Total Package With John Pinder - October 19 2026

[00:00:00] Speaker A: This is Guardian Radio 96.9 FM streaming on guardiantalkradio.com and the Guardian Radio app, Nassau, Bahamas. The views and opinions of the hosts and guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the [00:00:18] Speaker B: management and staff of Guardian Radio. Sam. Da da da da da da da da. [00:01:11] Speaker A: Have night money [00:01:15] Speaker B: we make it before we see you take it oh, make me want to. Good evening, good evening, good evening, good evening. Welcome to another edition of Total Package. This is your host, John Pinder. I'm coming to you live From Guardian Radio 96.9 down here in Nassau, right off Nassau street in the capital of the Bahamas. And today, just before I start this show, I want to make sure I remember to send my condolences to my good buddy Sparky Fountain, who has passed since I last had this show. You know, last Monday was a holiday, so I had a break there and Sparky passed. Man, it was kind of sad, very sad, you know, because Spikey had called the show one day, the last show just before we was taking the calls and I had invited him the call, but he didn't get a chance to call back. And next thing I know he was on the way to the hospital or waiting to see Dr. And next thing I know, Sparky bid us farewell. So I want to send a special condolences out to his family. I pray that almighty God will strengthen you during this hour of bereavement. And may Sparky's soul rest in peace. He certainly would be missed. You know, he was the weights of those who didn't know how to call these talk shows and talk and every talk show host know if they don't get any call, they can hear Sparky voice. And so he's going to be really missed, especially from the number one talk show radio station in the Bahamas, Guardian Radio 96.9. My show is being sponsored by the BPSHAU union and that's union headed by President Simonet and that's the Bahamas Public Service Health and Allied Workers Union. And you know, they're doing a pretty good job making sure their members are being taken care of. And so I want to send a special shout out to Harlem members for sponsoring this show. I know there's another union or two supposed to be coming on board and hopefully next week I'll have one of those union presidents on the show. I think you tab President Fish up to be on the show probably next week. I need to confirm that also it'll be being sponsored by diamond launch my good buddy down on Prince Charles 1 Hubert Smith runs the Diamond Launch. It's a nice little restaurant down there. He's famous for his Taco Tuesday and his karaoke and all the good music. You want to do a little dancing, go down there. The Diamond Launch just across the street from Ashley's Furniture. Now, hopefully you don't go in as flooded. To his boy, for some reason, Arthur Prince Charles was raised doing the road pavement project. Smitty tends to get flooded. So we hope that miniature works. We'll do something about that. Put some drains down there so Smitty can stop getting flooded. All right, and then SMITH AIR CONDITIONING 1 Cecil Smith, mostly known to everybody as picks. You know, he has more of a commercial type air conditioning business that he deals with. So you got a commercial building, you want some good reliable air conditioning at an affordable price, Go down there on Abundant Life Road and see Spitty. If he's not there, he's got a very good team in place. They'll take care of you. If you call my name, they may give you a 10 cent discount, you know, but for all your commercial air conditioning needs, check Spiti down there on Abundant Light Rose. And then of course, you know, Divine Cafe. One Kim. Everybody knows Kim down there right next door, what used to be store electrical. She's right there, you know, came out of all those delicious meals. Oh, man. Okra soup and stew, conkin, boiled fishing, Stew, fishing, conkin, ricin, fried fishing. You name it, Kim got it. And you know, she got the macaroni and cheese for side order with the coleslaw and the potato salad, the fried plants. Hey, name it, Kim got it, man. Even if you go there in the morning, you may even be able to get a nice hot cup of coffee or tea, you know. You know, so she got it going down there. I want to thank Divine Cafe for their sponsor also. And of course, last but by no means least, my good friend down there on the corner of Market street and Wolf Road. One big score, you know, actually, you know, it's amazing that, you know, most places in the Bahamas knows that if you go down there, you can get the best deals in town. And boy, in N Out bar, right down there, wholesale, he got some new specials on there. Man, you're not gonna believe these special prices. Big score, guy. Big score is now selling Pierre Marcel. He got the rose, he got the white, he got the red. And listen, man, he's supplied by Courage Liquor, the wholesale distributor for that. And he's got some awesome prices. You can get it at $9 a bottle or you can get three bottles at $20. Can't beat that. You couldn't beat that with an egg beater. Listen, man, go down there, you can mix and match. You don't forget. All the same, you get one rose, one red, one white. You get two rose, one red, you get two red, one rose, you go down and mix it up. And Big score will take care of you right down there at his location on the corner of Wolf and Market Street. All right? And coming very soon, he's getting his kitchen together. He's gonna have a nice restaurant there for you where you'll be able to get good tasting sauce and some good tasting food down there right there on the corner of Wolf and Market Street. So go on and check out the inn and no bar, right? And so today I'm gonna have a special guest. He's in studio with me already. He's already here in studio with me. And we're gonna be talking about the challenges that small business owner owners in particular face with these small business owners, you know, especially when it comes to the renewal of their business license. Especially this year, man, you know, they gotta go through making sure they get their. The tax compliance thing in place. They gotta make sure environmental health checked them out. The police force guide checked them out. Physical plan guy checked them out. The ministry of waste guy checked them out. All these things had to go through to renew this business license this year. The only thing that baffles me, though, this physical plan thing, I don't know, maybe my special guest would be able to help me out with that. Because physical plan normally checks the location of these business establishments, ensure that they're in compliance. But the problem is this one person I