by Judy M McCutcheon
With all the staying at home and staying away, all my days now seem like one big weekend rolled into one.
If it were not for those small pesky details of getting infected and possible death, we could just have one big party, or river lime or hide in the rum shop, because we are bored. This morning as I turned in my bed, I thought, oh well, it is Sunday, so I do not have to get up anytime soon. And then it hit me, goodness it is not Sunday, and you need to move your butt. I am still doing loads of work, even though most of it is non-paying at the moment, but hopefully, it will bring money later down the road. To a lot of us, this may feel like “guava” season, but one thing I can assure you is that seasons change, things are going to be better.
Life as we know it will undoubtedly change, and to me, that is a good thing. We let go of the old; we embrace the new and make it work for us. What we do with our time now will decide our fate after all this is over. We cannot go to the beach, and we cannot go to the restaurants, as a matter of fact, we cannot do any of the things that would have caused us to spend incessantly. I believe that we should use this time to prepare. Let us anticipate what lay ahead so that we can get a head start. We have a perfectly good crisis, that we could use to our advantage, let us not waste it by doing nothing but complain about being bored, or how the government could do this or that better. Let us instead use our creativity and ingenuity to come out of this situation much better. For example, there is an eCommerce crisis in the Caribbean, and it is a nightmare to be able to collect payments online, why not see how we could solve that issue to allow our business to go international. That is an opportunity right there for someone to take advantage of. Many of you have products and services that people could use continuously, why not create a membership service that guarantees you money consistently. Everything is moving online, do some research for your area, and jump on that money-making bandwagon.
Many people are sitting back and waiting for a government bailout, what are you going to do when you get that money? Are you going to take that money and pour it into someone else’s pocket by buying take out on the days you can? Or are you going to take some of it and invest it in some seeds, so that you can get in on the obvious food security initiative that is bound to follow this crisis? Many of you are creative geniuses but are deathly afraid of owning it. My daughter and I were having a conversation about entrepreneurship, and I was explaining to her that in our culture we are socialised to become workers, the idea of owning a business is not something that comes naturally to us. Being a worker is so ingrained in us; we were brainwashed to believe that the only thing we could ever hope to be is working class. You must remember that you are creators. Remember whose image you are made in. There is so much opportunity for collaboration and creation at this time.
So, what are you going to do with this perfectly good crisis? Are you going to let your leadership qualities shine through, as you lead your employees courageously in this time? Are you going to use it to get your product or service ready for an international market? Our consumption of global goods and services is too high, and it is time for us to start sending our products and services outwards to the region and the rest of the world. Now is the time for you to get yourself ready for more important things. Do not waste this crisis, put it to good use, for your sake, for your family’s sake, for your pocket’s sake, and the sake of the economy.
©All Rights Reserved.
Judy McCutcheon is a partner in the firm Go Blue Inc, a Human Development Company. www.goblueinc.net
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Why would anyone buy from Grenada? The shipping costs are ridiculous compared to your competition. If you shut your doors to buying our products, we will absolutely shut the doors on you. The difference being that your country depends on tourism, and most of your trading partners don’t.
So good luck with isolationist policies. Idk why Grenadians think they’re the only ones who catch fish and grow nutmeg and chocolate lmao.
Hey! Trinidadians bought fruits and Vegetables from GRENADA since I was a toddler. Traffickers gave their children secondary education on that business model. Many were women who loaded their produce onto boats like Seamstrand and others arrived in T&T overnight to sell in the markets by morning.
Then there was a time when GRENADA sold bananas to Britain and Europe Via Geest and others.
Be careful what you say, know your facts or be silent. My grand father used to say who laughs last laughs best.
Know your facts or be silent the moron says.
That’s great about the fruit but you know what?
Grenada’s GDP is only around 1.185 billion.
Of which, 43million comes from exports That makes up 23% of your economy. According to reports by your government. Fruits are less than .1% of that 23%.
Your main export is fish, which makes up 30%. Of which , you hold no exclusivity over the routes or species of fish. So nothing unique for you there.
Moving down the line, 4% of your overal economy is built on nutmeg. I’d suggest expanding this because your only main competition is Indonesia. But to be honest, I don’t think anyone cares for specialty baked good spices right now so don’t bank on that either.
Honestly I’m struggling to find any legitimacy to your point at all. It seems to be emotional denial at best.
Cocoa bean exports make up less that 1% of your overall economy. So don’t bank on that either.
So tell me, what exactly do you expect people to buy? It certainly won’t be fruit, fish, or nutmeg.
Let’s look at the other 77% of your economy which comes from TOURISM. Go ahead, become isolationist in your economic trading policies. The Europeans will be poor for years to come from corona, and the Americans don’t really care for Grenada as a underdeveloped overpriced tourist destination.
And you want to stop building relationships with the countries that keep you alive. Ha!
Based on your responses, Grenada needs to put some major work into its education too.
But I’m glad you can write in full sentences unlike 99% of people I see from Grenada writing on Facebook. LOL!
Good luck, you’ll need it.
I must admit, I normally do not read through most of your articles… however this crisis has most of us with a terrible amount of time on our hands, and such, it allowed me to fully engage in your written piece. I loved the fact that you had a conversation with your daughter in regards to entrepreneurship. I constantly have this conversation with multiple people of the diaspora, all whom don’t seem to understand how deeply ingrained colonialism has embedded into us to be a servant class. Our culture in Grenada is also communal (a beautiful vestige of Old World African culture) so we rarely choose to break the mold and strike out on our own with something new, creative or self-empowering.
I also applaud you having conversations with your daughter, which is in, and of itself, a great example of a cultural shift. When I was a child, you were taught to be seen, not heard. You eventually become an adult who does not engage with your parent(s) outside of nominal familial interactions. Continue to sow the seeds of communication and exchange of productive ideas. This will help foster the growth needed to allow us to be less dependent on outsiders, foreign products, and this asinine narrative that we can’t produce quality goods locally. This Corona virus crisis is a huge wake up call to the whole world. Self reliance is a NEED, not just a optional skill.
Peace and Light.
I must admit, I normally do not read through most of your articles… however this crisis has most of us with a terrible amount of time on our hands, and such, it allowed me to fully engage in your written piece. I loved the fact that you had a conversation with your daughter in regards to entrepreneurship. I constantly have this conversation with multiple people of the diaspora, all whom don’t seem to understand how deeply ingrained colonialism has ingrained into us to be servant class. Our culture in Grenada is also communal (a beautiful vestige of Old World African culture) so we rarely choose to break the mold and strike out on our own with something new, creative or self-empowering.
I also applaud you having conversations with your daughter, which is in, and of itself, a great example of a cultural shift. When I was a child, you were taught to be seen, not heard. You eventually become an adult who does not engage with your parent(s) outside of nominal familial interactions. Continue to sow the seeds of communication and exchange of productive ideas. This will help foster the growth needed to allow us to be less dependent on outsiders, foreign products, and this asinine narrative that we can’t produce quality goods locally. This Corona virus crisis is a huge wake up call to the whole world. Self reliance is a NEED, not just a optional skill.
Peace and Light.