Idea 365 of 500. Cluster 18: Sri Lankans abroad, both directions
Investment clubs of Sri Lankans abroad that own one business each at home, with a manager on the ground
The mechanism, from the book
1.5 million people abroad who know how rich countries work, and who send home money and little else.
Every idea in cluster 18 uses this mechanism.
A first step
Gather 8 to 12 people from one Sri Lankan association abroad who each say they would put in a set sum, and draw up a one-page proposal for one small business at home, with the manager's role defined and a quarterly report promised. Ask each person to sign a letter of intent at a stated amount. The total pledged tells you whether the club can buy anything real.
- Who pays first
- A group of Sri Lankan professionals abroad who want to own something at home together but do not trust a relative to manage it alone.
- What leaves today
- Savings held by Sri Lankans abroad sit in foreign banks and foreign property; a club with a manager on the ground turns them into ownership of working businesses at home.
The idea and the mechanism are from the book. The first step was written for this site as a suggestion; if you know a better one, say so.
The test
Does it keep value that now leaves the island, or build the proof that lets somebody else do so?
The only test any idea on this site has to pass. The four rules that go with it are here.
In the book
- Ch. EightWhat It Costs to Go First
What bonds sold to Sri Lankans abroad have and have not done - Ch. SixteenThe Bridge
The institutions that could carry value back
More from cluster 18
- 361A directory of Sri Lankans abroad: who does what, where, and what they will help with, verified
- 362Return-relocation services: the school, the house, the car, the tax, in one package
- 363Sri Lanka House in London, Melbourne and Toronto: a shop, a café and a desk, the Colombo model abroad
- 364Money-transfer products that buy a specific thing at home, a course, a machine, a roof, rather than cash
- 366Import agencies in each city with a Sri Lankan community, stocking Sri Lankan brands and nothing else
- 367A returning-professional registry that hospitals, universities and firms at home can search
Idea 365 of the 500 in the appendix of Why Not Sri Lanka? Every one can be started by one person, one family or one small firm.