Using technology to win

If you have the latest type of machinery and can export it from here to Central America you will have a competitive advantage.  They do not have a surplus of machinery there.  A person could do quite well  by importing machinery there.  We have focused on big heavy machinery such as road machines and cranes. What about some of the smaller machines that can be brought in pretty easily?  Sewing machines and other types of machines that are small?  If you can import 200 sewing machines you could feasibly set up a small clothing manufacturing place right there in Managua.  The country is also filled with tile.  All types of ceramic tiles and tiles that need to be cut.  You could import diamond blades to cut stones or tiles.  These diamond blades are expensive here in the States but very expensive overseas.  When we think of machinery we think of these huge Caterpillar machines that can move earth.  We do not have to think that big.  We can keep it on a small scale.  By keeping it on a small scale we allow more possibilities and can make more profits.  Small brick machines can save on time and money.  Most homes are made of clay bricks that are assembled in yards and put into ovens right on the persons front lawn.  They also sell the Spanish roofing tiles as well.  These are all made of clay.  If you were to import these brick machines you could feasibly be the only game in town selling the machine built bricks.  There would certainly be a market for it.  The bricks could be made faster and the size would be perfect and consistent.  This would allow the builder to move faster and build with consistency.  This would save a great deal of money in the end.

www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreybernhard/

Unsaturated Markets in Nicaragua

One thing we can all relate to is the price of real estate.  Whether you own a lot or a little it affects you in every possible way.  Back in the day people could just walk into the bank and lien a portion of their house and take a small loan or a large one for that matter and pay it back slowly over time.  Those days are gone. Never to come back anytime soon unless you plan on disclosing your full financial statements.  Most of us feel uncomfortable doing this.  The bank will want to see everything now.  If your income dropped last year or if you have had a bad year the bank will not lend you money.  Everybody knows this.  Times have changed for the bankers and the people borrowing money.  This will eventually work itself out but not for a long while.  The wheels of business must turn again and things must return to normal.  Once this has happened for all of us then maybe things can return to normal.
If you are looking to open a business where the overhead is low and the earning potential is there then I would suggest looking in Central America.  Many opportunities there for expats and the like.  You can get into a business relatively cheap down there.  You can also help the local community while helping yourself. There has not been any house flipping going on in Nicaragua.  Here it was saturated with people flipping houses.  There it still never really caught on.  If you wanted to start to flip houses there this could possibly work. You might have to get a website dedicated to this alone and advertise your progress up on the site.  I am sure you could draw and interest and get people interested in your project there

Virtual classrooms

With the new portable projector that can be attached to the iPhone 4 you can create a virtual classroom anywhere you can find a wall. This will enable teachers to bring the classrooms to students in rural areas and help the students learn the material much faster and or better.  With the use of visual aids we know this stimulates the mind better and allows for the person to learn much more accurately and quickly.  Imagine a teacher trying to teach how a whale swims on a chalk board? Now imagine the teacher showing a quick tutorial video on the iPhone.  The students could learn much more quickly with the video rather than the chalk. The phone is portable as well as the projector so this could travel around with them as well.  This is another case where we are bringing 1st world technology into a third world country where it is being used and implemented on site and is efficient.  A portable classroom that you already carry in your pocket.

We are all familiar with Craigslist.  Some of us can't get through the day without checking to see if someone has listed something that we are interested in.  Many people use Craigslist to find parts for their cars or to purchase left over building supplies from builders who ordered too much product.  This can be one of the most effective ways there is to buy things you need at a discount.  Many people use these services to save money.  This also helps everyone involved.  Less waste and this creates a little extra money for the contractor who ordered too much product.  Many people would love to use a service like this if it existed in other countries.  Then we have Angie's list that is designed for women and they can leave articles or recommendations for contractors that they have liked in the past.  This has helped propel many successful guys just by word of mouth.  These business sites would do really well overseas in some of these countries where the population of people online continues to grow.  A website set up like this in Spanish for the Central American countries would be fabulous and also provide jobs for those who are looking for work and are known to do a good job.  A service could be set up there really cheap.

While staying in this country I got to meet many entrepreneurs.  These entrepreneurs had amazingly different business ideas than the typical Americans.  They moved bread in taxis then to bicycles. They had to rent oven space to bake it as well.  They also had the red tape of doing business in their country not with regulation over their heads, but with all kinds of normal everyday obstacles.  They overcome them and they are amazing people.  The lengths the entrepreneurs will go for a Cordoba is nothing short than amazing.  They are much more witty and quick thinkers than we are.  I think when the economies pick back up across the globe this economy is going to be on the move as well. Much more than before.

Elevated Machines

Companies that import machines into most Central American countries do not have to pay an import tax. Countries like Nicaragua have bulldozers and rubber tired backhoes. Not too many elevation type machines like cherry pickers or lulls. I didn't see one crane or a boom. If someone would specialize in this area they would do well. The machines that are hard to find there would be any type of scissor elevation machines. Some current examples can be found in the pictures.

