I remember the day it snowed in the Bahamas. It only happened once in my lifetime on January 19, 1977. Think about that, only one time in the last 43 years. It may have been the first snow here in recorded history. I was in Junior High School and it was so cold we were all given time off of school and many businesses closed. I didn’t realize how privileged my lifestyle was until I spent 15 winters in Chicago during my university and early business career. If they closed down every time it snowed in Chicago, they would miss months of productivity.
Five of those years in Chicago were spent stepping off of a train to go to work downtown at the Mercantile Exchange. This meant facing that bone chilling wind coming off Lake Michigan that cuts right through you. Folks in Chicago call it the Hawk. I’m told that there are many states in the Northeast and Midwest where the winter winds give you a similar experience.
Now don’t get me wrong I loved doing business in Chicago. It’s a place of great culture, great people and great companies. All in all, it’s a great place to do business. And in many ways, thanks to the internet, I never left although I physically moved back to the Bahamas 25 years ago. I had a small publishing company and I sold books direct through the internet and to various martial art studios. I was an early mover on using the internet for commerce. And I soon had customers in over 30 different countries; all the while living in the Bahamas. I had managed to turn a hobby into a business and that’s when I knew the possibilities for the internet were going to be endless.
Today Fintech, social media and the internet has exploded beyond my imagination allowing me to help people with more than just self defense books, and I have been there every step of the way. In fact, I spent twenty years running a private management consulting firm in the Bahamas where I discovered that there are a lot of firms with great brands, great products and great services. However, because of the lack of capital, many of these brands will remain local. Let me say that the Caribbean is indeed an untapped frontier market.
What makes a frontier market a frontier market is a lack of information about what is in it. Until recently the Caribbean had been considered just a place to come and relax. Many people thought of it as a place where you can hide assets or evade taxes. Few people realized that there was more to it than that. That the Caribbean is a place that was great to have a second home, or to locate your business here, or to invest in some great stocks with the potential for serious returns.
On the surface of it, the experience of setting up and operating a business from the Bahamas and the Caribbean can seem like a daunting task. Indeed, without the proper guidance your best laid plans can leave you shipwrecked on the seas of personal and business disaster.
Integrating the Caribbean lifestyle through business, investment and property is precisely what this blog is about. And as with every frontier market you need a guide. Someone who understands the ins and outs of these kinds of investments. Someone who understands the business and personal culture of the Caribbean and of the United States. Someone with the education, background, successful track record, experience and practical know how to ensure that you are able to use this market to your best advantage. So I humbly, maybe not so humbly, suggest me.
Why me? I am the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of a national stock exchange in the Bahamas that is regulated by the Securities Commission of the Bahamas and of a crowdfunding platform that is regulated by the Securities Exchange Commission of the USA. I am also a partner in a large Real Estate Company with an amazing team that has all the expertise needed to efficiently conduct any transaction.
I have an international network of business associates. But the largest portion of my business and personal network still focuses around my Alma Matter Northwestern University. There I studied Electrical Engineering and later Finance as I earned my MBA. Thanks to Fintech, the internet and social media, I am now able to work with these very same networks from the comfort of my offices, which happen to be in a seaside marina in Nassau, Bahamas.
And I am prepared to extend that network to you. To help you enjoy the benefits of the Caribbean. Maybe you are interested in a move, or maybe raising funds for your company or being an early investor in some great startups. There are personal issues related to visas, housing, healthcare or business issues such as tax considerations, raising capital that you will learn about in this blog. So grab yourself a cup of coffee. Sit back and relax as from the comfort of your chair a new market awaits.
