Idea 373 of 500. Cluster 18: Sri Lankans abroad, both directions
A book club and speaker series abroad that puts Sri Lankan authors and founders in front of Sri Lankans overseas
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
Book a room in a Sri Lankan community centre for one evening and invite a Sri Lankan author or founder to speak by video, with tickets sold in advance at a small price. Promote it through the mailing lists of two Sri Lankan associations abroad. If the room fills and people ask when the next one is, you have a series, and the ticket sales tell you the price.
- Who pays first
- Sri Lankan professionals abroad who want to hear directly from people building things at home, and will buy a ticket for an evening with them.
- What leaves today
- Sri Lankan authors and founders are rarely heard by the Sri Lankans abroad who could buy, invest or mentor; a series builds that audience and the proof.
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
- 365Investment clubs of Sri Lankans abroad that own one business each at home, with a manager on the ground
- 366Import agencies in each city with a Sri Lankan community, stocking Sri Lankan brands and nothing else
Idea 373 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.