Page 73 - Gilbert & Me_Neat

He also had an insurance agency attached to the business, which gradually became more and
more onerous as regulations and procedures got tougher and profits all began to fall. I hated this
industry. The effort required to purchase insurance, and even to renew an existing policy, was
excruciatingly tedious; it was very time consuming, extremely complicated and often a waste
because once the client was informed of the premium, they often decided not to proceed and
went elsewhere. That process could take a few hours, and at the end of that, we only got paid IF
the client was accepted by the insurance company and paid their first premium. And then, we
only got six percent of that premium. The insurance side of the business was usually handled by
another member of our small team – that was their only task. But, over time, first they left, then
a second member of the team took it on, but didn’t really like it. When they were let go, it
became my job and I did not want to do it. I think I made that clear when I became the only
employee left – I was either going to handle sales and contract work, or insurance, but I wasn’t
prepared to be handling both, on my own. Eventually, we got rid of the insurance business.

The business saw steady growth, but then hit a patch when the economy took a downturn. In
response, we targeted new clients – developers and construction companies, and tried to get a
foothold in the developing tourism market. Lots of new, large, resorts and hotels were being built
around the country and we thought we could grab a slice of the action with our lighting products.

But, we quickly learnt that a very significant number of these developments were owned by non-
Belizeans, who came into the country with complete projects already financed and contracted
out: they brought most of what they needed from overseas and simply hired local people as
construction workers. It was cheaper for them to purchase all the stuff – lighting, furnishings, etc
– from overseas and ship it in. We couldn’t compete, and that market really didn’t take off. Then
we expanded our product range into solar – but only lighting and water heaters.

For a while, that generated some revenue, but we didn’t continually update our range; we didn’t
respond to demands from customers for new solar products. With that industry growing and
innovating almost every day, we fell behind and out product range quickly became stale. Sales
dried up, revenue fell and by the time COVID-19 caused everybody to cease business, ours was
already in trouble.

Now, here we are, looking to change the business model and go after hydro power projects.

On the one hand, I have to applaud my Boss for what he’s achieved so far – but, on the other, I
have to say, this latest idea leaves me perplexed and anxious. I know nothing really about
energy generation, power grids and even less about the metrics and mechanisms of hydro power
– well, not enough to sit down and pitch it to an investor or stakeholder. I never even SEEN a
hydro power turbine. When he announced we were going to become the Belize agent for a global
hydro power construction project company, he had said that – since he himself was going to
away studying – I would have to go visit the hydro company, in Austria, to get familiar with their
products and learn about that business. That never happened. Instead, I’ve been sent countless
documents and videos to watch and learn. And I’m not finding it easy digesting or building
enthusiasm for this latest business idea – I’m just not that into it.