know being challenged with a renewal of a liquor license because they say that the law is now you got to be 700ft away from a church, 700ft away from a church. And in some cases saying business got to be a certain amount of feet away from a school, all this kind of thing. But hey, if you had that business for the last seven to 10 years, man, and you've been getting a business license, how do you now tell that particular business person, hey, you gotta back your building another 500ft from the church? I like the fact that they're trying to protect, I guess, the dignity of the church on a Sunday. For those who visit on Sundays, have Sunday as your Sabbath. But hey, boy, Eddie Minnesota had one song with Elutra and he said they built a bar next to the church to Arthur Marsh, he could drink in Christ. So maybe Eddie's now responsible for causing the government, hey, we got to back these bars away from the church. But I don't know how you can move your stone building if you've been there for X amount of years. I don't know. I trying to figure out who came up with the idea of this physical plan thing as an inspection for your business license to be renewed. But anyhow, I don't know who's making these decisions and how they think about it because, you know, it's difficult to tell somebody who's been in business for a number of years you gotta now move your building, your building not in compliance. And then when you see some other persons who should be in compliance with some other businesses, they near schools. Hello. We gotta be really careful. We want to make sure we are being there's a level playing field and there's no discrimination based on who you are. So please, I hope whoever is responsible for that policy will review that and make sure everybody, if one of them comply, all must comply. But it's very difficult to shut a business down if they've been there for a long time. So hopefully this physical planting is a one time thing. It doesn't make much sense to me for these old businesses to have to go to the physical planting. And it's a stressful process. Very stressful. But I believe later on in the show when my guest starts to make his contribution, we're going to be able to touch on these things. So without any further delay, let me say to you who my special guest is for this evening show. All right, before I do it, my first show, I dealt with employees and the Employment act and the issues that a number of persons were faced with when they sign off on some of these wake contracts. These wake contracts that sometimes in violation of the Employment act or ultraviolet to the Employment Act. And so we try to educate employees to don't rush to sign off on a WAIC contract before you make sure it is in compliance with the act. And then we looked at some of the laws governing trade union movements and the government control over it. That's the Industrial Relations Act. We went through that on my second show. I'm just trying to make sure people, especially the trade union woman, educated and the employer knows the role that the trade union plays. And they are supposed to be trying to run your business or take over your business, but they want a partnership with you in the best interest of your employees and their membership. Okay. And then I went on my toy show when I had my daughter as my special Guest, she's a compliance specialist and we spoke about compliance and the importance of being able to comply. And my Last guest was Mr. Lionel Evans. When my daughter was Kierstan Upinder, my last guest was Lionel Evans. We talk about the advancement or how business is now moving in the age of technology and all the AIs and AI specialists, we talk about how really computers and technology is replacing human beings in the workplace and so how do they prepare themselves to ensure that they remain relevant in the workplace. So tonight we want to talk about ease of doing business or how difficult it is for people to do business in the Bahamas to get a business license, all that sort of thing. And so I want to introduce my guest. My special guest tonight is one Patrick Smith. He is ba, cpa, CIA. He's an audit auditor and business consultant for small business and medium sized businesses. And this is the man who's going to make sure you are in compliance in order for you to get your business license renewed. Welcome, Patrick. It's a pleasure having you here. [00:13:12] Speaker A: Thank you very much. Thank you very much, John. It's my pleasure to be here. I feel honored to have been invited to come and participate on your show. And good evening, Bahamas. Hello to all my friends who may be listening. And I hope that our conversation tonight adds value to everybody's knowledge about the process of doing business in the Bahamas. [00:13:41] Speaker B: Thank you. [00:13:43] Speaker A: With emphasis on business licenses. [00:13:45] Speaker B: Very good, very good. Yes, yes, yes. I think the small business people inside business is going to really benefit if they're here, if they listen out. So if you're listening to this show right now and you have a friend who own a business or trying to start a small business or a medium sized business, you want to call them and tell them. Tune in right now to Guardian Radio 96.9. We're going to give you some other ways in which you can reach us in a minute, but I just wanted to make sure you know our guesses and what we would be discussing. All right, just before the break, I'll give you some other ways to reach us. If you're on cable, Bahamas television, you can reach us at channel969. If you're on Facebook, you can reach [email protected] and I'll give you some numbers in a little while. You can even call us in Texas. Let me just get started with this show because boy, Patrick and I was flying and I want to make sure people is able to get all the information necessary because, you know, once you start the show like the minutes don't have 60 seconds anymore. 