Average Cost of Plastic Surgery in the US

This is a list of plastic surgery costs he in the United States according to a 2007 survey conducted.   PLASTIC SURGERY
Breast augmentation	(Augmentation mammaplasty)	$3,816
Breast implant removals	(Augmentation patients only)	$2,380
Breast lift	(Mastopexy)	$4,236
Breast reduction in men	(Gynecomastia)	$3,400
Buttock implants		$4,722
Buttock lift		$4,711
Calf augmentation		$3,206
Cheek implant	(Malar augmentation)	$2,332
Chin augmentation	(Mentoplasty)	$1,936
Dermabrasion		$984
Ear surgery	(Otoplasty)	$2,549
Eyelid surgery	(Blepharoplasty)	$3,134
Facelift	(Rhytidectomy)	$5,031
Forehead lift		$3,092
Hair transplantation		$4,543
Lip augmentation	(other than injectable materials)	$1,604
Liposuction		$2,982
Lower body lift		$8,073
Nose reshaping	(Rhinoplasty)	$3,833
Pectoral implants		$3,769
Thigh lift		$4,464
Tummy tuck	(Abdominoplasty)	$5,264
Upper arm lift www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreybernhard/		$3,574

The Dental Bus

We can bring technologies into Central America that we have available to us here in the states such as these mobile dental buses.  These buses could cut down on the amount of time and money that people put forth in going to see the dentist in foreign countries.  This bus can travel up and down the country side assisting communities in keeping the cavities down.  Children are probably more relaxed getting on this bus rather than going into a clinic or hospital.  They can treat many more patients than in the past.  This bus would encourage people to get their teeth looked at because it would essentially come directly to their community.  They will be able to start a mobile dental clinic with medical records that are kept up to date on a iPad.  Much more people will be able to receive medical treatment for themselves because of this new state of the art bus.  If doctors would have this bus painted in different cartoon characters then I am sure the bus would attract all kinds of children.  This would also help cut down on the amount of kids that would be taking up dental chairs at the local hospitals and would also bring an awareness to clean teeth.  This perhaps would be the best thing to emerge from this technology because to raise awareness would be to improve the health of the countries youth.

Medical Tourism

Medical tourism is something that has become really popular. It appears that the demand for vanity is higher than ever. People can travel to other countries and have work done at a fraction of the cost. The countries vary but at the moment Brazil seems to be the go to place. Most of us are aware that Brazil is the plastic surgery headquarters of Central America. Nicaragua is just about to get started with this as well. Nicaragua has some of the best doctors as well. Many are skilled in the area of plastic surgery. The ideal place would be in a city like Leon or Managua. These clinics would provide the patient with a state of the art facility with rooms above the clinic for the patient to recover in. These rooms would have nurses in them 24/7 to take care of all your medical needs. The doctor would always be there to answer any questions that the patient would have. This type of clinic would be just like what we are used to seeing in a Beverly Hills type of place. The cost would be a fraction of what it would be in other countries. The overhead is so low that other countries would find it hard to compete on a price level anyway. With the cost of a root canal in America running $4000 a tooth, and the same procedure costing $150 in Nicaragua, you can see that at these prices this can and will catch on.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbJ-II3VtGI&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Machines that make work easy

They have a new pothole repair machine that can fix a pothole in less than 2 minutes. This machine can be deployed in any country and operates on diesel fuel. This machine is not really big and doesn't require much in the form of maintenance. Here on our roads in America, we probably won't see this machine much as unions have most municipalities bent over a barrel.  This is a perfect example of how this machine can be deployed in another country to take care of road maintenance without much overhead.  This machine can repair potholes in less than two minutes which leaves no time for the workers to stand around and do nothing.  Fix a hole and move to the next hole.  Another truck to accompany this one with materials would be nice as well.  Once the road system is up and running in the area that you are looking to export from the sky is the limit.  This machine could bring all kinds of economic boom to your country or road project.  Think of the money you would save in labor.  The savings would pay for this machine in the first year.  Enjoy!

Python Pothole Machine

The new television

This new television can play anything real time off of my laptop wirelessly. This new setup can eliminate the need for hard lines or fiber optic cables from the cable company. This can save a country lots of time and energy on infrastructure. This is how they can get a jump on time and they can advance quickly. I have provided a picture here to show you what the new wireless hardware could look like that you would need to install on your laptop. Pretty basic stuff and nothing really James Bond here although the technology will save countries billions.

The new television

The new television is going to change the way we watch tv. This is what I said in the last article and I will explain why. Now we have the technology that can send a movie from my laptop or iPad to my television without the use of cables. Here we are again at the cross road of cables. With this new technology, how long before the speed is so fast we won't need the hard lines in the ground anymore? Our streets have been completely cut up and fiber optic cables have been installed to bring us the fastest possible Internet. This can stream wirelessly on the tv by a Bluetooth connection from a Sony Playstation or X-Box.