MANY years ago, I ventured out to earn on my own, and through some experiences, I came to the realisation that we may not be doing it from a human position, the right way. I was given the lecture with evidence that countries evolve or retrogress because strict attention is not paid to providing the tools and implementing the cold philosophy that is more likely to work. But I had, with youthful arrogance, misjudged the two crucial human areas that were highlighted: the limitations in the cultural self-awareness of a just independent colony and our typical way of attributing entitlement at all costs.

The office I had was intended to facilitate an advertising service, through which I could earn to develop a graphic novel, non-fiction and fiction study, and small publishing operation, using the dual talents of writing and illustrating. How could it fail, was the initial consolation, but I had just begun to learn what I didn’t know.

This article is personal, but in bringing it to the reader, I do hope that we can recognise that where Guyana is heading now unprepared is where the rest of the world have been for the past three decades. When I arrived in North America, I soon found out that in my stream of business, a few scattered pages of a graphic concept attracted a glance but not raised eyebrows.

During a conversation with a colleague, I met and developed at the Juice Bar, owned by Davie Simmons in Harlem. This stranger cautioned me to sing praises that my uncopyrighted work was a brief collection of scattered, even attractive pages, but not an entire concept, lock, stock and barrel. I was dazed and grateful after the explanations of the brief introduction to the real world.

But how did I get there? When I rented a section of the once Aladdin’s Cave building, the owner Lance Braithwaite was exceptionally talented and a friend, but though we got along, we were at loggerheads over other serious issues. I employed people I knew, explained what the concept was and worked out salaries.

I had paid a friend’s (now deceased) brother to do the quarterly accounts. He instructed me to climb down from my artistic cloud because I was supplementing the staff. The advertising earnings that were strained to carry the studio office were the ones I had independently cultivated and launched the business with. Next, the salesperson had sold no more than a few 2 x 2 innch column ads, these were negligible to the cost of maintaining the office. The salesperson had meanwhile commissioned a Bible studies class during lunch, and Churches don’t do ads, especially self-sponsored ads.

I had a talk with the staff, emphasising what the survival application meant. I had made many mistakes. The artist should have provided their own drawing pens and templates, curves etc. I should have deducted costs for work delegated that I had to redo. It was a tough training experience for me that brought the office to a closure, and then they went to the Ministry of Labour to get their final month’s pay.

I had to sell some items to fulfil this difficult farewell, but there was one staff whose art was encouraging and showed development. But it was my error in not compiling a test to be executed to verify talent application and not placing would-be staff on a probation test. Of course, these were “too-late afterthoughts”.

So that is how I and a few others ended up in North America to explore the realities of the Arts business there. Most never came back here, some stayed, others drifted to the Caribbean and found suitable niches that were more embracing, but I had a family, and from the experience of others, it takes more than barrels and remittances to raise a family of juvenile children.

What was, however, the teaching experience was when I wrote for a ‘New York State Department of Labor Guide Starting Your Own Business’. On receiving this document, I proceeded to explore and found out what my errors were. In the section under hiring, the advice directives are: A- Do not hire family members and friends simply because they need jobs. Make sure you need an additional worker and that the person you are considering has the skills and experience you want. B- Compare the applicants in terms of the skills you are looking for, past work records, self-motivation, willingness and ability to learn, and ability to get along with others. C- Call the applicant’s references, especially former employers, teachers, clergy, and others who have worked with the applicant. D- Outline how the employee will be evaluated and when. This is not all. There is much more, including the fact that they were more interested in what you have done and your portfolio rather than where you said you were trained, but does any of this ring a bell to anyone?