Dec. 8, 2021

Cuenca, ECUADOR – “How much does an electrician like me make in the US?”

This was a question asked by an electrician doing some work on the house of a friend of ours just south of here.

“About $40-$50 an hour”, was the reply.

“Wow! I should emigrate to America then. That’s a fortune”.

“I would advise against that.” Replied my friend.

“Why?”

“Because you would be fired by the end of the first day – you are too slow. Besides, to rent a place like the one you have would cost you five-ten times as much”.

When people look at things like wages and rent, without context, and without personal experience, it is easy to jump to conclusions about the health and wealth of a country.

So it is with this one.

(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 electrician in question earns about $20-$25/day. It’s not much. But his living space is probably costing about $100/month and food is ridiculously cheap. And fresh. It helps when you can grow crops 3 times a year, you don’t need to heat or cool your house, there is plenty of water and being an exporter of natural gas and oil, the price of fuel hasn’t budged for years.

Are conditions much more primitive in this country than in Canada and the US?

Yes.

Are the people worse off?

I’d say no.

They eat better and have different concept of time. Thus, most live with less stress.

Back to our electrician. Since the pace of life is much slower, expectations are much lower as well. There is not any urgency to get things done quickly. (Which is annoying to most of us who were raised elsewhere). The only people who seem to be in a hurry are the food delivery guys on motor bikes (think Uber but local) and the cab drivers. They are obviously paid by delivery and rides – not by the hour.

Our electrician friend is nowhere near as productive as his American counterpart. Literally, 5 to 10 times less so. And because he doesn’t need to be very productive to live quite well, the system works.

On top of this, we’ve seen first-hand, what would be considered a luxurious 2-bedroom, 1000 square foot condo, with security and underground parking, large patio deck with  gorgeous views of the surrounding mountains that rents for around $800/mth!

As nice and as modern a place as you could imagine.

The city is clean. The people are humble and kind. (It feels like Portugal or Spain). I highly recommend you visit if you can break away.

What is the business lesson in all of this?

Nothing specific this time. Just that I’ve found in all of my travels that people are mostly amazing and helpful, everywhere you go. And those that meet the needs and wants of their customers the best, do well.

Are you clearly doing so with your target group of customers, clients or patients? Is it obvious to new ones that you are the one they should try first?

To your health and success…

- Hugh
The “Profit Accelerator” Expert
StreetSmartsMBA.org

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