It was the culmination of eight years of hard work – Fedell Solomon, co-founder of agro-processing company and natural food producers, Nabdell – walked on stage to accept his award as Nedco's Male Entrepreneur 2024 on August 3 at the Hyatt Regency, Port of Spain.

His wife and business partner Nabihah; his eldest daughter, eight-year-old Suraiyah; and his mother, Sheriffa Mohammed-Solomon; were all present when he accepted the award.

"My mother had to hold my daughter back from jumping up on the table for her dad, she was so excited," he said.

Solomon, who won the Newsday-sponsored award, said entrepreneurship is not an easy road, it is one filled with breaking points and demands a lot of sacrifices.

He said despite the challenges and pitfalls, aspiring and growing entrepreneurs must have faith in their brands and believe in the good work that their business can do.

Your brand is your confidence

Solomon said when his business was registered in 2016, it started in a similar way to most businesses – as a one-man or two-man operation.

"People would see our products and the packaging and they would say ‘You have a lot of pretty packaging.’ Some thought we had financial backing, but behind the actual brand was just me and my wife, working day and night.

"Your brand is your confidence, it says a lot about your company. Once you put that confidence into your brand – and a simple thing like packaging can do that – it does a lot for your company.

"A lot of people would look at your company and think it is a massive organisation, and they would compare you to bigger companies," he said.

Solomon said working with Nedco through its Business Accelerator Programme (BAP) also gave him confidence to build his brand and his business in ways he did not anticipate.

He was part of the latest cohort of entrepreneurs, who started the programme in March last year and graduated in April this year.

He said before getting into his business he was in oil and gas and didn’t have any knowledge about food processing or entrepreneurship.

Solomon said the BAP equipped him with the knowledge to run a business.

"The programme is designed to teach you what you need to know about business such as taxation, social media marketing strategies, pricing, food processing, manufacturing practices, getting our company to a level where we can approach any institution for funding for purchasing equipment.

"They taught us about government-required documents and how to have everything up to par. They assisted in helping us have that knowledge to bring us to the standard we needed," he said.

He added that the Nedco team continues to help him with advice, which adds to his confidence in his brand.

"I can call anyone from the team at any point in time. It gives you a form of security and support and confidence as a business to know that you have that extra backing."

A family business

Nabdell, which got its name through an amalgam of the names of both Solomon and his wife, started in 2016, with one goal in mind – helping Solom