If you’re wondering why I have been quiet for the past three months, it’s because I spent them in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil on a long overdue holiday.
While there, I got to poke around, talk to people and dig deep into the politics, social issues, economy and the sorts and found out that Brazil, especially Rio is a land of many opportunities.
The first thing to note is that Brazil is a country stuck between the developed and developing world. The infrastructure is good for instance but the poverty, crime and unemployment rates are very high.
I spoke and became friends with many Cariocas (inhabitants of Rio De Janeiro) and they told me that life was about hustling and working hard with no government support whatsoever.
In Rio, people are hard working. I have been in a few countries in the developing world and I can safely say that Cariocas work hard for the money they make, be it it a lot or little depending on one’s personal needs.
The businessman in me kept walking around noting the many opportunities that are there for people struggling to find employment due to the fact that work is limited.
I came across a handful.
But in business, people have to be willing to take the big jump and be in control of their destinies. Once that big step is taken, the rest is straightforward although it can take a lot of time, money and/or effort.
All the Cariocas I met who were struggling to find a job were advised to start their own little something. The many who wanted to, did not know where to start.
That’s the major problem with entrepreneurship. People might be risk takers and all but if they knew the ABCs of starting and growing a profitable business from a simple idea, this world (Rio in our case) would have a lot of people who would be well off financially.
And we all know that the more prosperous people are, the lower the crime, unemployment and other social pains are.
My advice to the Brazilian government would be to a) encourage entrepreneurship b) provide the necessary tools, knowledge and starting capital essentially to prospective entrepreneurs.
I am sure that somehow it’s already been done but the fact that I did not come across something in those lines means that it’s not pushed hard enough.
It is said (I forgot where I read that piece of statistics) that in each community, 1 in 10 people is an entrepreneur.
That’s an encouraging number.
These people need to be found, nurtured and equipped to come up with the business that their fellow citizens can work in thus making life better for the country as a whole.
Most business fail within the first five years, we all hear. My take is that it’s primarily due to the lack of proper knowledge.
Most bankrupt business people I know credit their failure to lack of “knowing what to do and how to do it right”.
There are hundreds of thousands of people with that knowledge. If the Brazilian gov, and any gov for that matter, made it a big deal to help entrepreneurs out, Brazil’s economy would be way ahead of where it is right now.
And the gov can do it. Look at how any country makes it easy and fast to collect income taxes from its people. These departments are so efficient, it’s mind boggling.
We all know that money is their motivation so it explains why the try harder.
If the opened their eyes and realized that the more entrepreneurs they nurture, the more business will spring and the more employment they will create and the more income taxes, the gov will be able to collect while dishing out less social aid.
If I were too do business in Rio, I would invest my time, effort and money into helping entrepreneurial people out. In the short-term it would be a very expensive exercise but within five years, I could relax and know that I have about 50 businesses doing well and that I can financially depend on.
It would also give me the peace of mind of living in a safe place because crime would drop directly thanks to an increase in employment.
On another note, I really enjoyed myself in Rio. The scenery and the people are beautiful and warm. I miss it already and it’s been less than a week that I have returned!