50, sometimes 45. But my first question to you, Patrick, what are the requirements to start a business in the Bahamas? [00:15:09] Speaker A: Well, okay, to put it that. Since you put the question that way, [00:15:11] Speaker B: and I know there's some new laws that came into effect and all that. Educators on this stuff, right? [00:15:16] Speaker A: Yeah. First of all, anyone can start a business once they meet the requirements, the basic requirements. You know, you need to have a business plan, you need to have a business or potential business, and you need to apply to Department of Inland Revenue. And it's an online process. So you would go online and complete the forms and you would get started. Now, some persons have a challenge with going online, but unfortunately that's the way things are set up nowadays. So once you go online, they would ask you personal questions. They would ask you questions about the business you're planning to open up and get licensed and so on and so forth. And they would want to know your location, what type of business you're running, location, how many employees, your revenue expectations and things like that. And once you complete all of this, then it will take you to the next step. [00:16:39] Speaker B: Okay, So I know a lot of persons who want to start businesses. They tend to always worry about having to have some accountants, some look at their books and whatever cost them, and they oftentimes want to make sure they can afford these services. Capital is the main thing you need to get started. There's some businesses that you got to buy stocks and, you know, make sure you have your building or whatever it may cost you to pay rent or a lease or that sort of thing. What advice do you give people who really want to start business? And they tend to have a small bit of capital, but they get a big idea in their minds. [00:17:31] Speaker A: That's a tough one, John. If you have a small amount of capital, I think personally, they should start off with something that they can handle. Otherwise, you're going to get into a situation where you have to be looking for financing, bringing in partners, and you may not want to do that at an early stage. So the first thing is to identify what you really want to do and determine what you think is a niche market. In other words, we have about. You have a conglomeration of liquor stores, for example, and then we have a lot of chicken shacks. Right. So many persons are doing those types of businesses. So you may want to give some thought to exactly what you want to do that only a few other persons are doing. And that way you would have a possible advantage at the outset in attracting a set of clients or customers who may support you in the medium to long run. [00:18:49] Speaker B: That's a very good answer because you know the minute you open with a Chicken Shack on the corner and somebody pass you, five people standing there, oh boy, Patrick making money off Chicken Shack and he open one of them too. They don't check to see if there's a need for another Chicken Shack or some other restaurant or some little bar or whatever you want to do in the area. People tend to look to see what they think selling. They know food to sell. But how important is it? Well, before I go to that question, how long does this process take for you to get this business? How long does that process take? [00:19:19] Speaker A: Well, once the forms are completed online, I think they tell you they would get back to you within a week, but I've never seen it happen that quickly. Key to the process is following up once you've submitted everything, you may get a reply saying we need additional information. Or they may tell you that you've been approved or they may ask you do you want to also apply for VAT at the very outset? As you know, VAT is not always mandatory, but it could be voluntary. But if you think your business is going to do 100,000 or more, which is the minimum threshold, it would be required. So you have to think about all of these things and that way you can minimize the time and effort. I would also highly recommend that persons aspiring to do a small business that they would engage the services of a, if a competent accountant who can assist them with setting up a structure, a framework for their business, giving them some advice. It doesn't have to be an expensive venture, but it would be even more expensive if you try to do everything with limited business knowledge and you end up making mistakes and having to backtrack several times before you actually get going. [00:20:53] Speaker B: So, so if you. So if you're making less than 100,000, you have to be. You have to apply for VAT. [00:20:58] Speaker A: No, no, it's not mandatory. But if it's voluntary, if you want to be signed up to collect VAT and file a VAT return to pay the vat. [00:21:11] Speaker B: So the advantage of signing up for VAT again is the VAT return. [00:21:15] Speaker A: Yeah, but that's not really, in my view, that's not really desirable because you're adding to your costs if you voluntarily. [00:21:23] Speaker B: Right, right, right, right. [00:21:24] Speaker A: You're adding to your cost to the customers and then you have to turn it back over to the government through a tax return that you have to file on A quarterly basis. [00:21:34] Speaker B: Okay, so would be making 100,000. You, it's mandatory, pay it away. Suppose a business is making 100,000, but suppose you start making like 85,000 and by next year you're making more than 100,000. How important is for you to now comply with the VAT laws? [00:21:51] Speaker A: Well, honesty is. Honesty and compliance go together. And the Inland Revenue people would expect you to advise them that you have crossed $100,000 threshold. And then they would require you to register for VAT so that you become an agent of the government. Government, so to speak. You authorize, you get a VAT certificate, registration certificate, you authorize to collect vat. You're authorized to deduct your VAT paid out for business related expenses and you can file a VAT return to turn over the net amount to the government on a quarterly basis. Most of, for most companies. [00:22:35] Speaker B: So it started actuated. So like I say, oftentimes people watch other persons start a business, it appears to be successful. And so they say, you know what, let me just try that too. What makes a business very successful? [00:22:54] Speaker A: Okay. A well run business has, first of all they have to be committed to what they're trying to accomplish business wise. [00:23:06] Speaker B: Right? [00:23:07] Speaker A: They can't be saying, okay, I'm going to start this business. And they start out and they have three good months and then they have a bad month and then they have two good months and then they have a bad month and then they ready to quit after six or seven months. So they have to have commitment to the idea of running their business. They have to have honest, competent and trustworthy staff. The management as well has to be very ethical and fair with the staff. And they have to be, they have to have good to great customer service in order to be a success. Otherwise customers may have an issue and not come back frequently or not at all. Their pricing has to be reasonable. In some cases, if the customer service is so excellent, a business can get away with slightly higher prices because people are buying into the service and the quality