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Starting over in Honduras

KellyInHonduras

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Hey everyone, I'm from Texas originally and used to work in IT until a couple of years ago when I decided to forsake the field and reinvent my life. The economy reduced my income to a fraction of what it once was, which was never much to begin with, and starting over in this field was about as appealing to me as a grazing kick to the face with golf shoes.

I decided that if my income was going to be so low for the foreseeable future, I would use the coming years to create the life I always dreamed of....or at least try considering I've never done anything like this, lol. I wanted to live and work in my own kind of paradise for once and I was willing to sacrifrice in certain ways if my overall quality of life was raised in the end.

I ended up taking a job as a fishing guide in a mountain lake in the middle of Honduras. My room was made of cinder block, I didn't speak spanish, and the nearest hospital was over an hour away. I got bitten by a tarantula within the first week of arriving, then 2 weeks after recovering from that, I was given some bad water that wasn't properly filtered and boiled and was sick for ten days, the boat motor that I was told was in "good shape" turned out to be a huge lemon, and nobody wanted to go fishing there anyway, lol.

I stayed there for a couple of months fishing and thinking about what to do for real income. I finally decided I would cruise on over to the Bay Island of Utila off the North coast of Honduras and get certfied as a scuba diver then go back to the states and start over in another field. Well, two scuba certifications and a week later I made the decision to sell off most of my things, store the rest, and move to Utila and become a professional scuba instructor.

Since then I found an incredible Moskitian woman, delivered my own son in my own bed on the island, taught my 19 year old daughter how to scuba dive, and cultivated deep connections in this country. Connections which now afford me some rare and valuable opportunities to help the local people get top prices for their products while offering future customers the best possible prices on hard to get commodities like lumber and coffee.

My overall goal is to create an import company in the states for the wood and coffee, make it successful wth my kids, and let them run it on their own one day while I go in search of new products and customers....or just go scuba diving some more :)

One way I will create success is by bringing Honduran coffee's name up on par with Guatemelan and Costa Rican coffee as well as selling a hell of alot of it....a TON of "Guatemalan" coffee is actually Honduran coffee anyway. They just smuggle it on a road that parallels the road that the actual border crossing is on yet freely traveled, to be sold as Guatemalan coffee due to the higher prices of Guat coffee. The other way is to bring the best prices to American markets on Honduran lumber...and sell a hell alot of that too.

I am always open to new ideas and ways to create success for myself and I might even pick a few brains around here from time to time. I look forward to learning from everyone's successes and learning lessons. Thanks for having me.
 
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Kak

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I LOVE Roatan and Utilla! My favorite places on earth. Have you played the Black Pearl?
 

KellyInHonduras

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I LOVE Roatan and Utilla! My favorite places on earth. Have you played the Black Pearl?

I've never heard of the game so I googled it and no I don't play the Black Pearl. My bandwidth here is less than 128k so I can't even connect sometimes. Paradise has it's price, lol.
 

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It is the new golf course on Roatan LOL! It is designed by Pete Dye! It is like 30 miles away from you.

Go to smugglers on west end, they have the absolute best chicken wings I have ever eaten.

I am going to buy a home in Pristine Bay Roatan for sure. My business partner already has.
 
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KellyInHonduras

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Hahaha! I don't play golf anymore and had no idea there was a golf course over there. I don't get over to Roatan much since it costs me $100 just to get there and back and I have no real business over there. There are some incredible places over there that Utila can't touch as far as beauty...or diving for that matter.
 

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I have been to roatan about 5 times in the last 12 months. I absolutely love it. Only been to Utilla once on my business partner's 36 foot panga.

Welcome to the forum!!!

I dove off of pristine bay a few times, absolutely awesome. There is no place in the world like it. Best part is the 2.5 hour direct flight from Houston.
 

KellyInHonduras

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Damn. I'm just getting started so I can't afford to vacation yet....which has alot to do with why I work in other people's vacations now, lol. I figure if I can't pay outright to get there, I might as well just live and work there all the time. It eliminates alot of travel expenses this way, hahahaha.
 
