Interest in starting a business in Colombia?

vicshere says on Jul 29, 2005, 11:32:

copy of my post from last week copy
the truth about business in Colombia. first all your profit if any will be in pesos....remember you investment is in dollars....your on losing ground already.....second of all most Colombians have a very little concept of what a business is....here is the normal mentally of a business owner..... they open up a family business whether its a Variety store,restaurant, juice stand, bar, hardware store....doesn't matter......the average Colombian thinks that if the business can pay the rent and put food on the table that's the profit......so basically your competing against people with very low expectations.....having had a business before (in Canada) and use to at least 10 to 15 points net profit at year end.....here its completely different...you are competing with businesses that will be satisfied with 0 points profit......ok one exception I think and that a business at a beach resort carting only to tourists who are paying or use to paying in dollars...another exception is find cheap real-estate ..... waiting and reselling.....also black market loans are very profitable






listo
"con mucho gusto"
Vic
homepage
http://spaces.msn.com/members/jacintoplace

listo

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jarhead says on Jul 29, 2005, 12:01:

Bussines in Colombia I just moved my family to Bogota after 30 years in the U.S., I was employed by a large company in Miami to manage their IT department, I came down here and started my own bussines, I have been at it for almost a year now, and even though it was very difficult in the beginning (paperwork,silly rules and laws)I am very happy that I took the plunge. I think that in order to start a bussines down here as an american or Colombian american, it would be very helpful if you have a very unique idea, or you identify a product or series of products that have a market in both countries. Manufacturing of a product in Colombia, taking advantage of the labor rates and sending that product to a country that has a need and a ready market for that item, sending products from the U.S. and other countries that are needed in Colombia. Computer equipment and parts is an ok bussines, the problem is that you are competing against the SanAndresitos and their illegal economy, they buy their products at the going rate, import them into the country and sell them below the market price, it's basic money laundering, no real way to compete. I have some friends and relatives that are in the IT sector down here, there might be a real need for second hand, almost new infrastructure equipment: cisco routers and switches, foundry switches, IP phone switches,Sun servers, Compaq DL 580 class of servers, VoIP gateways etc., the equipment must be offered with guarantees and service, etc., this might be a way to go, there are many others, be creative, there are many legal ways of making good money down here, if you want to throw ideas around PM me and we'll talk about it.

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adrimm says on Jul 29, 2005, 13:22:

Bamboo floor manufacture Bamboo grows in Colombia, and is one of the new hottest "wood floor" options becuase it is so hard and grows so quickly. So far I haven't come across any mention of this industry in Colombia.

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colombiabuzz says on Jul 29, 2005, 14:04:

Guadua Actually there is already a Japanese company manufacturing floors in Colombia. and it is actually not bamboo here but guadua. they make beautiful materials for floors and it is all for export. A lot of money invested and a lot of $ being made.

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colombiabuzz says on Jul 29, 2005, 14:05:

sorry, what is guadua.... Guadua is a cousin of the bamboo, much harder and stronger than bamboo, and its advantages is that the tree is much wider than the bamboo.

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Desideria (Moderator) says on Jul 29, 2005, 14:39:

so, what are the advantages of having a guadua floor in a Cali house as compared with the traditional floors? Does the comejen get into them? (I need to redo the floors of my house and was thinking of tablón or stone).

Cheers,
Desi

"I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them."-President George W. Bush

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mrxcol says on Aug 2, 2005, 10:23:

If you set up a business here in Colombia, you should come here to Colombia to live, at least for many years. As vicshere said: yo're making money in Colombian Pesos. You can manage to get COP$ 4'000.000 profits montly and that's a very good income in Colombia (less than 5% colombians get this income). But for USA it would be only US$ 1.716 and that's very poor. If you want to setup a business here, come and live with colombian pesos. Otherwise it would have to be a very good business.

Anyway, if you want to setupsomething, i'm a self-employed computer systems engineer with specialization in networks and communications. been in USA and europe, speak english and french. Own a 5 years old ISP company and have had about 4 business previously. You have to bankrupt to get money ! I live in Cali and i'm married.

(Uno tiene que arriesgar una hija para tener nietos)
(you have to risk your daugther in order to get grandsons)

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bkelly says on Aug 2, 2005, 11:12:

Vic has a point... If you really want to make money, you need to set up a business where you are bringing in American dollars and not Colombian pesos. For example, a buddy of mine exports pulp like guanabana, maracuya etc. He exports to the US and lives in Colombia. He makes an excellent wage because he is buying his product in pesos and selling in dollars. Another friend exports cake toppings, yes, cake toppings. They are these hand-made edible toppings for cakes. She makes them for 500 pesos and they sell in the USA for $5.99.

--bkelly

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utopiacowboy says on Aug 2, 2005, 14:04:

The good old "buy low sell high" never fails. Buy low in Colombia and sell high in the USA.

