Opening a new business in DR

Hi Planner how are you.
I have a question- and don't fall off your seat laughing
Is it possible to use a SATNAV in the DR ?
For driving a car.
I am picking up a hire car from Americas airport, and
driving in Santo Domingo to my hotel.
I looked at the google map and it shows i drive along the
coastal road into the city.
My travel agent so far has been unable to assist me with
this. But I will see them again tomorrow.
Reading some of the messages, I see the roads there are
pretty dangerous. We will see.
I'd appreciate your help Planner.

Cheers

You can down load Dominican Republic off line maps. It works pretty good and will get you where you want to go.

Good morning,  no idea about satnav honey.  As to the roads -  yup dangerous.  The coastal road will get you into the city!

We use Garmin and it is adequate but not always accurate.

Today "she" got us lost in Santiago.  Thankfully I kind of knew what I was looking for and was able to get going in the right direction.

Bob K

oooo. careful Bobby, she might read this.

My husband is from DR but has been in the USA for 25yrs. He is now thinking of opening up a grocery store in DR. His father owners some land and they would like to build on it. He doesn't know the laws in DR or the process of opening up a business. I would appreciate some guidence on the first steps to take. 

Thanks!

Read the hundreds of posts and threads here on starting a business in the DR.  There is a ton of paperwork to do and lots of $$$ to spend.

Have you done your due diligence on the need for another grocery store...some very still competition here in that arena for sure.

Bob K

Hi, myself and my wife (she is from Dominican Republic) are considering moving to the DR to take over her fathers farm, and hopefully expand their operations. Can you provide any information on the agriculture sector in the DR, incentives, regulations, links, etc.?

No, sorry I don't know much. Right now it's an idea for my husband & I. We are learning as we go. Not sure yet if we will open a grocery store or not.

Thank You for your inquiry. Good luck with the farm.

I work in agriculture and have years of experience in business here. All business are full of regulations! 

Make sure you understand the rules, how to work with authorities and what you can get around.

Feel free to message me specific questions. Read the various threads but there is little specific to agriculture or grocery stores it is more general.

Thanks for your response.  I am at the early stages of seeing if this move will be feasible for us or not. Of course, I have many ideas to improve the basic farm that is present, however, maybe some will not be feasible for the DR. I plan to spend a month there in 2016 to get some ground research done, as we are not planning to move for a few years, so we have time to investigate properly and even try a few small ideas while we are overseas.  Do you have links that will be useful?

Thank You!

ShaneMackay

You cannot do better than "boots on the ground" research.

Good luck

Bob K

one step at a time. I have spent over10,000 and one year once doing research on a business and the actual planning only to give it up. WE sold the idea and the entire package for 5,000.00 to a person. That was in 1982 right before the economy tanked. Research first. you basically have to plan to go out of business to stay in business

I opened a restaurant in Boca Chica
Con: I was not there to operate and/or oversee my business it failed.for more than one reason....
Pro: BE THERE!

A lawyer!

Hello all.
Anyone knows how is the market in terms of Civil Engineering? Not construction companies but more consulting, design and so on.
I'm currently on my MSc. in Structural Engineering and thinking in heading to DR and open my own company. Maybe not only focus on consulting and projects but also in prefabricated houses and solar panels.

Any hints will be much appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

Carlos Cordeiro

Its a very tough game here, way too many engineers!  But if you specialize in  newer technologies MAYBE, big maybe.

Sorry it is not likely what you want to hear.

AND welcome to the forums!

Thanks a lot for your fast reply.
What do you mean exactly with "too many engineers"? National ones or foreigners?
I checked the existing consulting companies and in fact there are not that many...or at least with searchable information available online.

First welcome.
There are a boatload of engineers and here you need to belong to the "engineering cartel" (for lack of a better term).  I think they call it the engineering college to work and approve any plans.  To my knowledge you need to pass some kind of Dominican Exam (it will be in Spanish) to be admitted.  Here on the north coast I do not know of any non Dominican engineers.

Bob K

Thanks Bob K. for your explanations.
About the Spanish exam I will not have problems with it since I'm Portuguese and speak fluently Spanish, including technical terms. I'll try to search online about the Engineer "cartel" It is pretty common worldwide this requirement to belong to the college and to pass the exam to get accepted.

Good luck

Bob K

Bob your post was awesome. Yes there are boatloads of engineers here, most locally educated.  What you may find different here is the need to "know" the right people to get ahead.  Like most industries its controlled by "insiders".  It takes time to get there......

