Dec. 23, 2021

Cuenca, ECUADOR – “The sign says ‘PRIVAT’. We can’t go that way”.

“Well, the other way looks like major bush-whacking, plus the trail appears to be washed out. We’ll just be polite Canadians, and all will be good.”

This was the conversation my wife and I were having around the 3-hour mark of a hike we had been doing, high above the hacienda where we’d been staying the past week or so in Vilcabamba.

(For those new to this thread, my wife and I have been traveling Mexico and Panama and are currently living and exploring Ecuador. You can find those back issues here.)

The weather was hot and humid, we’d polished off our water bottles and the steep terrain was giving my legs a real work-out. We were ready to descend into a valley where we knew a section of the community lay, with a road and perhaps a house with some water.

But the sign had given me pause. I could see the headlines. “Canadian tourists shot while trespassing on private property in Ecuador!”

Logic and thirst prevailed. We ‘ignored’ the sign and began our descent into the canyon.

It was a well-maintained trail – with frequent water bars to decrease the chance of the trail being washed out. After 15 minutes of descending, we came upon a road. Not a dirt road or one paved. But like a private drive, constructed with 6-inch cobble-like paving stones neatly put together. With a concrete ditch on either side for drainage.

The drive continued to descend – steeply. In Canada, such a road would require chains or studded tires on vehicles, to be passable in winter. And still no house or people.

Eventually we came across some tools and a backpack. And the roof of a house. We braced ourselves for a confrontation.

Imagine our surprise to turn a corner and discover a man in his underwear and his wife with 2 young children, blond as can be, chilling in the shade of their veranda, overlooking the valley below.

“arh-hmmm. Sorry to intrude, we just came along the ridge trail and were working our way down to the main road. Is it much farther?”

“No – not far – and apologies for our appearance. Nobody comes down this way”.

Turns out the young family were recent expats from Illinois, renting the house from a Canadian who was stuck in Canada due to the most recent Covid measures dictated from the federal government. They offered us drinking water and fresh bananas, just picked from one the surrounding trees.

In the back of their place, on his knees was a workman. The gardener or grounds man for the property. He was pulling weeds from the cracks in the paving stones.

We continued on our way after the grateful respite. The entire drive was made of these interlocking stones, perfect in many ways – expensive to build to be sure, for another kilometer.

Near the end of the drive, was another road branching up to the right. In the middle of it was another man, stooped low, pulling weeds from the cracks.

I couldn’t help remembering what our host had said to me a few days earlier. ‘Labor is cheap’ here. Consider that with all projects you might have in mind if and when you build.

Like many countries, the official policy is do whatever you can to ensure full employment. Like having 3 or 4 people collect your 10 cents as you enter the embarkation area at the bus terminal, while the auto-turnstile machines lie dormant. Or the lady who “sweeps” a 50-foot-long sidewalk clean all day.

The better thing, of course, for those who understand economics, would be for the workmen to either spray a weed killer or even some vinegar on the cracks and then spend the day doing other tasks; so more gets done. Increasing worker productivity actually does more to increase both income and jobs then “make-work” projects.

Naturally, you as a business owner can do little to influence public policy. But you can and should do everything you can to increase both your own productivity and those you employ. One way to think about it is to ask yourself, on every task you do, could you hire someone to do it for less than your “hourly” rate.

How do you calculate this rate?

Simple. Look at what your earnings are over a year and divide by 2000.

Say you earn (or want to earn) $100,000. Dividing by 2000 (50 weeks/year | 40 hours/week) gives you $50/hour.

But you are really only productive a third of this time at best. Being conservative, let’s say it’s 50% of the time. That would make your hourly rate $100/hour.

Now, whenever you are doing a task, like submitting posts to your social media, building lists, bookkeeping, mailing letters, paying bills, etc. stop and assess whether or not you could find someone else who could do that work for much less than your $100/hr.

If and when the answer is “yes”; find someone else to do that task as soon as possible. This will free you up to do more $100/hour work and move you faster to earning more than your existing annual amount.

To your health and success. And Merry Christmas!

- Hugh
The “Profit Accelerator” Expert
StreetSmartsMBA.org

P.S. If you’d like more leads, sales, profits and success from your local business, then our Profit Acceleration process is for you. Simply go to StreetSmartsMBA.org to get started – risk-free.

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