of the supplies and goods or services that are being sold. So once those things are in order, primarily, and I'm not reading from a script, I'm just. Those are some of the elements that make for a successful business. [00:24:35] Speaker B: How important is parking and easy access and ambience to a business in the Providence? [00:24:43] Speaker A: That's very, very important. Unless you're running a business that's like an online business and everybody or 95% of everybody, they just order and stuff gets delivered or trans shipped to them somehow. But Parking is very important. And you know, looking around New Providence, I've seen a lot of cases over the years where persons build huge buildings and they only have enough parking for a few customers. And in fact, with almost everybody having their own motor vehicle now, a lot of the staff takes up the parking. So there's very little left for the customers and potential customers. And some people, quite frankly, you know, they go somewhere, it's a problem to park, and so they end up leaving. You know, they'll try to come back later or maybe not at all. [00:25:41] Speaker B: I'm looking at that beautiful community center for the Centerville constituency. Very large building. And you know, violin may not be a business per se, but you know, people want to rent that for meetings and wedding receptions or parties. But that very large building, beautiful building, but that can park 120 cars. [00:26:00] Speaker A: Where exactly is it again? [00:26:02] Speaker B: This is on east street and Ross Corner. Is that Ross Corner? East street and Ross Corner. Beautiful building. I like it. Really nice. [00:26:08] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. Well, I mean, unless they have a plan just to cater mainly to the residents right in the area. [00:26:16] Speaker B: But I can tell you Fox Community center got one. We get a little more parking than I've seen. People always rent that for specialty. Men's mind. Always rent. And that's what's going to happen with all of these community centers. They're really doing a good job. It's a beautiful one down there. Nassau Village, same thing. Not much parking, you know, But I would hope that moving forward, guys who building these nice, lovely buildings, man, start to use the bottom floor for parking and build up. We have God ain't getting us no more land. We could go up in the sky. We can't spread out. We may have to start to do like how the parking is down there at the old Hiltons, what used to be the Hiltons hotel, that hotel there. You know, all that parking. You may have considered the first two levels of your building. May have to be parking underneath there. [00:27:03] Speaker A: And then you go, well, that's easier said than done. Joint because. Because see, now when you're saying, when you're proposing to build parking on the ground and put the building above it, that requires much heavier infrastructure, much stronger infrastructure. [00:27:20] Speaker B: I agree. [00:27:21] Speaker A: So that the building don't happen to collapse. So you're gonna have to have engineering work at a higher level to ensure the safety, make sure it's safe enough to be passed. [00:27:36] Speaker B: You gotta be the Ministry of Works requirements. [00:27:39] Speaker A: My Ministry of Works and Town Planning or Department of Physical Planning. Yeah, right. That's where those guys come In. [00:27:45] Speaker B: So there's a couple places around here have it, you know, Town center mall has it, you know. Anyhow, hopefully we will reach that level where we start to look at going up in the air rather than spreading out on the ground because we'd be dissing enough land. Unlike Grand Bahama parking, mind you. And those parking space in Grand Mama ain't tight. You can open the two doors and you ain't touching the next guy next to you. But Grand Mama have a lot of. A lot of land and so that may, you know, be the advantage. [00:28:13] Speaker A: And a lot less people. [00:28:14] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. [00:28:15] Speaker A: And a lot less cars. [00:28:17] Speaker B: Yeah, that's true. But you know, as the economy now that ain't. You can't blame grandma. But grandma that properly laid out and they just said the port have some rules and regulations you got to follow. So I'm not saying it has nothing to do with it. It has to do with proper planning. That's what it is. They laid it properly and they're proper planning. That's the reason why they look so good. [00:28:40] Speaker A: Speaking of rules and regulations, right. I want to throw in a little plug here for Department of Inland Revenue. Not that I'm a great fan of them, but you know, we've come a long way with our tax management system over the years. And while it's a burden on many, including myself, it's hard to pay tax, especially if it's increasing. You know, it's well organized and the legislation is very comprehensive. I want to encourage persons who are desirous of doing business. Don't be afraid. Get in contact with a small business practitioner. It may or may not be an accountant, right. Someone who knows the ropes and get your stuff done the right way from the beginning in compliance with the tax laws. Since that they are here and they're not going anywhere. You have to be in compliance. So I want to encourage persons not to be afraid to move forward with their plans just because of the existence of tax requirements and compliance. It's here, so we have to deal with it and we can work around that and we can work with that in coexistence and you know, that's it. You know. [00:30:08] Speaker B: Any idea what you think the pre course will be? To just get the licenses sort of, you know. [00:30:13] Speaker A: The what? [00:30:14] Speaker B: Just to get the business licenses sorted out to start a new business. And you had a bit, of course to be, I believe some. Maybe some legal fees in there and some other stuff. I don't know any other way. [00:30:25] Speaker A: No, no. [00:30:26] Speaker B: Especially for small business. [00:30:27] Speaker A: No, there. There doesn't have to be any legal fees. Now they have to have a. If they are incorporated, an incorporated company, they have to present their certificate of incorporation. [00:30:37] Speaker B: Okay. [00:30:37] Speaker A: And some information. [00:30:39] Speaker B: Bigger business and some. [00:30:41] Speaker A: It could be small, but incorporated. [00:30:43] Speaker B: Okay? [00:30:44] Speaker A: So they have to present their certificate of incorporation and some information on the shareholders of the business and perhaps a certificate of good standing to show that they've been in compliance with Registrar General, things