Look around and you see Bahamians who have just as much or more money than some of the investors that come here. This coupled with the fact that there are billions of dollars in local banks that belongs to Bahamians more than suggest that we can invest in our own country. We have got to start showing that we have gotten over the colonial mentality that says that we ahve to wait on outside assistance. We do need technology and that is for sale as well as expetise. Its pretty much what most multinational corporations do . Buy what you don't have to make your production profitable. When will our people truly come to the point and use the local resources.

Look around and you see Bahamians who have just as much or more money than some of the investors that come here. This coupled with the fact that there are billions of dollars in local banks thatbelongs to Bahamians more than suggest that we can invest in our own country. We have got to start showing that we have gotten over the colonial mentality that says that we ahve to wait on outside assistance. We do need technology and that is for sale as well as expetise. Its pretty much what most multinational corporations do . Buy what you don't have to make your production profitable. When will our people truly come to the point and use the local resources.

Many Bahamians do invest in the Bahamas. Yet, most of us have a fear, a fear that we are not good enough to do big things, not up to the task. We can't do as other do. I am a Buddhist, allow me to slip into a Buddhist lesson that some of you might have heard already from the TV program Kung Fu.(It was taken from a Buddhist exercise.) Let those who are wise enough get from it what they may.

"A young student was to be given a test. His Master took him into a dark room. Lit only by two dim torches. In the center of the room was a pool. Stretched across it was a plank about one foot wide and ten feet long.
"Wall across it." Ordered the Master "But before you do let me tell you that the pool is filled with acid! If you fall, you will be consumed! Look into the pool! Can you see the bones of those who have failed?"
The young boy looked down. "Yes! I can!" He said with horror!
"Walk!" Ordered the Master.
"I can't!" Cried the boy.
All of a sudden an older student appeared out of the darkness and walked across the plank, once, twice, three times - pausing in the middle of the plank to jump up and down.
"See." Said the Master, "he can do it."
"But, but, but" protested the boy. "He is more experienced than I. He is better than I. He knows more that I. I am not good enough!!!"
"Walk!" Ordered the Master again.
The young Student, not wishing to fail the test, began his apprehensive walk. He was sweating, trembling, his head spinning with fear. He reached about mid way when he slipped and fell backwards into the pool. He screamed in an agony of anticipation and scrambled to pulled himself back onto the plank. He sat there, waiting for the flesh to be consumed from his bones, but nothing happened! "Its water!" Said the boy. "Its water! You tricked me!" He cried.
"No!" Said the master, "you tricked yourself!"
"But there were bones in there!" The boy protested
"Look again." Ordered the Master.
The boy looked. There were none.
"Your fear put them there." Said the master. "Fear made you see things. It made you doubt yourself."
"But I trusted you!" Protested the boy
The Master answered, "But why did you not get all the facts first? Why did you not check? Why did you not trust yourself enough to do that? You let fear take you over and cloud your judgement. All is possible if you don't fear. All is possible if you listen to your inner voice and trust in yourself.""

We doubt ourselves in the Bahamas. We fear taking a risk. We think those of other countries can do better than we can. We think the task is beyond us. The truth is, we must trust in ourselves. We cannot listen to the voices of failure. We must have the confidence to find the facts and then walk the plank and the dangers are never as bad as we anticipate.

Many Bahamians do invest in the Bahamas. Yet, most of us have a fear, a fear that we are not good enough to do big things, not up to the task. We can't do as other do. I am a Buddhist, allow me to slip into a Buddhist lesson that some of you might have heard already from the TV program Kung Fu.(It was taken from a Buddhist exercise.) Let those who are wise enough get from it what they may.

"A young student was to be given a test. His Master took him into a dark room. Lit only by two dim torches. In the center of the room was a pool. Stretched across it was a plank about one foot wide and ten feet long.
"Wall across it." Ordered the Master "But before you do let me tell you that the pool is filled with acid! If you fall, you will be consumed! Look into the pool! Can you see the bones of those who have failed?"
The young boy looked down. "Yes! I can!" He said with horror!
"Walk!" Ordered the Master.
"I can't!" Cried the boy.
All of a sudden an older student appeared out of the darkness and walked across the plank, once, twice, three times - pausing in the middle of the plank to jump up and down.
"See." Said the Master, "he can do it."
"But, but, but" protested the boy. "He is more experienced than I. He is better than I. He knows more that I. I am not good enough!!!"
"Walk!" Ordered the Master again.
The young Student, not wishing to fail the test, began his apprehensive walk. He was sweating, trembling, his head spinning with fear. He reached about mid way when he slipped and fell backwards into the pool. He screamed in an agony of anticipation and scrambled to pulled himself back onto the plank. He sat there, waiting for the flesh to be consumed from his bones, but nothing happened! "Its water!" Said the boy. "Its water! You tricked me!" He cried.
"No!" Said the master, "you tricked yourself!"
"But there were bones in there!" The boy protested
"Look again." Ordered the Master.
The boy looked. There were none.
"Your fear put them there." Said the master. "Fear made you see things. It made you doubt yourself."
"But I trusted you!" Protested the boy
The Master answered, "But why did you not get all the facts first? Why did you not check? Why did you not trust yourself enough to do that? You let fear take you over and cloud your judgement. All is possible if you don't fear. All is possible if you listen to your inner voice and trust in yourself.""

