THE MISSION:    Find out what investment opportunities exist in Grenada

I’m on a mission. Like a Tom Cruise kinda mission it seems – because it might be a ‘Mission Impossible’. But, I will do the research. in the end, it might benefit others as well as myself.

If anyone has any ideas on areas i should look into, please feel free to leave a note. I’ll be looking into banks, credit unions, the Building and Loan Association and other private firms that include venture capitalists and other schemes… or schemers!

Will enter my first installment next week when I tackle what banks have to offer.

Zikiti out!

I have money!

Now when I started this blog a couple months ago I didn’t know exactly what my primary focus would be. I just knew that once upon a time I enjoyed writing and felt like getting into it again. I had some vague ideas about what I would write about… Grenada, my fiancée, Caribbean tech… but I didn’t have a primary focus.

Well I had an epiphany! Although I may still write on the aforementioned topics, my focus will be on my steps to get out of debt and eventually retire as a rich and happy man. As it stands right now I’m far from both goals. But actually having a goal is always the beginning of a success story. Seldom does anything happens by accident. I can’t wait and hope something good comes my way, I have to make it happen. So my blog will document “My Success Story”.

Some may shake their head at another idiot putting way too much private information about himself online for the world to see. But I look from a different angle. Firstly, maybe others will be interested in my story and offer good advice when they see me going wrong. Or some constructive critique when I’m on the right path but may need to straighten up a bit. Another thing is the power of writing something down for all to see. Many people, like myself, hate public failure. Sure, failure is a part of life but it slaps you harder when the world sees it. I can tell myself I am going to stop smoking by December 31st. But there’s no one to hold me accountable but for myself. Public power is powerful. No one wants to make an ass of himself publicly. But on a more profound note, if I write something now, and can come back 6 months later and see it, and see that I have accomplished what I said I would, that personal gratification has no equal. And on the flip side, 6 months later, if I haven’t accomplished what I said I would, for me, personal disappointment has no equal.

And who knows… maybe I might inspire someone…

So what is my next step? My first step is to define my next few steps. That means taking stock of exactly where I stand financially. Taking stock of my incredibly low current income, I need to evaluate my current spending habits, my recurring debts and anticipate future debts. The eventual outcome is a budget. One that allows me to put away something every month while allowing me to live life. I foresee that initially it will be a very tight one.

I have a ’small’ student loan to repay and by the end of this week I would have found a place to rent. I love my family but it’s time for the bird to leave the nest. So now I also have to consider the cost of transportation, food and other necessities. And I have no one to fall back on. Although, mummy can expect to find my hungry mouth at her table on Sundays… This week I will begin keeping track of my spending so I could see exactly where my money goes. I also have to learn and appreciate the meaning of the word frugality.

I won’t be alone on this journey. I have my friend the Internet. I have come across a few good financial blogs related to saving money and getting out of debt. My favourite is Get Rich Slowly. I also subscribe to “I will teach you to be rich”. They both offer very good advice on saving and on frugality. And a lot of this advice applies to someone living here in Grenada as well. And there are tonnes of others.

Anyway, I’m off! Wish me luck! I may fail but that would be only temporary! And by the way, I was only trying make a point with the stop smoking business there….

Once in while we all have to make risky, life altering decisions. I am currently at such a juncture. All I can do is have faith in my resolve. There usually are a few people in your life that think you can’t do it. That you should play it safe. And they are most times the people whom you put your trust in. And in whom you expect to have the most faith in you. There comes a time however when you must go it solo. Take risks!

The most successful people in history did not attain their goals by playing it safe. And I will follow suit. I’m not going to blindly jump into things of course. I like what Dr. Ben Carson had to say in his book about risks…

What is the best thing that can happen if I do this?

What is the worst thing that can happen if I do this?

What is the best thing that can happen if I don’t do it?

What is the worst thing that can happen if I don’t do it?

I try to answer all of those questions first. If the end result is good then I’m all for it. Without going into details, I’ve decided to take a big risk. If it works out then I’ll let all my faithful readers know… yes all 2 of you. In the mean time, wish me all the best. This won’t be easy.

Yo nunca pensaba que mi futuro seria ni facil ni perfecto. Pero siempre tendre mis suenos, y lograre. Y para la gente que no cree en mi, tengo solo una cosa para decirle, la historia me absolvera.

Ciao

That’s the title of a movie I just watched. In my humble opinion, it’s a must see! Many people aren’t into musicals… neither was I after seeing “Sound of Music” a few too many times. But this movie was wonderful. All I could think about was my Tintin, who it seems to me is across the universe right now. For the uninitiated, Tintin is my wife-to-be. And right now she is miles kilometers away completing her medical degree. Across the universe!

