Job Discussion Forums

[Phil_K]

[geaaronson]

There are still unfilled niches in the hospitality business that have been unfilled. Here in the Yucatan, one of the fastest growing areas for tourism are the very tiny twin towns of San Felipe and Rio Lagartos which are within the national park geared for the flamingo populations.

When I visited the area first back in 2003, there was one hotel in San Felipe and two posadas in Rio Lagartos. Both have more than doubled in both categories and there is still room for growth.

About 4 years ago, the state of Yucatan built dozens of palapas at points that were abandoned beaches. They built bathroom facilities, changing accomodations, etc. etc. and now there is more than a small stream of visitors to the area that is growing. None of the businesses have closed but to date there are no hostels. This area is another alternative to Playa and Cancun. No loud music. Local fishermen to give the place some ambiance. Etc. Etc.

It�s a good investment possibility.

[wildchild]

OP said:

[Clear the Air]

[Checka_tu_mail]

Apologies to the peeps who PM'd me...I don't have enough posts on the forum to send a private reply but working on it.

[Tretyakovskii]

Some further thoughts on the subject, for those who might like to live in Mexico, but not teach English....

Most of the people I know who have made a success of life, and work, here, are self-employed, usually in some form of personal service; or, they have started a business, and this will remain an option for you to explore, if you decide to, in the future. If you thought you had a unique product, and the financial backing to pull it off, there are few practical limits to what you can do.

If you are a Canadian or U.S. person, then you have a right, under NAFTA to spend time in Mexico, on no more than an FMT, to explore work options, and business opportunities, here. Perhaps others do as well....

STARTING YOUR OWN BUSINESS
You could start a wholly foreign owned, Mexican corporation; then, ask permission of immigration to work in the corporation, with whatever titles you, and your lawyer, feel are appropriate to officers in the corporation (interestingly, you have to get permission to work in order to manage the affairs of the corporation). You, and another foreigner (your spouse, for example) could be the only shareholders, as I understand it, making it possible to pay yourself either as shareholders, or as officers in the corporation, or some combination of the two.

The cost of a start up, using this method, has been related to me as between 8,000 and 13,000 pesos, depending mainly on what services and processes are included in the price quoted.

You may run into some limitations, based on a Mexican law that says you may "employ" no more than 10% foreigners, should you wish to hire any other foreigners as your business expands.

A not inconsequential, ongoing expense associated with operating a corporation will be the necessary services of an accountant who, understanding their importance in the system, will not be shy about setting their fees. Monthly reports of your operations to the tax authorities are required, as well as other annual reports, and biannual external audits. A good accountant will not only be able to help you meet the requirements of the tax authorities, but will also be able to help you avoid running afoul of licensing, and other operating requirements.

(In general, Mexican attorneys charge nothing for consultations, depending on the provision of services, exclusively, for their livelihood.)

If there is a common mistake among foreigners coming to Mexico, it may be in "thinking too small." The special knowledge and skills they bring with them might better be applied to starting a business which employs Mexicans, training them and operating on a larger scale, than by doing the task they had in mind with their own hands- while still targeting the group they had in mind, and being very "hands on" in overseeing their business interests. I've seen a number of examples of this very thing, among the successful foreigners I've met, here.

But, should you prefer to stay small, there are many activities you can legitimately do as a major shareholder, and officer with management responsibilities, in a Mexican Corp. and both your and your foreign partner can hold these responsibilities, and have these rights. By employing just one Mexican to do everything necessary to your operation that falls outside the legitimate scope of your rights and duties, you could probably do nicely in many spheres of activity, while lending oversight, to protect your investment.

Here is access to the text of the entire NAFTA treaty, if you'd like to see what's prohibited to those from Canada, and the U.S., in Mexico. It's not a long list, though the treaty itself is very long. Even if what you contemplate doing is on the prohibited list, it may not be prohibited to a Mexican Corporation which is wholly foreign owned- again a question best left to your Mexican lawyer.

http://www.sice.oas.org/trade/nafta/naftatce.asp

FINDING A JOB
Alternatively, if you found a local employer who could obtain immigration's approval of a visa for you to work for them, you could work as an employee of any company with permission to do business in Mexico.

I know a number of foreigners working in Mexico, with official permission, doing jobs for which they are very qualified but, arguably, so would be many Mexicans. The difference may be availability, when you get right down to it, and the ability of a given company to persuade immigration that they cannot reasonably be expected to fill the position with anyone other than yourself, at this time. Convince an institute, organization, or company that you're the one for them, and they'll go to bat for you with immigration.

Some jobs in Mexico pay pretty well. For example, I spoke recently with one of the seven foreign employees of a wholly foreign owned, Mexican corporation which employs 135 Mexicans in its operations. She told me that, although the business itself was very successful, retention of key IT staff was a problem: although their top IT people were being paid approximately 60,000 pesos per month, they could find better work in Mexico City, and were restless. She herself is well paid, as a mid-level manager. (For those of you with exceptional skills of a type useful to businesses- who also speak Spanish well- you might consider placing a "job wanted" ad in one of the major newspapers, if you'd be interested in finding a job, here.)

SELF-EMPLOYMENT
A third option is to attempt to get immigration's permission to work independently, as a self-employed person: this would require convincing immigration that you have unique skills and education, not found in the Mexican population, and a positive contribution to make to Mexican society- a tough row to hoe, perhaps, though it seems the bar is set just a little lower in the case of English Language teaching, where this permission is more commonplace.

