No small BUSINESS

For numerous years, I have stated that size, Big or Small, does not matter in terms of business success. Back in the 1980's while delivering many talks on starting your own business, the mainstream media called such advice; becoming self employed or managing a small business. In the 1990's Government programs adopted the most commonly known titles; small business grants and loans, to promote its socioeconomic assistance. By the decade of 2000, I truly believed that it was much more widely accepted that a strong plan with sound market fundamentals and correctly calculated financial projections addressing relevant risks, was the root to determining the most efficient size and model of business operation and would lead to eventual success. In addition, 2010 I founded the Society for Entrepreneur and Economic Development (SEED) to better understand and support business growth. 2011, I leant my skills to structure a Governmental initiative; Enterprise Development through Business Incubation Policy Document, to incubate ideas into industries.

Taxes 101

A method of fairly converting and collecting; revenue to finance the nation’s recurrent expenditure; security, healthcare, education, environment, housing, water, transport net, etc., while increasing the nation’s productivity; agriculture, mineral extraction, manufacturing and services sectors, incorporated within the nation’s economic zone, and capital receipts to build on the nation's intrinsic and successive valued assets, from the nation’s current users, to maintain, repair and expand such assets for the benefit and enjoyment of all present and future owners.

Tidal Turbines

The results of the global experiment to find the most efficient technique to generate electricity using renewable energy sources are in, and are based on geographic locations; where the driving sources are most accessible. Electricity to power an equivalent amount of homes, offices and industries: Solar panels, engineered to capture the sun light and charge salt particles as battery storage for around the clock supply, proves to be the most efficient method to generate the needed mega watts (MW) of electricity in a desert location. Geothermal, dry or flash stream or binary cycle, power stations, can efficiently generate thousands of MW in locations surrounding the heat well source. Wind turbines located in hills and mountain ranges were wind speeds are high, can accurately generate the required MW of electricity. And Tidal ocean turbines positioned along coastlines of small island states can effectively generate sufficient MW for the whole island.

Funding the Future

The nation, which finds itself overdrawn in its current account, needing to raise funds to pay, public sector salaries back pay, overdue bills, recurrent expenditure, finance its infrastructural maintenance and new facilities, and is desperate to diversify its economy, must carefully examine and educate its population about all options. The executive can decide to continue borrowings, locally to finance budget deficits inclusive of capital expenditure, and internationally to meet its foreign currencies import bills and preserve its local currency strength, projecting long-term debt repayments, which would, unless revenues rebound, further grow the current public debt into an unmanageable size. The cabinet can also withdraw from the nation's cash reserves, savings, stabilizing or sovereign funds, invested in foreign low risks, low yield instruments, to finance its previously mentioned needs. Noting that, both borrowings and withdrawals together can solve the nation’s immediate cash flow problems.

Basic Utilities

We, the people are all investors in the nation's sustainable development to regulated success. Our poor and barely getting by, our middle class and our rich, all invest materials, money and time in order to benefit from resulting returns on such investments. Returns that could improve standards of living, maintain persons income levels above increases in cost of living expenditure, afford persons a comfortable home, travel and entertainment, and reduce the number of persons living in poverty. This can only be adequately accomplished by solving each other’s current problems, satisfying each other’s crucial wants, and meeting each other’s basic needs.

Transport Net

A nation; rich in tourism products, agri-business with some light manufacturing and extractive industries, must design and implement transportation policies that bring the highest levels of efficiencies to the movement of its people and, as a targeted consequence, its national productivity. Imagine no waiting around, a known fixed journey time at an affordable cost, it is possible with a little common sense and abandoning individual egos for the greater good, transport whenever it is needed, scheduling to save time, and standardization to reduce operating cost. The ideal is and requires local zoning policies; properly marked, changed and policed by regional local government bodies; industrial, commercial and residential, with privately owned vehicles not allowed on designated routes at peak times, special rules for cargo vehicles and using small, medium and large capacity vehicles for public travel in zoned areas.

Tourism Properties

Mature nations should leave Tourism Management to the private sector, while preserving public spaces as tourist attractions. This would under normal conditions require a sound Strategic Plan, a large initial investment in facility design, construction, and contracting a suitable operator, with financial projections incorporating routine maintenance and timely infrastructural upgrades. But it also requires, at the very least, a Government intervention every five years, such as the hosting of a global or regional conference with high profile attendees, international media coverage and catering for guest numbers of twice times the nations room stock. The intention being to positively advertise the location and its facilities cheaply or for free, earn profits to offset past or future construction cost, but mainly to stress capacities over its limits, to measure, gauge and improve supporting services.

Trust the Data

Data generating information and leading to intelligence coming out of the nation's Auditor General Office, Central Statistical Office and Central Bank, which is used to formulate ecological, social and economic development strategies, make knowledge based decisions and set implementation timelines, must be trusted by all groups of the society. Groups intended to distribute profits to its single or many owners via dividend payouts, so called (Profit-Sharing) private or public companies. Groups organized to keep profits for its future operations, so called Non-Profits or (Profit-Retaining). Groups that negotiate for working conditions, via individual or collective bargaining, so called Workers' Unions. Noting that, all such groups are and must be Profit-Making, as it is such profits that offer that crucially needed continuance, for Business must generate growth to paid salaries, taxes and continue, Unions must protect jobs and fair trade, and Government must balance its budget to improve living standards and protect the nation's most vulnerable.

Budgetary Forecasting

An independent office of budgets can forecast the executive’s plans and priorities without undue influence being placed on the figures. All development plans and request for increases in administrative funds from local or national and every branch of Government is cost by this office and reflects the projected revenues and of course, the earnings surplus or deficit. This office of budgets is not responsible for the calls (the types of projects or the salary increases) or the earnings (the taxes charged or collected). The job is to publicly report how the executive branch policies would affect the public purse, 1-5 years, and going forward.

Masking the Problems

Problems much like energy can not be created or destroyed but only transferred and in many cases such problems are deem to be solved by simply hiding it away. Problems are often misdiagnosed, in the first instance, as observed on a limited scale, from a single point of view, and by its effects upon a specific group. Problems are clearly multifaceted, when thought through it exposes numerous other problems if a single solution is applied and more than likely creates a greater amount of affected people than the original problem. Antisocial behavior, for example, is commonly dealt with by locking it away, keeping a community clean is to relocate its waste, modernizing a land transportation network is to lessen the need for excessive movement and managing an economy is to issue more money.