Small Businesses

Small Businesses / Rebeca Monzo

Posted on August 22, 2013



In spite of negative propaganda from the official media, a large segment

of the population, especially young people, have imagined some sort of

eventual return to capitalism, the only system that allows one to dream.



Twenty years ago, when they first started issuing the first licenses for

small private businesses on a restricted basis, these dreams took some

effort. Small home-based restaurants, known as paladares, led the way

along with homes and bedrooms rented out to tourists as well as old cars

made before 1959 which served as taxis. Only the strongest of these

survived due to, among other things, the large number of restrictions

they had to sort through as well as all the various pressures they had

to endure.



Since then the country has seen a proliferation in the number of small

private businesses with an ever-increasing thematic focus. They include

paladares, sweetshops, daycare centers, carwash and auto detailing

shops, gymnasia, hair salons, barber shops, copy shops, small boutiques,

party and wedding planning services, formal wear rental, 3D movie

theaters and even the occasional spa, to name but a few. All of these

are in the service sector; none are in manufacturing.



Now, what has been the common denominator hindering the development of

all these initiatives? It is first and foremost the absence of wholesale

markets and the dearth of laws authorizing the importation of consumable

goods to help create the proper infrastructure for the establishment and

expansion of these businesses. Another significant issue is demand,

which in the case of paladares is far below the level of supply. This is

not the case, however, when it comes to the well-known timbiriches, or

street vendors, who swarm through the streets offering sparse light

snacks, some of questionable hygiene, at a relatively low cost

commensurate with the salaries and pensions we receive.



On the other hand, the best placed businesses exist where strong

investment is seen. They are, mostly, supported by start up capital,

which can be provided by FE (family in the "exterior"), the foreign

investment union or the children of some high directors who possess the

best residences in this country, due in part to the relations of their

progenitors, and a lot of money "saved" during this half century of

their families in power.



Now appears a not so new method: cooperatives of a new kind (services,

artisans and others), where they group together to offer their services

or sell their products. But first of all, they almost always suffer from

the lack of products, so it is the client who must bring them to be able

to receive the benefits. This is the case of the old garage at Mayia

Rodriguez and Santa Catalina Streets, which is now called "New

Cooperative," a better name for a hardware store and not for an

establishment of this type, without respect to that other more

appropriate, by which it was always known.



In this case the client must bring the wax, the lubricants, etc., even

the detergent.



Anyway, to my view, more than a solution this is entertainment and a way

that the government has to gain time, because they are not deep measures

that can change or restructure the now exhausted economy of our country.

So let's keep "Playing" at this savage capitalism, since from an

optimistic perspective, we can assimilate it as a necessary

entertainment for a not so distant future.



22 August 2013



Source: "Small Businesses / Rebeca Monzo | Translating Cuba" -

http://translatingcuba.com/small-businesses-rebeca-monzo/