Hi Good day I saw your article on Expat.com .I am thinking of coming to Sosua to teach a workshop on Customer Service and job Interview skills Do you think there is a demand for that type of service? Presently, I live in Philadelphia and spent Twenty year in the Hospitality Industry as a middle manager.
Thanks
Victor

Hello Victor. Would you be imparting these courses in English or Spanish?

To those proposing businesses in the dr, have any of you checked out the international rankings of economic freedoms, or ease of doing business, etc?

Thanks for your question .I will be teaching the Classes in English .I think there is a demand  for  good Customer service in the DR .The Dominican  Republic is the fastest growing Tourism Economy in the Caribbean and good Customer Service I needed.
Victor

I agree. I'm concerned that most of the employees in that field speak Spanish. Would your services include consulting with the individual hotels?

I will be looking forward to work with some of the hotels in the area .I will be going to Sosua tomorrow for a week this is my fourth time visiting the DR .Just to do some leg work.
Thanks   Victor

Hi Folks

We are thinking of opening a watersport business in the Punta Cana area. (JetSki rental and fast-boat tour type of watersports). What are your thoughts? I have seen a few businesses that offer these services, other than dudes on the beach trying to rent out their Jetski watercraft.

On my travels through the caribbean, I seen companies that run their operations from a hotel, or from a marina. I will be looking at co-partnering with an area hotel (advertising their brand in exchange for launch area on beach/dock). To me it feels like a win/win; I get a reliable base of launching from, and they get tourist exposure and marketing privileges.

What I need to gather information on are things like "Is it worth it to operate during the 'low season?'", "Marine Laws and Regs...do I need special licensing?", "How does labour law allow me to lay-off staff until peak season starts; can I lay-off staff?"  and of most importance is "Which beach area garners the greatest density of tourists?"

Regarding low-season tourist population, I heard a saying that "With the right business, there is a customer waiting to happen every day." What do most expat business owners do during that time? Go home for the summer and visit the grandkids? Just close the business and relax for a few months? Reduce hours and trudge through it?

Also, for tourist based business owners... What, if any, percentage decrease do you see in your business during the low-season?

I look forward to hearing your thoughts

Stew

Hi Stew!
The last I heard about jet-skis is that they were banned on all beaches in
the Dominican Republic.
Too dangerous here.
Drive on the highways at night & you will understand why.
Tom.

To the customer service poster: visiting here a few times wont get you expertise on customer service.  First with no cultural background how will you relate? With no Spanish how will you teach?

While there is a need for it, a serious ongoing need, there is very little interest in foreigners.coming in and showing locals how it should be done. There is tremendous pushback unfortunately!

I dont mean to rain on your parade but to save you time and frustration.

Hi Confused - welcome to the forums.

That business area is full of rules and regulations and regulating bodies and will take a lot more info then we can cover here.

You need to incorporate, get excursion operator permits, licenses, insurance etc. Then everything to do with water vehicles, permits license insurance etc etc.

Agreement with hotel, marina rights, who will run it, HR set up, oh man I could go on and on.  I will private mesaage you.

Are you still in the area?

Hiya,

I'm interested in opening a business as soon as I graduate from college in the U.S.  The Categories of business I would like to venture in is either Food, clothing, or HVAC .

Please, can you give me an idea of how to start. How  much will my startup costs be? Which one to pursue?

Thanks

Warm Regards,
Hanfary

Of course you are aware of the raking of the dr in the world 'ease of doing business', index, right?
The US is 7;    Canada, 20;    dr is.......103.

Hanfary  welcome to the forums.  First your options are vastly  different! We cannot begin to tell you what startup would be as they are not even close in nature! 

have you ever been here?  Do you speak Spanish?  Ever run a business before?

This is definitely not the  place to be learning about business.

Cabana / Drive-in Motel

I am a 33-year old New Yorker and an Investment Banker by trade. My parents were born and raised in the Dominican Republic so I understand the culture and how things "work" there. I have been there a lot as an adult (10- 15 times) I am considering building a cabana/ drive-in Motel from scratch in Santo Domingo. They way I look at it, if I have 20 rooms and they each generate a minimum of $50/USD (low-ball number) day I could easily generate $30,000/month. If I have an overhead expenses of $10,000/month I would still be left with a healthy profit.

What are your thoughts on this possible business venture? Are there pitfalls that I should consider?

Welcome to the forums.

As a former financial planner I can tell you a number of things:

You will not get 100% occ.

Many cabanas sit mostly empty most of the month.

Cost to build us high. Maintenance is reasonably high.

Won't be that simple.

There are some cabanas here that do very well, but not that kind of profit margin.