like that. And. And you know, they don't really have to get a lawyer at that point. You only call lawyers and you get involved. [00:31:07] Speaker B: You're being an accountant. Yes, yes. You're being an accountant. [00:31:10] Speaker A: And we do need them, you know, [00:31:11] Speaker B: we need them just as they need you. [00:31:13] Speaker A: They're very important part of the overall functionality of businesses. And. Yeah, and they need accountants as well. The accountants are very essential. So, you know, we all have to coexist and get things done for benefit of the client. [00:31:29] Speaker B: When we come back again and look at some more aspects of doing business in the Bahamas and ease of doing business. But right now, we're going to take our first break. We built her after these messages. [00:31:46] Speaker A: Wait, why you look so mashed up like clothes at the washer? No. Nobody. Just a hard day. Hard day. What happened? The breakfast lady ran out of tuna and gritsy. We need to start joking about everything. You know, this serious bite is real serious. But it was serious. [00:31:58] Speaker B: Tell me. [00:31:58] Speaker A: All right. Well, today boss give his boy one big, big contract and nobody else get a chance. And nobody say nothing. [00:32:04] Speaker B: Boy, you know that ain't right. [00:32:06] Speaker A: You know government contracts ain't supposed to go that way. Yeah, but nobody's saying nothing. Boss man just tell people to sign the papers. Then he sent me to meet his boy downtown to collect this envelope. You need to tell somebody. You need to become a whistleblower. [00:32:17] Speaker B: You know I a real man, but [00:32:18] Speaker A: I never blow no whistle. [00:32:19] Speaker B: I be drunk all my life in Junko. [00:32:21] Speaker A: No way. [00:32:21] Speaker B: A whistleblower is someone who tells people what they see when they see something wrong happening at work. [00:32:26] Speaker A: But I ain't no whistleblower and I ain't no snitch. I still white there. You know, ain't nobody going to with you. [00:32:30] Speaker B: All you got to do is call Crime Stoppers. [00:32:32] Speaker A: Or you could text them from inside the Crack Crime Bahamas app. They don't ask about you. And your call goes straight through to Miami. [00:32:39] Speaker B: So nobody know you is. [00:32:40] Speaker A: And if you text, your message get mixed up like kong salad. [00:32:42] Speaker B: Call 328-8477 from Nassau or 2423-00847. [00:32:46] Speaker A: 7 from the family Islands for fast, [00:32:49] Speaker B: reliable and impactful printing services. Look no further. Let Printmasters bring your masterpiece to life. We stand by our quality products that are second to none. Our affordable, pricing and friendly, efficient staff makes Print Masters the ultimate choice for all your printing needs. We can deliver any type of printing services from banners to booklets to business cards. You name it, we can print it. Let Print Masters bring your masterpiece to Located the Nassau Guardian Building Telephone 302-2361 [00:33:18] Speaker A: Always on the go Miss the show? You can now listen to Guardian Room [00:33:22] Speaker B: Radio talk shows anytime, anywhere on Spotify and YouTube by searching Guardian Radio 96.9 [00:33:29] Speaker A: FM or by entering the name of your favorite show. You can also listen by logging on [00:33:34] Speaker B: to guardiantalkradio.com and clicking on the Podcast tab. [00:33:38] Speaker A: Guardian Radio continuing to provide you with fresh news and smart talk anywhere, anytime, all day. Loss of family members is very isolating [00:33:48] Speaker B: and people who have experienced loss appreciate [00:33:50] Speaker A: when others have shared their grief. If you can't be there in person, go to the Nassau Guardian's website [email protected] and visit our obituary link. The Nassau Guardian's interactive obituary link allows you to read the funeral announcement, express condolences or place photos on the online guestbook for one full year. Losing a loved one is painful, but that pain isn't the worst thing to happen. Friends, loved ones, colleagues and neighbors who ignore the loss compound the pain. Should the bereaved family wish to place the obituary and photos on our obituary site, just contact the Guardian's funeral industry partners or the Nassau Guardian. [00:34:27] Speaker B: Remember, there isn't one magic right thing [00:34:30] Speaker A: to say to someone experiencing loss that would make the loss less painful or easier to bear. The Nassau Guardian's obituary link available online at thenassa guardian.com Foreign. This is Guardian Radio, your station for up to the minute news and intelligent, interactive and engaging conversations. 96.9 FM. [00:35:12] Speaker B: Welcome back to Toll Package. Your host John Pendleton, my special guest one Patrick Smith and you're listening to Guardian Radio 96.9. We are streaming live audio and video on GuardianTalkRadio.com or you can listen us by cable TV channel 969 float TV channel 612. You can also download the Guardian Radio app for your Apple Device smartphone device. You can listen to us free or watch us on our video feed right here on Guiding Radio app. Okay if you want to call our show but if you want to text us you let me give you the text number for you. If you want to text us you can text us at 422-4796. That's 422-4796. And we are powered by BTC. Or if you want to call us on the live lines, our line numbers are 323-6232 or 325-4316 or 325-4259. Or you can call it toll free from the Family Islands. If you're listening to the Family Islands and you want to tune in, you want to get some answers to how to start your business or how to be in compliance to get your business license renewed, you're in the Family Islands, you're not too sure and you need some help, you can call us at 242-300-5720. That's 242-35-720. All right. So that's how you can tune into the show. And if you're listening to the show, I see some people texting me, call us, don't be afraid. You can call us, let us know if you're enjoying the show and what questions you want to ask and if we are right on point. Okay, Patrick. So on our break we are talking about the physical plan aspect. And you're saying that it only applies to first time business and for example, business licenses. [00:37:25] Speaker A: Yes. [00:37:26] Speaker B: And to this new policy that the government has introduced. [00:37:31] Speaker A: Right. The business license application for first time always includes inspections by Department of Physical Planning, dpp, Ministry of Works, Department of Environmental Health and also the Police department. So I was telling John that those requirements do not come into play