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KellyInHonduras

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Sounds like your brother has a pretty sweet gig! Just be careful over there. Roatans as dangerous as most big cities in the states.

I dig the rebranding cigars idea. Interesting. I'd like to hear more about it.

Thanks for the warm welcome. I'm already liking the personalities on here.
 

AllenCrawley

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Kak

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Last I heard they killed the charter city idea right? :mad:
 
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D

DeletedUser4

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Welcome to the board. I lived abroad for several years, there are a lot of opportunities that can grow out of it. Think of all of the skills/life experience/understanding of the American market that you have that everyone else living there doesn't have. There may be a lot of opportunities that are only available to you.
 

andviv

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Hi Kelly. Welcome to the forum.

I loved your intro. Your story is great.

So, let's say somebody from the forum wants to go there for vacations, what would you offer them?

How a complete 'Tourist package' look for the retiree couple? for the single adventurous guy? for the eco-friendly/tree-huger couple?

I think providing different experiences would be great.

What airlines fly to what airport, so you can put together an all-inclusive package for them?

What about a "Get certified as scuba diver in one weekend in the best beaches in the world" type of approach?

My overall goal is to create an import company in the states for the wood and coffee
What types of wood could you import to the states?

About the coffee, take a look at what this guy is doing with some extra-quality coffee beans:
» Recipe: How to Make Your Coffee Bulletproof…And Your Morning Too The Bulletproof Executive
» Upgraded

I bet you could find out a similar niche and talk to the growers to produce "highest quality" coffee.
 

andviv

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Last I heard they killed the charter city idea right?
Really? How unfortunate... I thought this was a great experiment with LOTS of potential.
 
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Red

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Last I heard they killed the charter city idea right?

Yes, I've conversed w/ Michael Strong about it, the case was taken up to the Honduran Supreme Court & they squashed it. They're down, but not out. Other countries/locations are currently being considered. I believe it will happen, just a matter of time.
 

AllenCrawley

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Yes, I've conversed w/ Michael Strong about it, the case was taken up to the Honduran Supreme Court & they squashed it. They're down, but not out. Other countries/locations are currently being considered. I believe it will happen, just a matter of time.

Oh that is unfortunate. I just looked up why they ruled against it and they believed it was unconstitutional and would go against the country's elite...

The constitutional chamber of Honduras' Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that privately run cities in the Central American country would be unconstitutional, threatening a project to build "model cities" with their own police, laws, government and tax systems.

The five-judge panel voted 4-to-1 in a ruling that goes against the Honduran government and the country's elite.

Honduran Private City Plan Shot Down by Its Supreme Court - Hit & Run : Reason.com
 

Atown512

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The other way is to bring the best prices to American markets on Honduran lumber...and sell a hell alot of that too.
When I was in Costa Rica, I noticed that some of the most beautiful wood I have ever seen was pretty damn cheap. I specifically remember a small restaurant that had the most amazing picnic tables. I asked where they got the tables, and they started laughing at my fascination with them, but eventually told me that a little lumber shop down the road harvested the lumber and made the tables for cheap. I am 100% positive that these tables would sell like crazy for a very high price.

The one thing I'm not sure of, is if it is even legal to import these woods. I know we have some very strict rules on importation of lumber and various other environmental resources. I know Gibson guitars just settled a large lawsuit with the federal govt about their woods. From what I understand everything was totally legal, they just needed to settle to get back into production...pretty scary when our govt goes after such an iconic AMERICAN company.
 

InMotion

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I know we have some very strict rules on importation of lumber and various other environmental resources.

Yes, that actually killed demand for a few varieties of wood here in the states. They went to cheap substitutes instead.
 

CashFlowDepot

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Hey Kelly

It's amazing how many more opportunities you see all around you when you are in a different country. Congrats on your move & Best of Success!

I moved to Panama and absolutely love it here.
 
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MJ DeMarco

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Welcome Kelly and thanks for emailing me to have your account created, glad I did!

Hope to see you around and thanks for the awesome story. :)
 

KellyInHonduras

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Welcome to the board. I lived abroad for several years, there are a lot of opportunities that can grow out of it. Think of all of the skills/life experience/understanding of the American market that you have that everyone else living there doesn't have. There may be a lot of opportunities that are only available to you.

