Business potential realization in a "3rd world" Country

[Hurdlerwayne]

Last month I visited Trinidad & Tobago (an island of 1,226,383 people) for my National Championship trials for World Championships in Track & field. I realized that small businesses I saw there when I was only 10 years old are still thriving and getting regular customers. This begged further investigation on my part. When I talked to the locals and my family I saw that people were willing to travel from one side of the island to another just to go to a specific restaurant or store. Note that traveling in Trinidad takes less than an hour due to how small the island is and the scary absence speed limit signs on the freeways.:driving:. In the Millionaire fastlane book MJ wrote that franchises are not totally fastlane, but whenever I am at the KFC in the capital city or anywhere for that matter it is always packed. It seems like a multiple absentee franchises here would be a great idea for passive income once one acquires the $ for brick and mortar.

Third world countries are just another way to say developing countries. I have a hunch that since fast food places are starting to pop up everywhere people will start having problems with obesity. Can you say HEALTH INDUSTRY!:groove: The first people to hop on these type of opportunities and execute them correctly have a huge potential to be wealthy. Gyms will start filling up, supplement and nutrition stores will se higher sales, and sadly hospitals may too due to lifestyle related diseases. Maybe pilates, yoga, aerobics, and zumba will become more popular among women and men will start crowding the gym and buying the latest local p90x type dvd.

I beg people to look for these opportunities when they are abroad and even if you are in the United States. There are cities that are underdeveloped with these type of opportunities. MJ said to ask yourself Can you spot a Need? Is there a fastlane opportunity? Next time you might be visiting a relative, taking a vacation, or just going out of your normal residence check the landscape, and there will be hidden opportunities. It seems to me opportunities are in undeveloped places with a large population.

I hope my realization helps a lot of people who feel like they are stuck and need a refreshing eye opener on where problems can be found to solve.
Good Luck Fastlaners!

 

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[hestati]

Alright, I know this thread is old, but whatever. Maybe it will help someone.

I spent 3 months in Bolivia and this is actually a goldmine. Literally open ANY business and you will make tons of money. Bolivians now have money, but have very few good services. They flock to places that look remotely "advanced", like chain ice cream shop. However, even though those places look "American" they still offer "Bolivian" service: slow, rude, treat customers like annoyance.

Now, for anyone from USA, it would be probably tough to move to Bolivia, US is way ahead. However, I spent 14 years in Canada and if I had to choose between Canada and Bolivia, I would choose Bolivia.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

I would think it's a double-edged sword: Tons of opportunity in the third world offering rarities there, such as you mentioned, the ice cream shop. The challenge would be on the resource availability front. For example when I was in Belize, I saw tons of opportunity for many things we take for granted. The obstacle I'd imagine is the importation of resources that are not domestically available. For example, can you find a Red Bull in Bolivia?

 

[hestati]

Yes, there is actually everything here, red bulls, blue labels, Lego, everything. They do have everything, but they really do not know how to serve customers. Like in the ice cream shop example, ice cream is pretty expensive there, but their system is so retarded. You pay at to the cashier, get some kind of paper, have to chase down the waiter. Waiter will take forever to bring your order. No one smiles to you, no one says Hi when you come in. They can mop the floor while you are there, they ignore you. And this is the BEST place, others are much worse.

I am yet to visit a business here and say "yeah, I would definitely come back.

Worst example, one place serving cakes and sweets, great cakes, but...
You come in, the place is empty, there are 9! employees. No one says hi, no one smiles, they stare at you. You go to the counter and choose the cake. One of the girls acknowledges your order and sends you to a cashier (there are two of them). Cashier asks you what have you ordered, takes your money and gives you a paper. With this paper you then go to another lady who takes your paper and brings it to the counter with the cakes, where yet ANOTHER lady will cut a piece for you, give it to a guy who will bring it to your table. But wait, he forgot the fork. You ask for it and another guy brings you a fork. I swear it took us 20 minutes to get our piece of cake and we were the only customers there. Great cake, acceptable price, but NEVER AGAIN. All they need is 1, maybe 2 quick people serving you, not 9. And this place is never busy.

There are opportunities everywhere here. Personally I would like to live in California, but one thing for sure, it is much easier to start a business in Bolivia, chances of success are much higher.

 

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[MoneyDoc]

Another thing is real estate. In a lot of post-war third-world countries, real estate is starting to boom.

