An apology for Slavery

I was having a drink with a friend I had known for some years, we were speaking of childhood, in all the time I had known him I never knew where he spent his childhood so asked where he came from and was very surprised by his bitter answer “My great grandparents were taken as slaves”.

My response may have been a little trite and explained that my mother has the same problem and she blames the Egyptians, Romans, Russians, Germans and several dozen other countries for over three thousand years of slavery or prejudice.

“Your mother is black?” Asked my black friend “No, Jewish, you have only had a couple of hundred years of being a slave and suffering racial prejudice. My family have had over 3,000 years of the same treatment and it continues today, even you, who should know better do it – a Jewish joke, a dig about being mean, running out of gas, someone whose rich being a Jew Boy but I forgive you and do not ask for an apology so why are you?

Because it was wrong, was my friend’s response. Yes slavery then and now was and is wrong but why is it only the white man that has to apologise and why the man who has been dead around 150 to 200 years. If there is such a place as heaven then surely the slave owner and slave would have forgiven each other by now? Why not ask the black African tribes who took slaves and sold them to the Arab and white man for an apology.

My mother, now an old lady, was in a shop struggling to get her coat on when a young teenage girl came over to help her and an elderly woman, younger than my mother, guided her down several steps. Both women were German and my mother thanked them and commented on how helpful foreigners were, “If they had been English, they would have ignored me or stolen my coat and pushed my down the stairs.”

I explained to my mother that the women that had helped her were German and seventy years ago would have been helping her off with her cloths and pushing her down the stairs, “didn’t she hate them?

My mother explained that she hated the Nazis, “but how can I hate someone whose father, grandfather or great grandfather did something their children could not control, there comes a time when you have to put it behind you and get on with life.”

Crimes against my mother’s race were perpetrated by many nations for several thousand years and continue to this day yet she does not hold the peoples responsible for those atrocities but the individuals, many of whom are dead. My father was English, can he or I be held responsible for the actions of people we had no control over, people that were in the minority. If you can then my mother should be asking the Egyptians, Italians, and Russians for an apology and compensation, if not money surely better treatment say a nice house by an Italian lake or a bit of cash for the time spent constructing the pyramids at today’s builders labour rate which would surely see her through retirement.

Slavery is regrettable, it should never have happened but it did in an age where such things were acceptable and so long ago the people concerned are no longer with us and cannot be held to account. Any apology my peers and I could offer would be empty and of no importance. We can regret that slavery was part of our history, that serfdom was part of out history. The Native American Indian probably regrets that slavery was part of his culture though slavery continues on the African continent between Black and Arab tribes where there appears to be little regret.

Tip: If you are ever going to be a slave make sure your master is Jewish, though the sign of a Jewish Slave is a little painful, having your ear nailed to a door, the Jewish Slave Master is obliged to treat you like his family so good food, wine, a day off a week and loads of holidays.

The Dragons Den

If you are an inventor or have a business that wants to expand you have probably taken time out to watch BBC2s reality TV show The Dragons Den where four extremely rich and successful self made business men and women invest in new businesses.

Prospective business are invited to make a presentation to the four dragons, the dragons, people many of us have never heard of and are extremely thankful that we do not have them as neighbours decide if they are going to invest in the business after a short presentation.

It does not take too long before you have to question why these four extremely wealthy individuals with personal fortunes in excess of two or three hundred million want to show the world how obnoxious and lacking in character you need to be to achieve that level of wealth. You also have to marvel at how these very experienced business people can make a balanced and viable judgement based on very limited information.

You soon realise that what should have been an interesting and informative programme is low-level entertainment attracting viewers by its negativity and that the majority of inventions have little commercial value, that most business owners have a misguided view of their businesses true value, future sales and finances and that most investors want more than a minority shareholding in your business in return for their hard earned cash.

If the programme gave you all that information then the BBC are doing a better job than we gave them credit, if it did not then why not make an application to the Dragons and subject yourself to ridicule that would be bullying in a playground and the subject of an ASBO in the High St, at least you will provide us with entertainment and the Dragons with a little blood sport.

If you are a budding entrepreneur you will soon realise that the majority of new businesses fail within a year, those that appear to succeed are financed from personal wealth, others are second generation where a son or in-law has taken over the management or the business has taken on professional management.

Small growing business needs investment, that can be self-financed from borrowing but the lender will require security, normally equity in your home. Many small businesses do not have or are unwilling to risk that form of security so an investor is the next best alternative.

There are several organisations that can arrange introductions to potential investors including business link and several marriage bureaus in most locations that can be found through your local Chamber of Commerce, Library or Council.

Though the Dragons Den gives the impression that potential investors require little information and a good story the reality is any potential investor will require historical information as well as predictions.

When seeking an investor prepare yourself for several meetings, as it is not your money but someone else’s hard earned cash. Ask you solicitor to prepare a non-disclosure document before you start handing over sensitive information. Make sure your financial predictions are both accurate and realistic and make sure the same applies to marketing information and plans, one minor error may cause your potential investor to become suspicious of your other predictions. Plan your meeting and stick to your plan, practice your presentation.

Desperation and desire for the cash can blinker your decision when agreeing to take on an investor, treat your potential investor as if they were a Venture Capital Company, they will want a reasonable return on their money, a way out at some point during the partnership and make sure the investor can provide something more than the money, this could be expertise that can be called on when required or even hands on help. Be prepared to give away a larger percentage of your business than you first envisage, you can make this a mixture of ordinary and preferential shares if you are a limited company and most important of all make sure you have agreed how the business will be valued when it is time to buy the investors share back.

Finally, make sure you like and can get on with your potential investor, there is nothing worse than working with someone you do not get on with knowing there is nothing you can do about it for several years.