with a 30% salary cut. The Managing Partner Mr Oswald Lee promised to increase my salary every time I cleared my ACCA paper. Well, I had 14 more to go."
His burning desire and aspiration of becoming a Chartered Accountant kept him focused on accounting and preparing for the ACCA exams. Failure was not an option, especially after his father's death. He progressed through ACCA exams quickly and perfected his auditing and accounting skills. By 1996, he was transferred to EY Jamaica Consulting Department as a Management Consultant.
In 1998, Dr Brown became a chartered accountant at the very young age of 26. Later that year, he took up a financial controller position in a petroleum distribution and marketing company. This experience ignited the fire of entrepreneurship in his heart. In 2001, he established Corporate Business Institute – an accounting school with his brother. On September 2, 2002, his accounting firm Dawgen came into existence.
Dawgen Chartered Accountants commenced with Dr Brown as its only employee. Since then, it has witnessed tremendous growth. It has represented several international associations and networks and recently operated the Crowe Global brand in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. As the accounting and auditing professions underwent rapid changes, Dr Brown owned and ran a global integrated multi-disciplinary service firm. This led to the birthing of an idea of Dawgen Global in 2018. Crowe Jamaica was rebranded as Dawgen Global, operates with a team of 105 employees, and provides services like - Audit, Advisory, Tax, Legal, and Risk.
Dr Brown developed a Business Coaching Division that comes under advisory services at Dawgen Global to offer a higher and quantifiable level of service to their clients. The goal is comprehensive and a unit focusing on "Strategy Execution" is also being planned. Through this, the team wishes to work on the gaps in strategy execution clients encounter due to external factors allowing empowered businesses to grow. While the Business Coaching Division focuses on showing the Entrepreneurs "How" and the "Why", the Strategy Execution team will be in the background, allowing them to "shine".
Strategy execution is implementing a strategic plan that allows businesses to reach their goals. It comprises the daily structures, systems, and operational goals set for success. Even the best strategic plans can fall flat without the correct execution. The team at Dawgen Global will customize the "Success Road Map" for each client after carefully documenting their Position Matrix. This includes utilizing Structured Methodology with some level of Agility to respond to the individual client situation.
The firm also aims to grow its Human Capital by training several University Graduates in Consulting within the Business Coaching Division. This will also facilitate their career progression in a diverse mix of business management.
Dr Brown emphasizes the need for a collaborative and multi-disciplinary approach in the rapidly changing workspace and market scenario. As technology causes a groundbreaking disruption in the professional sector, Dawgen Global will continue to play its role in this new paradigm by retraining and recruiting Young Talented Team members who want to embrace a Global Value-Added Focus career path. In addition, the firm's 5-year strategic plan calls for the integration of other professionals within their service offerings, such as architects, engineers, doctors, lawyers, and teachers.
With a miraculous trajectory in the world of business, Dr Brown shares his top secrets of building a successful business –
1. Focus on your strengths and "Staff" your weaknesses.
2. Develop systems to run the business, then employ people to run the systems.
3. It would help if you envisioned the end then developed the plan to get there.
4. Do not let the noise of others' opinions drown your inner voice. Muster the courage to follow your heart and intuition. In other words, block out the noise around you and forge ahead.
5. It is a bad idea to over-delegate.
On a closing note, Dr Brown shares his take on Business Wisdom. He says, "Professional or Business Wisdom is the combined use of knowledge, awareness, experience, training, and insight to set direction, empower people, ensure well-being, and guide business activity to achieve lasting results."