In this episode of the Chronicles from a Caribbean Cubicle podcast, Francis Wade reads his Jamaica Gleaner article titled “Why your kids shouldn’t migrate but stay to run your business.” He argues that Jamaican business owners often push their children to seek careers abroad, believing foreign opportunities are superior, while neglecting the value of family‑owned enterprises and intergenerational wealth. Wade draws on his own 21‑year experience living in the United States and 15 years back in Jamaica, noting that many migrants end up dissatisfied, isolated, and financially strained, and that their parents’ lack of succession planning leads to loss of wealth when the founders die. He presents three core recommendations: (1) recognize and value the material advantages already built into the family business rather than over‑estimating foreign opportunities; (2) understand the real challenges of starting over in a new country, which are often underestimated; and (3) begin succession planning early by involving children in the business, teaching them to appreciate and eventually inherit the enterprise. The piece is a call to Jamaicans to reconsider the habit of exporting the next generation and to preserve wealth through home‑grown business continuity.
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Hello and welcome back to Chronicles from a Caribbean Cubicle podcast. This is Francis Wade, and here's an article I wrote for the Jamaica Gleaner. It's entitled: Why your kids shouldn't migrate but stay to run your business. If you own a company, should you encourage your children to one day take an ownership position? Or should they pursue a more lucrative career overseas? We Jamaicans need to challenge our habit of exporting the next generation. My son is a pediatrician in New York. There are few things that give a Jamaican parent more pride than the apparent success of their child in a foreign country. He may be miserable, divorced, and barely making ends meet in a cold corner of the South Bronx, but these dull facts are disregarded in the telling of the tale. His parents could even own a profitable business in a small town, the sole supplier of an essential good or service. Their life may be comfortable. They live well below their means as they navigate a world they understand. When the son complains about his life, they tell him to stay put, Things are far worse back home. But are they? I lived on both sides of the equation, 21 years in the USA returning 15 years ago. I met scores of Jamaicans overseas trapped in jobs or neighborhoods they hated. They longed to return to what they knew but couldn't. Few re-migrate from Canada, the UK, or America even after the environment becomes hostile. In the meantime, their parent owners did no succession planning. Eventually, these founders passed away, forcing their children to come back to pick up the pieces. There are countless versions of the above scenario. It's a sad accumulation of small, seemingly disconnected decisions that result in a huge loss of intergenerational wealth. Here are 3 new thoughts that might help. Number 1: Don't overestimate what you have here. In error, we Jamaicans often think we are special, facing problems that no one in the rest of the world has. For example, someone who struggled to start their own business believes that if they had only been born in America, they would have had an easier path to success. As such, they encourage their children to migrate to a life with fewer obstacles. Unfortunately, they don't realize the advantage they already have. Their company has figured out how to succeed and is now a big and growing fish in a small pond. This advantage is hard to comprehend when viewed from home, but the global research is clear. Most wealthy families pass on material advantages from one generation to the next. I know too many Jamaican families who ignore this fact encouraging the next generation to abandon the massive lead their forefathers created. Sometimes it's due to shame, a belief that what is Jamaican or Black cannot be good. Fortunately, this opinion is changing, but there are local families destroying value by reflexively pushing their children to study and live overseas, no matter what. Number 2: 2. Don't overestimate the challenge of starting over. I have spoken to a few Jamaicans before they migrate, and the overwhelming impression I have is that they equate a move to another country with one to a place like Montego Bay. In other words, they naively believe it won't be that hard to transition. Part of the problem are the falsehoods returning Jamaicans tell. With newly acquired accents, clothes, and pictures of cars, they defend their decision to migrate by exaggerating life in their new country. I did too. The false impression it leaves is that migrating from Jamaica is an accomplishment. In fact, it's more a case of swapping brown dog for monkey. To wit, most of us know several dogs but have never seen a single monkey. The truth? When I lived in the US, most of the Jamaicans I met wished they could return, a majority that Trump and COVID-19 have probably increased. Why? While there are exceptions to the rule, most migrants who left family businesses behind struggle to achieve the quality of life their parents had back home. Living abroad is hard, and it's new. Research shows that the combination delays business success and, in the case of a family-owned enterprise, permanently disrupts the transfer of wealth. 3. Starting too late. If there is any truth to the two mistakes described above, the best time to start correcting them is as soon as you, a company owner, have children. While this shouldn't be promised an easy ride, it's a good idea to teach them to love and cherish the business they could inherit. One day, their appreciation may pay off if they choose to stay home to keep the chain alive. While you shouldn't force them, their decision to continue what you began can do more than make you proud. It can build a solid foundation that serves generations to come.