I know other expats who work in a self-employed capacity without specific permission to do so. Often their work involves commerce of some kind, or an offer of personal services, over the internet. They do not have official permission to work here but they do not enter the job market in Mexico to any degree at all, nor do they offer their services or products in the Mexican market and, perhaps therefore, do not need permission to work. (Whether they need permission would be a good question for a Mexican attorney, immigration specialist, should you be interested in pursuing that type of activity in Mexico.)

One self-employed work possibility- for those who have a wide range of skills necessary to home improvements/remodeling- is the option of buying and remodeling homes and condos to U.S. standards, insofar as possible, with resale in mind. Doing this one home at a time, it being your residence, I believe you could engage in this activity without specific permission of immigration. At the time of this posting, the market for resales is soft; but, over time, it should improve, and perhaps the baby boomers from the U.S. and Canada will be moving to Mexico in larger numbers, in the years ahead, looking for affordable housing that suits their tastes. With there being a paucity of western style, less expensive housing options on the market, this could fill a niche.
________________

SPEAKING GENERALLY

For those who are serious about living and working here, learning Spanish can play a big role in your success. I had the very draining experience of discovering that, after I did get a chance to speak with decision makers in the process of developing my work here, none of them spoke English, and I struggled through meeting after important meeting with a Spanish learned in school, forty-seven years ago! (Sure wish I'd have paid better attention in class!)

[geaaronson]

As for hostals, I believe there may be room for one on Isla Holbox. There are even more remote areas such as Rio Lagartos in the Yucatan state and Punto Allen I might consider, but you might consider supplementing the business with a secondary one such as a cybercafe or coffee shop at the same location.

[Tretyakovskii]

I don't know if he'd care to offer more detail, but we've got at least one poster here who has enjoyed what sounds like a rather large degree of success here, in Mexico, with a business in English Language training- and, there may be others who may have a story to tell, as well, that we haven't heard from, yet.

PhilK, care to tell us any more about it, the upside/downside, etc., of your experiences here? It can't have been too easy, yet you found a way to make it happen, apparently.

[Phil_K]

It has certainly been up and down, and actually, I scaled it down this time last year when I was offered a full time job with a good salary. That company, however, crashed last Christmas (geaaronson might be interested to know!), and I'm in the process of marketing my services once again.

As I've mentioned many times on this forum, I have no love affair with teaching, but recognize there is a big market, and as my background is in business (and latterly teaching), it seems a logical step. I try to follow these steps, which I'd recommend to anyone wanting to do the same.

- Act like an established company, even if you are one man and his dog
- Get a website (and look like an established company)
- Read all you can from your business heros (and act like them, even if you are one man and his dog)
- Sell packages, not classes
- Innovate
- Pay your taxes
- Get facturas, not recibos. It�s more professional,and some companies won't accept recibos.
- If someone asks you if you can give, for example, Russian lessons, find a company that does; they will be pleased to do a 70/30 deal with you.
- Don't employ teachers. Headhunt them.
- Make the money you earn work for you. Unless you really do have a love affair with teaching!
- Listen to your clients. If they want you to use Spanish in class, for example, use it.
- The best way to learn about a business is doing it.
- Never stop mailshotting, calling, using referrals (get a referral program going!) etc.
- Have fun.

[Tretyakovskii]

There's a lot of wisdom packed into those few words, PhilK, it seems to me.

[Tretyakovskii]

PhilK wrote, on another thread:

[Tretyakovskii]

Here it is, PhilK.

http://www.yucatanexpatriateservices.com/tag/merida

[Phil_K]

Thank for the link!

[Tretyakovskii]

As you can see, they've got this thing pretty well developed, covering just about any activity you can think of.

There are three classes of expats, the do-it-yourselfers, like me, who will attempt anything; those who want to have somebody do everything for them, even if they have to pay for it; and, the "hybrids", who will try for awhile themselves then, finding the whole thing too onerous, give up, and hire some help.

Talking to a bunch of English teachers, like us, can be misleading, as we don't necessarily represent a moneyed class who would readily part with our hard earned silver. Take immigration, here, for example. There are plenty of people more than willing to shell out 3,000 pesos to have a lawyer run their paperwork through immigration, while I would never consider it- unless I ran into a big problem (hmm, sounds like I may be a "hybrid"!).

[Samantha]

They haven't quite got it all covered. They are missing a few things, but something that's a good little money maker they haven't addressed is wedding planning, even just the basics. Again, here is where your connections are vital. (I'd skip the property management in favor of wedding planning, as it will pay better, is much less time consuming and somewhat less headache). Knowing the process, especially if you have been through it yourself, and knowing a judge personally is crucial for a good wedding planner.

Lots of tourists get married in Mexico and need someone to help with the language barrier. Plenty of expats end up marrying a local, which presents extra hoops to jump through with Immigration. Coordinating a location, the meal, a photographer, flowers, music, the judge, is not so easy for someone without a finger on the pulse, here in Mexico. A photographer or judge showing up late for a sunset wedding definitely ruins the plan! Someone well-connected who knows the ropes, can easily undercut the 'wedding planners' pitching to tourists on the internet, or via the large hotels, and still make good money.