Thursday, October 13, 2011

The Problem with Alternate-Funded Businesses


In the world outside of Guyana, the general idea is .. develop a product or service, create and develop your market, streamline your business so there is a Profit that you can live off comfortably and have enough to stash under the bed for a rainy day and plough back into the company to develop and grow further. If you’re lucky, you can eventually pay some BYT (Bright Young Thing) to do the same while you get to sit back and contemplate Life.

Cut to topsy-turvy Guyana. You have this large wodge of cash that you obtained illegally, so you open a business, employ the BYT giving then a position and salary way beyond their capability—come to think of it—the business itself is way beyond YOUR capability but what the heck – as there’s no incentive to turn a profit everything crumbles. There exists Facades where people like to to sit in Air-conditioned offices turning out useless bits of paper.  I notice the kids of these ‘business-owners’ are now being sent abroad to get ‘degrees’ but really they are just learning to be mere cogs in wheels!  And so we’re reduced to reselling stuff and in some instances- repackaging, then reselling. Production bottoms out and people turn on each other out of sheer frustration! So the majority becomes poorer and predatory foreigners can buy out anything – certain parts of Georgetown now under siege and fast losing its identity.
As a customer, you’re left with the horrible realization that you don’t matter – that your business with them is totally irrelevant and that THEY are doing YOU a favour. You stand mouthing meaningless words, taking refuge in your sugar addiction and its probably diabetic outcome. 

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