So… here I am once again. I know the two people that have read this blog probably assumed I was dead. But I’m happy to say that I’m very much alive and kicking. I am employed! Woohooo! I am the systems analyst for a local business firm. They have lots of things going on. Seems as if they’re growing in every direction. They have recently opened another store in Guyana! That’s it baby! Do your thing! I’m happy to be a part of it! Seems like Grenadian businesses are stagnant. Local business men (and women) in Grenada seem to have no vision. And the Grenadian public seems to encourage this. We don’t ask for more. Everybody knows that “Mr. John” sells salt fish on the Carenage since hurricane Janet hit in the 50’s and he’s still selling salt fish on the Carenage today. Why the hell couldn’t he at least be selling shrimp as well by now?

But I am happy to say that this particular business man who has employed me doesn’t seem to share this affliction. He came from humble beginnings and has grown to become one of the powerhouses in local (and soon to be, regional) business.

That being said however, I have my work cut out for me. It’s quite obvious that Grenada has not embraced the benefits of Information Technology. In a more developed country you would never find a business as large as the one I work for that didn’t at least have an established IT policy. We employ over 300 people at last count and still depend on a payroll print out that has to be manually calculated from “punch cards”. I want to change that, but it will be no easy feat. First, attitudes have to change. The way we do things has to change. You can’t have vital business information being kept on personal work stations. What happens if that computer crashes? I questioned the particular employee that was working with this. She says that she backs up on a flash disk. What happens if she loses that disk? Or forgets to back up and that computer crashes? Or what happens if she no longer works with the company? The business is then left hoping that she leave with the only copy of the files. We have servers with virtually empty storage space. We have extra back up devices but they are unused.

And who am I? This new guy who wants to come and change up the way they do things? They’ve been selling salt fish this way for the last umpteenth years… why should they change? They should change because they should! In the first place, the information belongs to the business, not to any particular employee. Secondly, for security – which maybe should be the first reason, the business needs to do all it can to safeguard its information assets. It’s now my job to convince the “old hats” that this cap fits better, plus it will really keep you dry if and when the rain falls.

But this will be difficult. After all, most of them think that the systems analyst is there to “make the computer faster.” Wish me luck though. I am really impressed with the direction that this local business seems to be taking. I would love to be an integral part of its transformation into a regional powerhouse. If I fail however, I could always do what most of my friends from university have done… leave the country and go somewhere that wants to develop.

Today, tomorrow and the next

Happy, sad or vexed,

Rain, Sunshine or clouds,

Drought, Heat or even floods,

I plan to never stop loving you,

I plan to never know not having you

You’re pestering me to finish this

So I’ll just say, I LOVE YOU!

I went to the Grenada Soca Monarch Competition last night for the first time in my life. For those of you who may not know what soca is click here. I wasn’t planning to go but a friend of mine asked me to come and help serve at the bar with the Rotaract Club.

It was really tiring work. And to be honest with you, I didn’t see any of the performances. I barely even heard the acts over the loud shouts for “a beer and two Smirnoff Ice!” Nonetheless I came away with a great experience that made me feel really proud of my people.

One would expect a jovial and nearly drunk mob, coming for more drinks at the bar to be more “troublesome”. But honestly it wasn’t so. Only two people working with me reported that people tried to steal drinks. No one tried to steal our money, even though if someone really wanted to they could have. No one attacked any of us. Yes a few people threw some nasty words at us when they apparently weren’t given the sort of attention that they desired, but that was it. No violence. No serious theft. Just people enjoying themselves the best way they know how. I would be quite surprised if tomorrow the police reports any serious incidents.

So thankyou, Grenadians, for showing your true beautiful colours of being a generally honest and courteous people. I am a Grenadian but have been away for some time. I’m sure the visitors also felt the same way I did.

For those interested, you can find the results of the Soca Monarch here. For more information on Grenada’s Carnival Celebrations click here and here.

So, this is my first entry in Zikiti. “Zikiti” is a Shona word meaning “Big Cat”. It’s a play on my real name from an old friend. I don’t have clear insight into exactly what this blog will focus on as yet but I will try to keep it going. I’m sure most blogs die within 3 months of inception(if all that) but hey, wish this one some luck.

From now I can tell you that it will be another tech blog, but I will most sure focus on tech in Grenada and the Caribbean as a whole.

Of course, you are free to leave comments. Y para la gente que habla espanol, tu tambien puede comentar si te da la gana.

And away we post………….