We doubt ourselves in the Bahamas. We fear taking a risk. We think those of other countries can do better than we can. We think the task is beyond us. The truth is, we must trust in ourselves. We cannot listen to the voices of failure. We must have the confidence to find the facts and then walk the plank and the dangers are never as bad as we anticipate.

CG, I think this is great! My heart raced while reading it! It deserves re-reading a few times.

Once ago when I wondered why many Bahamians who can afford it don't go into business, I didn't associate it with fear of incompetence, etc. There have been so many businesses being held up and in some cases the proprietors being killed or shot -- I thought the reason was that they were afraid to have to look down the barrel of a gun!

CG, I think this is great! My heart raced while reading it! It deserves re-reading a few times.

Once ago when I wondered why many Bahamians who can afford it don't go into business, I didn't associate it with fear of incompetence, etc. There have been so many businesses being held up and in some cases the proprietors being killed or shot -- I thought the reason was that they were afraid to have to look down the barrel of a gun!

Glad you liked the story! Sometimes a anecdote like that helps us see through a problem in a new light. Buddhists do that often!

In spite of what many perceive to be true, we do have many, many able people in the Bahamas. Many people who have the money to invest - big time. Yet, we lack confidence. We listen to the dangers of investment, and there are dangers, but like the boy in the story we don't bother to investigate them for ourselves. If we did, we could see that we could do it! We could overcome any obstacle or danger.

a big part of the fear of bahamian investment, and growth..is the truth that we are and looks like will never be an industrial country!!

it just isnt us...
we dont produce or mine any textiles!!!

so aside from banking...what you see is what you get!!

i see alot of out island villas and hotel complexes going up!!

This is the age of technology and the Internet. How many of you have seen the IBM commercials that talk about how IBM has moved into market sectors that they have no experience in. Outsourcing the tools that you need to run a business is fairly easy nowadays. Just look at the many Bahamian websites that have popped up. Most of them are hosted in the US on servers across the waters, while Bahamians run them here locally and profit accordingly.

If moves are not being made to move into an "industrial age" by Bahamians, perhaps we should skip that step altogether and embrace the technology revolution. E-commerce and the ability to market a Bahamian product worldwide are topics that have been looming right over our heads, but few have dared to embrace it -even the Bahamian government and our financial sector are draggging their feet on the legislation to open up this highly profitable market. Maybe they can't see it because many of them can't use a computer except to browse the web or check e-mail. But when you combine our proximity to the US with the widely-known fact that US citizens spend hundreds of millions on purchasing products over the Internet, how can anyone ignore the possibility of tapping into the market of E-commerce, even if it is simply reselling US-manufactured products to their own consumer market? Think about it - Buying a product from a US-based manufacturer as needed and then selling it online to their own US market. That concept can't miss. (I'll be sending each of you who reads this a consulting fee :shhh: )

I've been making progressive steps in my development of this concept and have run into a few bumps here and there, but I am determined to get my enterprise on the forefront of the barely utilized Bahamian tech sector. The concept of business is really simple - If there is demand, become the supplier. With technology and e-commerce, you do not even have to see or touch the product that you sell. We dont need to think outside the box anymore, cause the box is "digital" nowadays and doesnt exist!

How's that for Bahamian inve$tment?

I'm announcing my candidacy for Minister of Technology and E-commerce Investment. My name is Yorick Brown, and I endorse this message. :hammer:

the biggest part of not being industrial, is the fact that we can and will never be able to make parts for anything!

if we always have to import silicon, iron, plastics and fibres, we will always be on the low end of the tech movement.

the only way we can is if we open newer trade embargoes with the u.s. particularly south florida, so we can get are parts and manufacturing goods at a better rate.

until then, any industry that relies in any part on manufacturing parts and mechanisms, will be at a loss.

we can get the revolutionary part down, but if you can even build the parts to steam roll your idea..what are you going to do??

Think about it - Buying a product from a US-based manufacturer as needed and then selling it online to their own US market.

ive already started that, it is a good idea. Ive got my distributor to give me a percentage off, and then I raise it by a small percentage, not much above US dealer prices. This means very cheap compared to retail, and much much cheaper than local bahamian prices. Sure I dont make a ton in profit on the parts, but I can make that up in quantity, with both the Bahamian, and US markets, as well as carribean and south america. Plus locally I can get more jobs, and that means more labour.

