Upon returning to the country of origin the person contacted
 international organizations to seek help in consolidating ideas
 and in looking for possible sources of funding. The Caribbean
 Project Development Facility of the International Finance Cor-
 poration, a part of the World Bank, is one such body. Organiza-
 tions such as the World Bank, Inter-American Bank for Develop-
 ment, and U.S. Agency for International Development can also
 be approached for help in making the correct contacts.
 One of the first obstacles met was that iceberg lettuce could not
 be grown satisfactorily in this specific environment. Could other
 lettuces or leafy vegetables be grown? The answer was a definite
 yes! Several leafy vegetables could be produced but were either
 poor substitutes for lettuce or could not be used as substitutes at
 all. However, leaf and bibb lettuce might grow if the environ-
 ment were changed in a substantial manner.
 The next problem was to ascertain if leaf and bibb lettuce
 could be acceptable as a substitute for iceberg. During another
 vacation the individual went back to the markets and asked the
 managers. The response was somewhat positive and hinged main-
 ly on the quality of the locally grown product and the price. For
 these questions there was no answer, at least not yet!
 From this point on the entrepreneur started to obtain informa-
tion on technical matters. Knowledge was needed of how to grow
bibb lettuce in the tropics and what it would cost. If it was feasi-
ble, then help in seeking and obtaining the necessary funds to
start such an enterprise was needed. After consultation with a
group of financial experts from an international organization, the
entrepreneur put together a team to write a pre-proposal which
included estimated costs, production, marketing, and returns.
With this document in hand the person went to an organization
to help put together a comprehensive proposal that could be used
to seek financial help.
 The organization examined the pre-proposal and accepted the
responsibility for ascertaining the economic and technical
possibilities and serving in an advisory capacity until the enter-
prise was started and funds were made available for its comple-
tion. Since it did not have the technical production expertise
within its staff, it approached the U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA) to locate and lend them an individual with
expertise. The USDA, through the Office of International
Cooperation and Development and Extension Service, complied.
Two professionals -a USDA person and a financial expert -went
to the country for a short period. Agriculture in general and
specifics such as water quality and availability, produce quality
and shelf-life, prices, and volume of lettuce and other crops im-
ported were examined. The financial expert developed the finan-


cial and profitability projections for the project. The project pro-
posal developed contained the following parts: an introduction
with a project overview and its sponsors; the project, its concept,
site and site preparation, physical plants, crops and their produc-
tion, implementation schedule, management and general
ecology; the market and its general description, the demand, im-
ports, prices, local production and distribution and marketing
strategies; project cost and financial plan; and the profitability
and financial projections including the production costs and sen-
sitivity analysis.
 Once this document was prepared it was presented to several of
 the financial institutions in the country which could invest in such
 an operation. The project sponsor, the entrepreneur, committed
 himself to contribute about US$250,000 provided the local com-
 panies or investors contribute an equal amount (50% of the
 shares). The balance of the required funds, US$300,000, was to be
 borrowed from local banks at current interest rates. The total
 amount needed was US$800,000. During this time and with the
 help of local individuals and companies, the government of the
 country gave this new industry some tax benefits and market pro-
 tection.

 The other phase of the project was to recruit management and
labour. It is in this part where most enterprises fail regardless of
whether the planning is excellent or deficient. The owners of
these enterprises many times do not understand, are unwilling to
see or do not truly believe that management of a horticultural
enterprise needs to be outstanding if that enterprise is to be
economically successful. We need to remember that an average
manager fails in making any agricultural enterprise economically
viable. An excellent manager for production and management is
needed and, therefore, a high salary is required. The English
have an old, but wise saying, "Penny wise and pound foolish."
This is true in many agricultural enterprises. Horticulture is land
and capital intensive, and capital has to be protected by excellent
management.
 Even though this paper is presented in anecdotal fashion, it is
extremely important and necessary to consider all the factors of a
horticultural enterprise. This project dealt with a greenhouse-
which is probably more exacting, less forgiving, than other crop-
ping systems; however, all of the pieces must be present in order
to be a success.
 The development and implementation process follows the
following sequence: an idea, development of a concept, technical
and financial expertise consultations, funding mechanisms, and
excellent production and marketing management.


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