Dear Editor,
One of the concepts, a project really, I intend to introduce into my classes very soon as a means of encouraging and exposing my students to business and product creation is The Elon Musk Project. For those unfamiliar with Elon Musk, he stands among the wealthiest, most brilliant, creative and industrious business persons of our time. He is particularly impressive because of his achievements and efforts in trying to bring electric vehicles to the broader consumer base by either encouraging or directly investing in cost-reducing technologies for these vehicles.
The agenda for the Elon Musk project is to set children’s minds on becoming billionaires, successful creative business leaders. This might sound lofty, but children have demonstrated that they have abilities and capacities beyond our grasp, so it’s best to just open the gates and let them show what they can achieve. On consideration also, I think it’s an excellent long-term strategy to addressing income deficiencies and broader welfare issues if employed nationally. The primary objectives are to develop one or more products/services along with marketing strategies to transform the product idea into a live business strategy. There’s an initial time limit, but of course the children can continue with these ideas during the course of their lives. They will naturally be coached in the idea that the real money is to be made when they reach global markets, so they will always see their long term goal as gaining a foothold in the international arena. A major area of return would be software and operating system development along with both internet and system specific security, but the floor is open to whatever students can generate.
Guyana’s own private sector could toy with applicable concepts and become more proactive in product innovation and development in and out of their primary economic activity as a means of increasing profitability by lowering costs, which will also translate into increased competitiveness locally and abroad. They will also diversify their revenue base, and become more involved in employment and income creation. Efforts may also be applied where feasible to establishing businesses out of the major economic hubs to benefit from lower rental costs while creating jobs and increasing welfare within the target local communities.
Yours faithfully,
Craig Sylvester