 

[hestati]

Not in Bolivia. RE here is more expensive than in Miami, I dunno why, but it has always been like that. Average house is 200k, average apartment 100k, yet rent is very low. 4 bedroom apartment in the best building in town (pool, jakuzzi, garden, everythings) is 400/month. Apartment like that costs at least 150-170k. I don't understand how they make money. Will take them 30 years just to break even, not considering renovations

 

[RHL]

Another thing is real estate. In a lot of post-war third-world countries, real estate is starting to boom.

That's relative though. In a lot of Caribbean nations, you can buy a house in the provinces for the price of a really cheap Asian car. There's a lot of money to be made in fixing infrastructure too. For example, if you could figure out a way to create cost-effective solar power or single-home wind power in the Dominican Republic you could be the DR's John Rockefeller. Their power grid is horrendous.

 

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[hestati]

Hmmm, many people in Cali have their home solar powered, I guess it costs too much though...

 

[BlakeIC]

Something I found interesting whilst talking to my HS CFI teacher (current foreign issues)
He mentioned that in india you could head to any pharmacy and get medicines/drugs for much much cheaper than here an america

For ex a pill of a viagra here costs $40 (i don't really know)
india it would cost $2

i don't know the price of viagra

 

[DeletedUser394]

There are opportunities everywhere here. Personally I would like to live in California, but one thing for sure, it is much easier to start a business in Bolivia, chances of success are much higher.

Do you mean the person starting the business is based in bolivia but has a solely online presence, or do you mean actually starting a business?

Because it's nearly impossible to legally start a business within Bolivian borders. Especially as a foreigner. Hell, it's nearly impossible as a Bolivian born citizen which is why there are so few 'advanced' customer services.

Bolivia is consistently ranked in the top 10% of hardest countries to do business in. Most African countries that are not currently engaged in civil war are all easier to deal with. (Easier even in Gaza, Pakistan, etc.. I'm not joking.).

A mentor of mine was expanding his franchise system into South America. It took him 3 years (THREE YEARS), to have the basic permits and other requirements (there are 15 that you need.. that is not a typo) to even consider starting a business.

By the time he got through the bureaucracy, he had already launched a few dozen new owner operated stores in Chile. It took less than two weeks to be legal in Chile. He was so sickened by the process that he stopped pursuing it in Bolivia.

Bolivia is extremely guarded and xenophobic with the west and even it's own neighboring countries. Nice place to visit, but that's about it.

Many other south american countries provide much more opportunity.

I'm not saying there aren't merits to starting a business in Bolivia, but the way you are characterizing it is way overblown.

If it was possible to quantify it, it would probably be 10,000x easier to start a business in San Diego than La Paz.

 

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[Jake]

Something I found interesting whilst talking to my HS CFI teacher (current foreign issues)
He mentioned that in india you could head to any pharmacy and get medicines/drugs for much much cheaper than here an america

For ex a pill of a viagra here costs $40 (i don't really know)
india it would cost $2

i don't know the price of viagra

Laws and regulations get in the way if you're trying to import.

Loads of cheap drugs here that Americans would pay a premium for but it's not legal to ship them.

 

[CommonCents]

I would think it's a double-edged sword: Tons of opportunity in the third world offering rarities there, such as you mentioned, the ice cream shop. The challenge would be on the resource availability front. For example when I was in Belize, I saw tons of opportunity for many things we take for granted. The obstacle I'd imagine is the importation of resources that are not domestically available. For example, can you find a Red Bull in Bolivia?

they have the ultimate red bull, coca leaves and coca tea. clean energy w/out much for side effects. It's only legal in a few countries. Briefly looked into it for an energy beverage.

 

[diablo54]

Do you mean the person starting the business is based in bolivia but has a solely online presence, or do you mean actually starting a business?

Because it's nearly impossible to legally start a business within Bolivian borders. Especially as a foreigner. Hell, it's nearly impossible as a Bolivian born citizen which is why there are so few 'advanced' customer services.

Bolivia is consistently ranked in the top 10% of hardest countries to do business in. Most African countries that are not currently engaged in civil war are all easier to deal with. (Easier even in Gaza, Pakistan, etc.. I'm not joking.).

A mentor of mine was expanding his franchise system into South America. It took him 3 years (THREE YEARS), to have the basic permits and other requirements (there are 15 that you need.. that is not a typo) to even consider starting a business.