for renewals. I've been doing renewals for many years now. And the accountants have a specific role in the renewal process. Excuse me. And we go through our procedures, checking the results as they relate to. Excuse me. As they relate to the business. And it doesn't involve any of the agencies that I just mentioned. Okay. Those are called the, that application at the, for the first business license is called the Consolidated Consolidated Consolidated Agencies application. So it's a bit of a task. You have to complete a form for four agencies in one session and the information goes to their respective websites or portals. They're supposed to get back to you in a timely manner. Now there's been some difficulty with that over the years by my experience and others that I know. And you usually have to follow up to get that completed and get them signed off, get everything signed off by Administrative Works and Physical Planning, Brand Mental Health and the police, if it's applicable for them as well. But the renewal process doesn't involve that. Now, I'm Going to morph off into something else here that's become very prominent in recent times and that is the changes made with respect to the liquor establishments and also restaurants and bars. And many of us have clients who run these types of businesses. And the process was. It was promoted by dir and of course there was a lot of resistance, but the law prevailed. And so the process, all of the owners of the bars and restaurants, restaurants and bars and liquor stores had to undergo a process whereby they were inspected by these same four entities and the police, of course. And the process was very long. I had a couple of clients that had to undergo it. Well, I have one client. It seemingly took forever and we felt very confident. We knew we had submitted everything that they requested, but they took a long, long time. He finally got his restaurant and bar license for 20, 26. I think it was mid September. Yeah, mid to late September. So we are thankful that it's finally in place. But I'm understanding, and I could be wrong, I'm understanding that DIR will do repeat this process every year for restaurants and bars and liquor stores. [00:41:21] Speaker B: You mean including physical plan? [00:41:23] Speaker A: That's my understanding, but I could be wrong. Perhaps. Perhaps someone who has specific information can [00:41:30] Speaker B: call this or that, because far as I know, physical plan deals with the physical location of the business. That's my understanding of it. Because ministry always goes and does inspection to make sure you have the exit signs up, the fire extinguishers are working, you have a bathroom, you have exhaust fans. Have a major witch. [00:41:48] Speaker A: Does the police as well? [00:41:50] Speaker B: Okay, the police also. I think it starts with the police. Yeah. And then Rahman has make sure, you know, you're environmentally clean and whatever else have you. So, I don't know, a little confused on this physical plan. [00:42:01] Speaker A: Yeah. Perhaps you'll get a call in or a text that will clarify the renewal, the renewal process for the lekka licenses and the restaurants and bars. [00:42:13] Speaker B: So who goes first? Because I have knowledge of a business that do all the renovations necessary to be in compliance, and now they're being told that it's being denied because you're not X amount of feet away from a particular church. Shouldn't they have known that before they'd gone and make all these. Did all this renovation to be in compliance? [00:42:41] Speaker A: I would think so, based on the way you presented it. Because the business is in the same physical location. [00:42:47] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:42:48] Speaker A: For many years. [00:42:48] Speaker B: For many years. [00:42:49] Speaker A: Yeah. So I don't know why the requirement would arise this time to say that you have to be. I think it's further distance of a New. [00:43:01] Speaker B: I think the same thing applies to the number of businesses you got to be feed away from, taking change and the school. Schools in particular advise also. But you see, this has been going on for years. I think these rules already apply to new businesses. Before you start a new business or open a new business, make sure you're 700ft away from the church, 700ft away from the primary school or a school or whatever the requirements are. [00:43:27] Speaker A: Yes, that seems reasonable. And it would only be up to the inspectors and the enforcement agencies to make sure that what is required is what is done. Okay? They have to be vigilant and make sure that the terms and conditions are fully adhered to. [00:43:47] Speaker B: Once again, we are sponsored by the Bahamas Public Service Health and Allied Workers Union. We also sponsored by Diamond Launch down there on press chargers. That's opposite Ashley's furniture store. We also sponsored by Smith's Air Conditioning on Abundant Life Road deals mostly with commercial air conditioning systems. But you can go and check them out if you need something for your house, you know, any central air condition, that sort of thing. The wine cafe down there on Mackay street, just next door to the store's electrical walls. Kim, always have some juicy food, very delicious food ready for you. And so you can go down there and make sure that I know you heard it on this total package show. All right? And then rise again. Complex down there on Wolf and Market Street. In and out bar, big six down there. Sorry, big score down there. Big score, big score, big score down there, you know, and you get this special going on once again, let me tell you. But this special big skit go get going on now with the Pierre Marcel wine. He get rose, red, white and you get a bottle for $9. Or you can get three bottles for 20 bucks. That's a good saving because, you know, nine changes to 27 if you buy one bottle each. If you buy two bottles, 18 bucks. You cheap as well throw two more boxes and get. Get yourself three bottles and you can mix it. You don't have to get all the same. You can also buy your wholesale. You can get some wholesale bears from down there too. You know, you get Galik. You got a variety of the regular beers that you drink at some good prices, very good prices. Go down and check it out. You can buy wholesale bears also. So you're having this function, you know, Thanksgiving is coming up. You want to make sure you get your supplies well actually before Thanksgiving, we got Halloween coming up. You got Halloween coming up. So if you plan to have a Halloween party and you Want to make sure you get your wine and your refreshments. Go down there, check out in