St. Vincent and the Grenadines is a special place; a special place especially for young entrepreneurs like myself. Most of us have travelled and had the opportunity to witness how more developed economies and their systems are operating. As such, when we return to our home country, we try our best to model our it to at least an acceptable and first world way of doing business. Unfortunately, by the time we invest our hard-earned monies into a venture, especially one that’s new to Vincentians, a lot of their first sentiments are, “that venture would NEVER work in St. Vincent.” They’ll then give absurd reasons as to why it would not and as a young aspiring entrepreneur, if you aren’t mentally strong and persistent, you’re then left with your aspirations shattered. Vincentians need to rally around young, aspiring business owners more, as every venture you wish to fail only hinders the country’s development.
You’ll discover it’s mostly the persons who never left the shores of St. Vincent are the ones to first ridicule anything new. Anyone who travelled before, even to our neighboring countries such as St. Lucia or Grenada witnessed that these countries are so close, yet far in front of us in terms of development. I know many Vincentians could attest to this. Sometimes you are ashamed to even think about going back home to our many inefficiencies of doing business, and as many would comment, “St. Vincent is backward.”
Therefore, we come home with a plan to develop our country, to make it more convenient for visitors and the same ones who would wish failure. We then spend a lot of time and money, money that we refuse to deposit in a financial institution to earn 1% interest, as most persons does. To add further, Vincentians need to realize other than foreign investors, large and established businesses in St. Vincent and the Grenadines are not investing much, the older persons neither; it’s then us, young entrepreneurs, who are taking up the mantle to see our country progress. We’re told most times. “St. Vincent is not into that,” or “Vincentians are not ready for this.’’ What are we ready for? Stagnancy? Therefore, I think I can speak on behalf of many young persons like myself, those who aspiring but are facing the same struggles. Keep your dreams alive and be mindful of whom you sell them to; persons would tell you it cannot be done, only because they can’t do it themselves. To Vincentians, be mindful the next time you feel obliged to fight young persons and new ideas, you are only hampering the development of the country, and by extension, yourself.
A Young Entrepreneur