By the time he got through the bureaucracy, he had already launched a few dozen new owner operated stores in Chile. It took less than two weeks to be legal in Chile. He was so sickened by the process that he stopped pursuing it in Bolivia.

Bolivia is extremely guarded and xenophobic with the west and even it's own neighboring countries. Nice place to visit, but that's about it.

Many other south american countries provide much more opportunity.

I'm not saying there aren't merits to starting a business in Bolivia, but the way you are characterizing it is way overblown.

If it was possible to quantify it, it would probably be 10,000x easier to start a business in San Diego than La Paz.

I know this is an old post, but all the above information is incorrect. Whoever took 3 years to open a business in Bolivia was definitely lost in what they were doing. You can incorporate in Bolivia in under 10 days, and have a TAX ID in 30 minutes for free. If you are a foreigner you either have to incorporate with a working visa, or a satellite office of the main office.

 

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[juan917]

Throwing this out there. I was born in Bolivia and have lots of family there. If anyone wants to start something in Bolivia and needs a native who can also speak English, I can help out

 

[Deleted35442]

Throwing this out there. I was born in Bolivia and have lots of family there. If anyone wants to start something in Bolivia and needs a native who can also speak English, I can help out

The above claim you can open "any business" and make something stick there. Can someone, a native such as @juan917 perhaps give some context here what exactly this means? This is a good thread, though largely applicable to people with connections/money or access to credit in these countries. In the case of Bolivia though are we talking simply small business (i.e., maybe a chain of coffee shops), real estate? a consulting firm?

 

[juan917]

The above claim you can open "any business" and make something stick there. Can someone, a native such as @juan917 perhaps give some context here what exactly this means? This is a good thread, though largely applicable to people with connections/money or access to credit in these countries. In the case of Bolivia though are we talking simply small business (i.e., maybe a chain of coffee shops), real estate? a consulting firm?

So ive never opened a business there so j dont know how easy or hard it is to do in terms of legal stuff off the top of my head. I know the current government is ideologically opposed to capitalism so beware of that(I think its more due to labor exploitation in the past).

With that said, I have been told that a lot of people who visit US and then go back, do end up being very successful.

I do somewhat agree with the premise but there has to be some thought put into the product. I dont think that simple clothes or basic food would do well.

Armed with the knowledge of marketing I definitely think someone could dominate business wise down there.

If i were to start a business the first industry i would look into is infrastructure. Ive seen first hand how laughably terrible it is. I have a cousin whos a petroleum engineer so I would talk to him first.

Hmm, starting to get some ideas here

 

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[diablo54]

So ive never opened a business there so j dont know how easy or hard it is to do in terms of legal stuff off the top of my head. I know the current government is ideologically opposed to capitalism so beware of that(I think its more due to labor exploitation in the past).

With that said, I have been told that a lot of people who visit US and then go back, do end up being very successful.

I do somewhat agree with the premise but there has to be some thought put into the product. I dont think that simple clothes or basic food would do well.

Armed with the knowledge of marketing I definitely think someone could dominate business wise down there.

If i were to start a business the first industry i would look into is infrastructure. Ive seen first hand how laughably terrible it is. I have a cousin whos a petroleum engineer so I would talk to him first.

Hmm, starting to get some ideas here

Hi Folks, I have 3 legal established businesses in Bolivia. Two of them make over 1M USD in Revenue per year. So again, most of the information on the above posts are incorrect. The current government is not opposed to business, they are opposed to whoever opposes them. If you mind your own business, pay your taxes, then no one will come after you. Starbucks, KFC, and other larger american franchises have openened in the past 2 years. I don't want to sound like I support the government because I dont. But if someone sees an opportunity here, there is no reason not to pursue it.

 

[StartToday]

Hi Folks, I have 3 legal established businesses in Bolivia. Two of them make over 1M USD in Revenue per year. So again, most of the information on the above posts are incorrect. The current government is not opposed to business, they are opposed to whoever opposes them. If you mind your own business, pay your taxes, then no one will come after you. Starbucks, KFC, and other larger american franchises have openened in the past 2 years. I don't want to sound like I support the government because I dont. But if someone sees an opportunity here, there is no reason not to pursue it.

As someone who's incorporated dozens of businesses in Bolivia, I can confirm that it takes about 10 days to have a business registered in the Registry of Commerce and even less to have it registered before the Tax Office.

Most licenses take no more than 10 days to obtain.