My distributor gets a percentage of my percentage, as he also has extra work involved, by boxing up the sold products with my company name, shipping them out, and handling the warranty.

So like Yorick said, there are ways, just pick a product and find a distirbutor that will work with you, or become your own distributor if you can afford it. :-)

My shopping site is not complete yet, as I had to stop while I started a new job, but will be working on it again starting this weekend, so it will hopefully be accepting payments online in the not to distant future. Note: Prices shown in alarm cat is still local pricing, and products are not up to date yet.

http://www.bahamassecurity.com/shop/default.asp?shop=products&cat=0

right now I am already doing local CCTV quotes at US prices. I am the only one in Nassau quoting CCTV parts at US Dealer prices - free quotes.
In fact, most other security companies are marking up their CCTV products at more than x3!

Rory

This is the age of technology and the Internet. How many of you have seen the IBM commercials that talk about how IBM has moved into market sectors that they have no experience in. Outsourcing the tools that you need to run a business is fairly easy nowadays. Just look at the many Bahamian websites that have popped up. Most of them are hosted in the US on servers across the waters, while Bahamians run them here locally and profit accordingly.

If moves are not being made to move into an "industrial age" by Bahamians, perhaps we should skip that step altogether and embrace the technology revolution. E-commerce and the ability to market a Bahamian product worldwide are topics that have been looming right over our heads, but few have dared to embrace it -even the Bahamian government and our financial sector are draggging their feet on the legislation to open up this highly profitable market. Maybe they can't see it because many of them can't use a computer except to browse the web or check e-mail. But when you combine our proximity to the US with the widely-known fact that US citizens spend hundreds of millions on purchasing products over the Internet, how can anyone ignore the possibility of tapping into the market of E-commerce, even if it is simply reselling US-manufactured products to their own consumer market? Think about it - Buying a product from a US-based manufacturer as needed and then selling it online to their own US market. That concept can't miss. (I'll be sending each of you who reads this a consulting fee :shhh: )

I've been making progressive steps in my development of this concept and have run into a few bumps here and there, but I am determined to get my enterprise on the forefront of the barely utilized Bahamian tech sector. The concept of business is really simple - If there is demand, become the supplier. With technology and e-commerce, you do not even have to see or touch the product that you sell. We dont need to think outside the box anymore, cause the box is "digital" nowadays and doesnt exist!

How's that for Bahamian inve$tment?

I'm announcing my candidacy for Minister of Technology and E-commerce Investment. My name is Yorick Brown, and I endorse this message. :hammer:

Yorick, I just love this post. It is great, very creative.

Talk about the government dragging their feet on legislation re technology, they seem to drag their feet on everything. Someone once said that anytime the government does anything, it is usually something that should have been done 5 or 10 years ago!

Maybe they are waiting until the next election. Seems that they have a raffle bag full of all the things that should be done in the Bahamas, and every election or bye election they would shuffle the bag, close their eyes, pick out a few items and use them as campaign promises!

For about 40 years I have been trying to understand our government. I just can't bring myself to believe that they desire for many people to become wealthy or prosperous and self employed.

I wish you the best in your endeavours.

Yorick, I just love this post. It is great, very creative.

Talk about the government dragging their feet on legislation re technology, they seem to drag their feet on everything. Someone once said that anytime the government does anything, it is usually something that should have been done 5 or 10 years ago!

Maybe they are waiting until the next election. Seems that they have a raffle bag full of all the things that should be done in the Bahamas, and every election or bye election they would shuffle the bag, close their eyes, pick out a few items and use them as campaign promises!

For about 40 years I have been trying to understand our government. I just can't bring myself to believe that they desire for many people to become wealthy or prosperous and self employed.

I wish you the best in your endeavours.

Thanks. Like we Bahamians say, "If ya don't laugh, ya'll cry" at how behind the times we can be, not to mention how many of us just accept that we are.

With the opportunity to buy a fully loaded Windows XP (legal copy) pc w/ monitor and printer for just $450, every public school over here should have several computer rooms where our kids can explore this age of tech to the fullest.

Right now we're experiencing brain drain, cause many of our tech grads are staying in the US or going over to find better jobs, but increasing the number of kids who understand the importance of technology overall will increase the number of them who will invest in our economy and make a contribution to the technological developments within our society.

We're geting there - slowly, but surely.

Well, Yorick, you're definitely one interesting Bahamian dude. Just checked out your blog and I got the sense that you have alot on your mind.

You're very insightful about the state of this crazy world we're living in.
Do keep those thoughts coming!!