You Can Be a Successful Business Person!

About the Book

This book is dedicated to all those persons who seek to break loose from the pains of poverty and seek their financial independence, through owning their own businesses. Whether you are handicapped by insufficient finances or have adequate start-up capital for your business, the same level of discipline and knowledge will be necessary.

I am very much aware of the volumes of books that have been written on the subject of Small Business Development and Management. However, I made the conscious decision to take a different approach and share my personal experiences, highlighting the many obstacles I encountered along the way in my more that 50 years of active involvement in the private sector in the Caribbean.

The path to achieving success in business begins with a mindset based upon information and education about the implications of business and a passion to succeed. In this age of information technology, there is no lack of information on how to develop a business and take it through its stages to being a successful business is well documented. There is absolutely no room in today’s world for trial and error.

My objective in this book is to present to my readers a holistic approach to developing and maintaining a successful business. The information provided herein is not limited only to my personal successes but also my several failures along the way.

I wish to address specifically the operations of the MICRO, SMALL and MEDIUM ENTERPRISES (MSMEs) within the private sector which accounts for as much as eighty five (85) percent of the workforce in some countries. The private sector is referred to as the engine of growth but the MSMEs are the engine of Employment. Many governments fail to give the level of support to this vitally important segment of the economy.

I invite you to journey with me as we navigate a path towards understanding the peculiarities, intricacies and technicalities of the operations of MSMEs in general but the Caribbean in particular. In spite cultures may differ, Business speaks an international language whether you are in an under developed, less developed or developed country.

I am delighted to share my experiences with you and it is my fervent wish that you will take action on whatever ideas that resonate with you – Enjoy!

About the Author

Edward Alphonso Harris is Guyanese by birth, currently a Nationalised Saint Lucian who has travelled extensively. He lived and worked in several countries outside of his homeland – Guyana, including Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Sierra Leone and Tanzania.

He is tireless in his quest to share the Principles of Affirmation and to set alight the power of the Entrepreneurial Spirit as a means of assisting in alleviating poverty around the world.

As a child he helped in his mother’s Parlour which was located on Water and New Market Streets in Georgetown, Guyana. Later, still in his teens he worked as a counter clerk at a Pharmacy in Stabroek Market, a Landmark location in the Capital – Georgetown.

After a short stint in the Postal Service where he got his first experience of job discrimination, with the encouragement of his uncles, he secured employment with a leading grocery and diamond trading business in the interior of Guyana as a Counter Clerk. In the first year, he was promoted to manage a branch shop and subsequently returned to the main office as Book Keeper.

Edward Harris began working at the tender age of fourteen and worked almost entirely in the private sector in areas of distribution, manufacturing and services.

He took time off of his busy schedule to write this book in Arusha, Tanzania, East Africa. This is his second trip to the African Continent, having worked on a Consultancy Project in Garment Technology Transfer in Sierra Leone, West Africa almost twenty four years ago.

At 67, he is not about to retire and is actively engaged in the areas of Real Estate, Business & PR Consulting, Networking, Freelance Journalism, Motivational Speaking and Private Sector Advocacy.

Edward Harris founded the Guyana Association of Sales Personnel (GASP) in 1975 and the Guyana Small Business Association in 1989. In 1979, he sponsored the Castries Toastmasters Club. In 2007 he was elected Chairman of the Steering Committee which charted the course for the establishment of the Realtors Association (Saint Lucia) Inc. He was awarded the status of an Honorary Member of the Association in May, 2010. He served the membership of the St. Lucia Industrial & Small Business Association (SLISBA) for sixteen consecutive years during the period 1993-2009 in capacities as Secretary, Treasurer, President, Immediate Past President and Management Consultant.

An abridged version of his professional experiences and social and community involvement is included in Chapter 15 of this book.