and out on Wolf and Market street and tell Big Score you heard it on Total Package show and he gave you a discount. He promised me he'd give you, you know, if you spend $100, he give you a dollar discount. Now you check it out. The prices are very good down there, in and out. And get ready for the restaurants coming very soon. You can hear more about that a little later. All right, so like for you to patronize our sponsors, you know, and so that we can give you more time, you know, buy more time and you can hear us more often and probably get a better time. You know, some people say that they record the show, listen to it when they get back home from doing what they have to do. Some people say they kept the last part of the show, but we're going to negotiate for some more time and hopefully it'll be more convenient for you. But hey, we give you good information on each of these shows, man, and it's important for you to get that information. You can always go back and listen to the other stuff, do the other stuff you may be doing. All right, so check us out. Listening to guiding radio 96.9. All right? And we're gonna give you the best shows for you to be entertained and be informed. All right, so this evening, my guest once again is Patrick Smith. Patrick is a cpa, CIA, and a medium and small size business consultant. Any problem you have, you can call Patrick. Patrick, you can take some more customers. [00:47:45] Speaker A: Yeah, that would be welcome. Although I'm not heavily in the market at this time, but you know, I always try to assist persons who are in need. I'm still very active. Some people think I'm retired, but I'm actually very active and I'm available to assist where needed. [00:48:06] Speaker B: You want to give them a number, they can reach out. [00:48:08] Speaker A: Oh, my number. 2425-5787-2124-2557-8721. [00:48:16] Speaker B: And once again, if you want to call this show, you can reach us at 323-6232. That's 323-6232 or 32543 16. 325-4316 or 325-4259. If you're in the family Islands, you want to hit us up, you can call us toll free. 242-300-5720. That's 242-357-20. [00:48:58] Speaker A: All right. [00:48:59] Speaker B: And so we appreciate hearing from you. And too often they tell me, oh, man, your show is informative and educational. And so you just listen. No, I want you to call. I need the boss to know that, you know, some people are listening to the show. And if you're enjoying the information, call us, let us know. I know, Patrick, got a lot of fans of those listening and they send in these smiles. No, call the show. We want to hear from you, man. So we can know, you know, that we are making an impact. You know, it's very important for us to do that. So, Patrick, one question I want to ask you. This one is not political, but it is touching on what the government is saying. Now tell me, what is the difference between making a net profit and having a revenue surplus? All this big talk about the surplus the government has been able to accomplish in the last fiscal year, and people are saying, I think the difference between [00:50:03] Speaker A: that and net profit, mixing the two of them. Okay, so, so let me say it this way, right? The net profit is a term that's used in financial reporting. It's called net profit, net income, comprehensive net income. And it's the difference between the revenues and the expenses. And in the Bahamas, Our approved reporting method is under the IFRS International Financial Reporting Standards, which requires the accrual based accounting. Okay, so an accrual based accounting means that the transactions are reported based on their effective date of the effective date of the revenue earned. In other words, you could bill someone September 29th, but they don't pay you until October 15th. That gets recorded in September because that's the effective date of the sale. Because the invoice is a legal document that certifies that you have completed services and you issuing a bill and you expect to be paid whether it's immediately or at a future date. All right? And then the expenses under the accrual basis, they are recognized once they are incurred. So I may get a bill from bpl, watercorp, from my landlord. I might get the bill again in September, but I may not pay it until October or even November or whenever. But the effective date of that expense is the date on the invoice. And so that has to be recorded in September. And it will be set up as an expense and accounts payable, payable in the future. On the income side, it will be revenue and accounts receivable. Now on the government side, and I'm not, I have never done any deep dive into government accounting, but I know that they are on the cash basis. They are on the cash basis. And so the surplus, the surplus has to Be the recurrent income that they collect from taxes, mainly from year to year. Well, from day to day, month to month, year to year, they collect all of these tax revenues, recurrent revenue, and then they have recurrent expenditures. But they use the cash basis to the best of my understanding. And so if something doesn't get paid in a particular period, it's not recognized during that period. It's recognized at the time when they collect it as revenue or when they pay it as an expense. That's my understanding of the surplus versus net profit. Hopefully that's helpful. [00:53:22] Speaker B: Yeah. So you could have a surplus, but that doesn't necessarily make its known profit. It's not a profit. It does a surplus in revenue. You anticipate collecting $2 billion worth of revenue. You end up collecting 2 billion plus an additional 39 million. So you have a surplus in revenue, but that doesn't mean that you made no profit. People think the thing I mean is some profit the government made. The government ain't make no profit. [00:53:44] Speaker A: Well, I mean, you know, the obligation is the thing, right? Even though they haven't paid something yet or haven't collected something, okay? The revenue is not realized, okay, until it's collected. And the obligation is not recognized until it's paid. So that's a distortion, you know, that creates a difference. Okay? Now, cash basis has its place. There are a lot of places small businesses tend to use cash basis, meaning that, hey, I'm only dealing with what I have in my hand, okay? If someone owes me, I'm not recognizable. [00:54:23] Speaker B: But if your accounts payable is more than your accounts receivable, outstanding accounts receivable, if the accounts payable, if you got more bills than the revenue anticipate to. To collect, you, you know, supposing on a net profit? [00:54:37] Speaker A: Well, yeah, those are two of the factors. But then there are other things that