NICOLE Grant believes that a big part of her purpose is to be of service to others, and she fulfils this purpose by helping hundreds of entrepreneurs and small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) to be compliant with their taxes, as well as providing much-needed back-office support.

Grant offers this support through her company, ECRS Consultants Limited, which she founded over 15 years ago, having had to navigate the administrative process of filing her own income taxes. Now she wears the hat of chief executive officer for her business, which has evolved significantly over the years.

Grant recently shared her journey of entrepreneurship with
Jamaica Observer’s Career & Education.

A trained corporate secretary by profession, Grant said, “business has always been in her blood”, being the daughter of two enterprising parents.

“Growing up, my mother wore many hats and was always doing something — she is a multifaceted businesswoman,” she said.

In addition to being a dental assistant, Grant said that her mom also had a farm, a home-based bar and restaurant, as well as managed gaming boxes in bars across the parish of St Catherine

Her father, who was a police officer, eventually turned to entrepreneurial pursuits as a taxi operator and mechanic. She shared that he was also the founder of one of Jamaica’s pioneering taxi companies, Sunshine Mobile.

With business abuzz in her home, Grant’s knack for the same was in train long before she had dreams of starting her own company.

“From as early as 10 years old I was learning the art of handling money, and was also helping my parents with payroll and staff schedules,” Grant recalled.

Though business surrounded her, Grant said she dreamt of pursuing a career as a teacher because some of her favourite people growing up were her teachers.

“Teaching for me was synonymous with helping people, and I have always wanted to help others,” she said.

However, life had other plans for Grant, and at 17 years old an internship at Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ) ignited in her a passion for administration and business. This after being given the responsibility of administration in the CEO’s office.

Grant stayed at PCJ for a few years, after which she left Jamaica for New York, where she climbed the administrative ranks to executive manager at CreditEx — a brokerage firm — while pursuing higher education at Bronx Community College. After four years with the firm Grant moved to London where she successfully helped CreditEx set up operations.

Grant returned to Jamaica in 2007 when she worked for some time as an executive assistant.

The pivotal shift in her career path came shortly after returning home, where she had to resolve a personal matter with Tax Administration Jamaica (TAJ) and when she saw first-hand how many other people had similar challenges and needed assistance to successfully navigate the process. This is where the idea for ECRS was birthed.

“My eyes were opened to the tremendous gap that exists with businesses — especially with SMEs and individuals — for tax, compliance, and administrative support,” she said. Grant noted that the process was fairly easy for her to navigate, given her experience, but realised that it was a daunting one for so many others.

Wanting to capably help others and possess thorough knowledge of the tax, compliance and regulatory landscape in Jamaica, Grant participated in numerous training sessions with TAJ and Companies Office of Jamaica (COJ).

Her company, ECRS, is also one of several entities licensed and authorised by the Financial Services Commission to incorporate companies on behalf of someone else with the COJ. Grant and ECRS hold licenses under the Trust and Corporate Services Providers Act 2017 (The TCSP Act).

Since 2008 Grant and her ECRS team have helped over 400 clients navigate some of the complexities of tax and corporate compliance, offering business registration, company incorporating, filing of individual and company tax returns, as well as back-office support — including payroll administration, data entry and invoice management.

“At the heart of what we do at ECRS is empowering small and medium-size enterprises by allowing them to focus on the core of their business while we ably support their other administrative needs,” Grant said proudly.

In addition to ECRS, Grant, along with her husband Martin, are co-owners of Dryclean USA International (Jamaica).

Beyond business, Grant’s passion lies in her family, sharing that her husband and five daughters are the centre of her world. When she isn’t busy being the “boss lady” at the office and helping her clients, she is fully committed to supporting the dreams and aspirations of her girls, who she said are all creative and enterprising.

“I feel fulfilled knowing that I am building something that is positively impacting people’s lives and livelihood, as well as contributing to the success of their businesses, while helping them to be compliant,” she said.