Adventures in business management!

Last week I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to take an introductory course in business management, offered by Tahiti's Chamber of Commerce and taught here in Rurutu! It's pretty funny, after over 6 years in grad school I still don't have the faintest idea how to do the accounts or take financial responsibility for our future - or rather I should say that I DIDN'T, now I have some basic know-how and am ready to manage our guesthouse to a bigger brighter future! I'm already hatching plans for our 'artisanat' - the jams are just the first step in a master-plan to develop a whole range of home-made 'Made in Rurutu' products......watch this space!

The course itself was also a fun opportunity to get to meet some of the small business owners on Rurutu, we're a pretty funny mix - plumbers, cake-makers, landscapers, guesthouse owners and members of the local coffee co-operative. The instructor was also an interesting character, an entrepreneur born in the Congo, of Belgian origin who has lived for many years in both South America and Tahiti - at times there was rather more socio-political sermonizing than business management (I suspect that his grandfather was a Catholic missionary in the Belgian Congo). But it was definitely fun to get his perspective on things. During the same week the government was re-shuffled, once more, for the fourth time this calendar year, I believe !!!! This political pantomime is probably the biggest factor hindering economic development here in French Polynesia - it certainly isn't doing any favours to the already crippled tourism industry. At least we know that the Chamber of Commerce is on our side.