influence. [00:54:44] Speaker B: Is there other things you can do, bottom line? Yeah, yeah, yeah. The other thing you do. Do you think governments should set out when they do their budget to make a net profit or a surplus? Is that something that governments do? [00:54:59] Speaker A: They should always try to get a surplus, okay? Meaning they should always try to achieve a surplus. [00:55:05] Speaker B: And so if you were paying your tax in advance, a year in advance, the government adds that as revenue, as revenue. [00:55:14] Speaker A: Yep. [00:55:14] Speaker B: Yeah, but that ain't that for that for next year tax, but you just get it this year. [00:55:19] Speaker A: You're on the cash basis. [00:55:20] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So. But see, these things need to be clear because Bahamians don't fully understand what's [00:55:25] Speaker A: going On I may add to that too, John. Right. The tax system, both internationally and here as well, they're largely on the cash basis. So if some of your customers pay you fees in advance and that lands into your account, you could very well end up paying tax on it. Okay. Even though it's a payment, but they decide to prepay you. So the idea with tax, tax managers in different countries on here is that if you have the benefit of it, it's taxable. In other words, if you have it in your hand so, you know, you have to report it. [00:56:13] Speaker B: Got about 5 minutes left and I'm sure I'm gonna shift the conversation a little bit. [00:56:16] Speaker A: Please do. [00:56:18] Speaker B: I had a call from a trivia reporter on the weekend. She's asking my opinion on this whole increasing the age factor. Most people have the view that the government is trying to increase the retirement age factor by two more years to actually help nib because compared to nib, funds are being depleted. But they've been saying that for miles on the board. I've been on the NIB board under the last few England administration and we were exploring some things based on actuary, you know, saying that the, you know, the funds may be depleted. Actually supposed to be sometime by 2029. 2029, they're predicting that. Right. And my view is that, well, first of all, majority of the claims at nib, outside of the pensions being paid, majority of claims come in persons are sick for the most part. You know, once you're sick, you get 10 days off and then you claim NIB for your sickness or if there's an industrial injury, you can be off a year, you know, and before they fully decide to have a proper assessment done on you to determine whether you can get the invalidity thing or, you know, they can continue to heal you back to waking up condition. So my view is that I think we need to do more things to keep Bahamians healthy. For example, and I said this many years ago. [00:57:50] Speaker A: Excellent point. [00:57:51] Speaker B: Yeah. Many years ago I said this animal fat oil. We know these things are no good for you, clog up your arteries and all that sort of thing make you sick and then you end up, you can't go in the workplace, then you got to start claim from nib. Bahamians tend to be very obese because of the way we eat. We don't encourage good eating because it's very expensive to eat good and healthy in the Bahamas. Very expensive. And so I believe if the government look at reducing the taxes on good food even let's Say for the most part, I think people say, I don't explain on this, but I hear people saying that the olive oil is the best oil to use. [00:58:37] Speaker A: Okay, all right. [00:58:38] Speaker B: Rather than animal fat oil. But you can't afford an olive oil. [00:58:42] Speaker A: Well, seeing that we're running out of time, I'll just throw in a point here. So, I mean, you know, you talk about lowering the taxes on healthy foods, right. [00:58:56] Speaker B: Exercise equipment, all those other things. [00:58:58] Speaker A: And of course, probably 80, 85% of all we consume, food wise, is imported. [00:59:05] Speaker B: That's right. [00:59:06] Speaker A: So we really need to focus on building the agricultural industry so that we can, and the farming and [00:59:18] Speaker B: backyard farming [00:59:19] Speaker A: so that we can produce more for ourselves and eat healthier. Because a lot of us things they import are highly processed. [00:59:29] Speaker B: Yes. [00:59:29] Speaker A: And it'll be many, many years before, [00:59:32] Speaker B: you know, big chickens are now, man, I, I know what growing chickens are. My dad used to farm chicken as a young boy. And listen to me, man, the size of them chickens. I see. And these chickens get a size in four to six weeks, you know, so even, even that we gotta look at, look at that sort of thing to ensure that, you know. But I, but I want to say, I think if we reduce the course on vegetables or encourage more backyard farming and ban some things that shouldn't come to the country, they good for people. [01:00:02] Speaker A: Large scale farming as well. [01:00:04] Speaker B: Farmsea is more towards assisting with the large scale farming. But even if you learn to grow your own little tomato, your own little okra and your peas and things in the backyard, it helps a bit. It helps. It help. [01:00:17] Speaker A: It does, yeah. [01:00:18] Speaker B: Your final way. [01:00:20] Speaker A: Oh, I thank you again very much for inviting me. I feel humbled and I feel slightly important. But you know, I, I hope that the discussion that I was involved in with you, I hope it was meaningful. I hope some persons, particularly small business owners or aspiring small business owners, I hope that they gain some value from the conversation in this total package meeting that we had tonight. And I look forward to hopefully coming back if the ratings. [01:00:55] Speaker B: Well, if anything, you have to bring them up. Say, I want, I wanted fresh ideas. People keep hearing from the same people over and over and over and over. I wanted some fresh ideas. I wanted new people. I want, I try and identify new people, you know, who don't normally be on talk shows, you know, so that they can know we have some very intelligent beings with it. So I want to thank you also for coming. I want to thank my listeners for listening. You've been listening to Total Package. This has been your host, John Pinder. We look forward to seeing and hearing from you again next Monday, 7pm to 8pm until such time, drive safe and have a pleasant evening. Taxes oh make me want to holler Throw up both my hands yeah, it [01:02:11] Speaker A: made me want to holler and throw up both my hands. This is Guardian Radio, 96.9 FM, streaming on guardiantalkradio.com and the Guardian Radio app, Nassau, Bahamas.