BRIAN Hayden, Kavan Muthra and Craig Francis may be from rival high schools, but together they are intent on creating their own business empire.

The trio —from Jamaica College, Kingston College and Calabar High respectively — in 2007 opted to brave an uncertain economy to chart their own career course as entrepreneurs, establishing Dynasty Traders.

The Kingston-based company provides, among other things, water infrastructure and supplies for housing and other developments.

“According to the English dictionary, ‘dynasty’ means a line of rulers from the same family. We consider ourselves brothers — we have known each other for over 15 years — and that is where the same family comes in,” Hayden, the firm’s managing director, told Career & Education. “We plan to succeed at building a group of companies that will one day impact each and every household within the region, starting with Dynasty Traders Limited.”

Dynasty Traders is the parent company for Dynasty Waterworks and Dynasty Sourcing.

“Dynasty Waterworks is a subsidiary business that supplies water infrastructure and water solution products such as water meters, water meter boxes and valves, filters, etc. Dynasty Sourcing is another subsidiary business that sources general products/equipment for companies/individuals which may be difficult to get here or which may be too expensive on the local market,” said Hayden, 23, who holds a first degree in land economy and valuation surveying from the University of Technology.

He explained how the company came to be formed.

“(For Dynasty Waterworks) we realised that the real estate industry in Jamaica was booming and wanted to be a part of it. We reached out to a friend who recently started a private water utility company (DM Limited), asking if there was anything we could supply them with. He said ‘water meters’, [noting that] they were too expensive on the local market and that there weren’t many suppliers available where they could get [them] at affordable prices,” Hayden said.

“We eventually did our research and found out that the National Water Commission is not the only means of acquiring water meters. It took us over a year for thorough research before we found Performance Meter Inc located in the United States of America. We met and arranged the distribution for the brand of their meters throughout the Caribbean,” he added.

As to Dynasty Sourcing, Hayden said they had sourced equipment for a recently developed residential community for which they had supplied water meters and “that prompted the idea of us starting Dynasty Sourcing because it was not much of a challenge in finding credible suppliers overseas”.

So far the company has not turned a profit, but they are not giving up. Sacrifice has brought them to where they are today — sharing office space with a relative along Maxfield Avenue in the capital while making efforts to grow the business.

“We took all our personal savings and invested in the company. We all worked full-time at other jobs as well as going to university in the evenings. After leaving school we had company work to do in order to meet the necessary deadlines we originally implemented,” recalled Muthra, director of product research and development. “We also had to work on the weekends and met whenever we got a chance. For the first year, all the expenses (were covered) from our savings.”

He was, however, quick to add that without the support of family their venture would perhaps have been short-lived.

“Without our parents it wouldn’t be possible. For instance, at one point, we had water meters on the wharf and they couldn’t be cleared because we didn’t have sufficient funds. So we turned to our parents who helped us out financially and we have to thank them for that,” Muthra, also 23, told Career & Education.

He recalled well the fact that it was a struggle to secure the needed capital to get the business up and running.

“The biggest challenge that we have faced was getting capital to start the company. We had no bank ties or angel investors who wanted to invest in the start-up of the company, especially one that was water-based and sourcing. Our ages and inexperienced business sense were also key components as to why these institutions deemed the risk too high,” said Muthra, who is currently pursuing a first degree in management studies with the Scotland-based Heriot-Watt University.

And according to Francis, the director of sales and marketing, the challenges continue.

“Some challenges we continue to face [include] securing loans for expansion purposes, running the business is very cost effective and being that our company is product based, we have to constantly have goods in stock. [There is also the challenge of] constantly informing and assuring potential clients of the fact that they can purchase water meters outside of the National Water Commission; about 70 per cent of the public are not aware of this fact,” said the 25-year-old who holds a first degree in hotel and tourism management from the University of the West Indies.

Still, they are resolved to realising growth.

“(We will be) making sacrifices — something the average person our age isn’t willing to do — that we know will pay off in the future,” Muthra told Career & Education.

Francis added that they will continue to do what they do best — provide good customer service.

“Our determination and good customer service have been contributing factors to our little success to date. We are always planning, executing and adjusting/adapting to change patterns within the market,” he said. “We always call our customers and potential customers just to find out how business is doing before and after purchases, just to strengthen that bond.”

And there are a number of other things they have in the pipeline to help the business realise profits in the coming months.

“We have stepped up our marketing measures, placing ads in several of the different communication mediums and (utilising) inexpensive means such as the mail to get the necessary real estate developers who are not aware of our existence (familiar with our offerings),” noted Francis.

“We currently have a website under construction which will provide information on everything you need to know about water meters… and another one on its way. We also plan to do more one-on-one meetings with potential customers and increase labour productivity,” he added.

The client base for Dynasty Traders currently includes real estate developers, water utility companies and individuals in need of water solution products regionally — all of them in Jamaica — Hayden said.

That base could expand soon, according to Muthra, who said they have had expressions of interest from potential clients in Barbados and Trinidad. He is keeping his fingers crossed.

As for their high school rivalry, they joke about it.

“When it is Champs (Boys’ and Girls’ Championships) time, we talk about which school has the most medals and so on. So we joke about it but we don’t let it get in the way of the business. (Besides) we knew each other before high school,” said Muthra, adding that they grew up in Hellshire Heights.

Meanwhile, they are happy to be their own boss.

“It feels good. Nothing beats answering to oneself,” said Hayden. “You are in total control of your own destiny; this is what we enjoy and always wanted to do. It’s about the passion and the drive to succeed, knowing you have created something from just a thought to the physical which may be worth billions in the near future. It has got to be one of the proudest and most accomplished one can feel.”

He added that opening the doors to Dynasty Traders was the realisation of a dream for them.

“As far as we can remember, this is what we always wanted to become — from as early as age nine. It was what we always talked and dreamed about. Throughout our adolescent years, we saw persons working hard for others and at the end of the day, were still struggling to have ends met. This situation even pushed us more to become employers rather than employees,” said Hayden.