Huh? Actually, the day before yesterday, I was reading a post (and the accompanying comments) about the challenges of entrepreneurship in Madagascar, and this was the first thought that came to mind: economic development or human development?

It’s difficult to develop an economic activity in Madagascar without having the right skills around you… and with you.

And the majority of comments are unanimous: this is truly the most serious problem in the endemic country, employees, collaborators, partners, service providers, and all that. The human factor, in other words.

Tena hoe zero reliability lol… between the kamo be tenda, the fetsy poor who only think about robbing you, the saboteurs, the jealous be fiatsarambelatsiha, the haters, the copycats/pineurs, forget it…

And there’s also a strange perception there: the company is nothing more than a big cash cow from which you have to extract as much as possible 🤣

Also with this conviction that evil entrepreneurs are only there to take advantage of poor Malagasy workers, exploit them, and all that lol, so stealing from them is only right 😳 Arlette’s tropical version: “Working women, you’re being lied to and robbed.”

Really good luck to those who want to start a business there! Oh yes, since this is already a real experience, efa natao sy nandalovana, here’s the Elmanesque tip: don’t waste your time training people

… because once you’ve trained them well, you know what the first thing they’ll do is leave your house and then start the same company as you. Compete with you, basically. While making a fuss about you in the process.

If you want peace of mind, the only way to get away from them is to have, if possible… 0 employees. The only employee is you.

I’ve already achieved this feat in the past, so there’s no reason you can’t do it too. Your brain, your 10 fingers, can be more than enough for you, even if you do.

Because as soon as you start recruiting, the hassle begins. You’ll spend more time on HR than developing your business!

Well, so why not hire an HR representative? Well, yes, but when you see them at work, you’re not happy with them, you’ll have managed differently, etc. In short, not great.

The post I was reading was about the restaurant industry. Wow, that must be the worst field of entrepreneurship. When you see, for example, the ugly faces of the staff who don’t even know how to say “hello/thank you/goodbye,” you can have a vague idea of the sustainability of your business.

In short, complicated, very complicated. I’m not saying that entrepreneurship isn’t complicated no matter what country you plan to operate in, but in Madagougou, it’s really ultra-complicated.

Apart from this very… endemic human problem, we obviously overlook the Jirama’s electricity problems, water problems, insecurity, theft, crime, and all that. Ultimately, these material contingencies can always be resolved.

… but this rotten mentality, uh, no, I don’t see how. Or replace it all with AI and automated robots? An excellent avenue to explore, and too bad for the endemic ones. I’ve already experimented with a restaurant with tablets and robot waiters; it’s very good.

Buffet 3.0

In short, if you still want to pursue this path of rampant entrepreneurship, and if anxiety attacks, tantrums, and strokes don’t scare you, then good luck. And we haven’t even mentioned a word about the sharks of the administration 🤣