Disclaimer: any comment I make is inane and is not to be taken seriously, and is so patently ridiculous that no one should take it seriously, even as an insult.

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rca_rodrigo says on Aug 8, 2005, 17:32:

aaat thsi point and with all this info whar are your thoughts?

im working in a place taht sells hardware and rent some equipment .. and let me tell you ... the profit that you can get from it is every day lower ... but who know what would happen next year ...


rca_rodrigo at hotmail. ...

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Randalltx says on Aug 9, 2005, 00:58:

Business in Colombia I am new to this group. Have read most of the posts already before posting myself. I run a business in the USA which helps people with tax problems. I am starting up a branch somewhere in Latin America, hopefully Colombia or Argentina to handle all my Spanish speaking clients and prospective clients. I am confident it will be successful because I will be using plentiful labor, paid in local currency, but my revenue will be in USD.

This is classic outsourcing. The biggest hurdle I see is training. I want to use women for the customer service applications, working from home on a computer with an internet connection and a phone. I know very little about the infrastructure or the culture of women working in this environment. Can anyone tell me if I am nuts or just greedy? I see a huge opportunity where local people can make a lot more money than they have been, if they could even get a job there, and at the same time, they are learning a great skill that will be transferable to other American or Canadian firms.
I know I am ahead of the curve on this as most outsourcing is going to India, (I use them for technical work). But the Indians aren't going to do Spanish, they barely do American English. With 25% of US residents preferring to speak Spanish, I think this will work. I cannot afford to do it in the US with all the labor and related costs.

Perhaps someone down there can give a little advice?

Thanks.

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utopiacowboy says on Aug 9, 2005, 07:54:

I think you are onto something. Don't they already do something similar in Costa Rica and the DR?

Disclaimer: any comment I make is inane and is not to be taken seriously, and is so patently ridiculous that no one should take it seriously, even as an insult.

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jacobtafler says on Aug 9, 2005, 13:28:

vicshere hello i dont ageray with you beacuse if you invest for exmple few years ago 100000 dolars the dolars was 2950 and today is 2300 pesos and if you wont stop your buisness you make more than 25 perocent profit beacuse of the peso nobody know if in few years the dollars will go to 2000 pesos or 2500 pesos you earen pesos but your expenses are in peso too you pay to 1 worker 180 dolars a month and in america and europe you pay 10 more minmum it is nothing to do with peso or dollar if your investment you take back in 1 year or 2 years you make good buisness even your profit is in pesos i live in rio de janeiro for 20 years the dolares drop for 4 real to 2.4 in 2 years more than 50 perocent no body even like to know what is dollar if you are clever and know how to do the buisness you make your money but you most to live there and control all

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Rubiazo says on Aug 9, 2005, 21:46:

RandallTX Colombia would be an excellent choice because internet connections are pretty good (AVOID Colomsat, though!), and the Spanish spoken there is much more neutral than in many other places in Latin America. Argentina and Chile are very problematic in this regard, as can be the Caribbean. Also, costs of living are very low in Colombia compared to other places, so your money will go much further.
Why only women though? If you use all women, who are going to get behind those webcams anymore?? :))

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Sylvie says on Aug 9, 2005, 23:44:

Sonador WOuldn't it be dificult for expats to establish a business in Colombia.... or in any country for that matter?

Just curious. From what I've notcied its best to get a partner who is a resident of the country you plan to set up in.

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NorwegianMale says on Aug 10, 2005, 03:52:

I am too playing with the thoughts of starting a business there (moving to Medellin in early 2006). I have seen som really nice handmade products in wood (furniture, sculptures etc.) for rediculous low prices. Web-shop based in Colombia selling to USA and Europe? Close to no investments if you know how to set up a good-looking web page!

I got tons of other ideas!

- English courses
- Poker squads (some guy with a basic education in statistics could easily make $25 an hour on internet).

I got 3-4 ideas that I feel are so good that I keep them to myself for the moment. Feel free to contact me.

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lala96 says on Aug 10, 2005, 06:07:

great idea Randalltx, I think this is a great idea but must agree that you need to have a person of "confianza" in colombia to help you establish the business. Colombia has many highly educated people, specially in finances-econmics etc, that are out of work or underemployed. The HiSpeed connection is pretty good and the phone connection has gotten better over the years. The thing to think about is reducing costs by going outside of Bogota, like smaller cities with universities and good services like Ibague and Manizales. I don't know how internet service is in Manizales but Ibague has service comparable to T1 lines here in US. If you want some more info, send me an email message at cadena96 at netzero.net I may be able to put you in touch with friends of my moms.

lala96

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adrimm says on Aug 10, 2005, 07:31:

Agree Norwiegan Handcrafted work is very undervalued in Colombia. You could easily sell it elsewhere for a reasonable profit and also enabling better wages for Colombian production staff.

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