Sorry I havent been on in a few days. My internet is a 128k connection split between 3 families on one property so its less than reliable and or some reason this site is alot slower than even facebook, lol.

The oppportunities I have are rare even for here so I want to learn how to exploit them to their potential, which is why I try and learn as much as I can from the internet. Like I told my kids, even though I don't make, and have never made, much money. I've never picked the most lucrative paths and have opted for the road less traveled in order to enrich my life with rare experiences and to show my kids that where they are living now and what they see as ther entire world is only the tip top of the white part of the pile of seagull shit on the peak of a big a$$ iceberg of life.

My next step is to learn about the 20 odd years I missed in entrepreneurial business 101 and combine that wth my past experience and what I have in front of me and do something with my kids that will provide freedom from a life of paycheck to paycheck living.
 

KellyInHonduras

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Jan 23, 2013
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Hi Kelly. Welcome to the forum.

I loved your intro. Your story is great.

Thank you! Ive always heard I should sell myself and my story first and, if I pick my product wisely, my product will sell itself. Until I find that it doesnt work or there is a better way for me, I'll stick by that philosophy.

So, let's say somebody from the forum wants to go there for vacations, what would you offer them?

I can offer coordination with your choice of resorts or dive shops to get a package tailor made or what you're looking to experience during your vacation. Utila is a pretty hardcore diving island with only 1 public beach and few high end resorts that I would recommend unless youre looking for the backpacker, or "off the beaten path" type experience.

If you are not divers already, I can make you one. If you are divers already, I can make you a better safer diver. I you are just snorkelers and happy to stay that way, lol, I can offer the most unique shore diving, and snorkeling on the island with everything from the classic beach picnic to the most advanced adventure scuba diving by high elevation entrances off exposed ancient coral reefs. I will take you to places even very few of the dive shops will be able to show you. They just cant afford to take individuals and couples or small groups out on shore dives and snorkel trips like I can. These trips do require alot more effort and have to be corrdinated with the local taxis but if the experience is what were here for, then the best ones are over here. Being ex military and jumping out of airplanes, riding bulls in my high school, and post military years, I'm a bit of a builder of personal skills which gets me out to the booneys to hunt for viable access to deep water points so I can hunt lionfish where others cant get to....which brings me to another adventure I offer. Lionfish hunts. I've been diving this island for almost a year and a half and hunting lionfish for almost as long. It is a huge passion of mine here on the island and have cofounded World Lionfish Hunters Association on facebook and the website The World Lionfish Hunters Association We are now in the process of becoming the Atlantic Oceans record keeper for record size lionfish as well functioning as a database for any scientific researchers who would like access. My partner in this is already an entrpeneur and retired at 42, or so, and cruising around the carribbean with his wife and two daughters, sponging up the culture so he's the main driving force behind the internet side of things. I'm more of an ideas guy there, I guess.

Back on point now. Pretty much any sort of third world rustic caribbean experience you might want to create, I will be your partner in that.


How a complete 'Tourist package' look for the retiree couple? for the single adventurous guy? for the eco-friendly/tree-huger couple?

Alright man, you see how much I write over a single thought, lol. I'm going to need to answer a more specific scenario for you so if you could pick the one that you're most interested in. Sorry, my fingers just arent that strong:)

I think providing different experiences would be great.

This is the niche Im targeting. Operating in the capacity I offered you, is something that is not fully supported by the local diveshops or obvious reasons so I don't push it very hard. Mostly only if someone asks for something unique or adventurous will I accomodate. Almost all o my classes are done at diveshops that most suite the customers style or desired experience. Some divers come to dive and party. Some divers come as couples and want a quiet resort away from the main town. However the customer wants it is what I work towards.

What airlines fly to what airport, so you can put together an all-inclusive package for them?

This is much bigger thinking into an area I've not considered. Having said that, I am open to figuring it out and making it happen if it pays my bills. Even though I don't have any experience with this, I do know people that I could work with to make something happen for you. It would be a first for me and would probably require a fair amount of patience on your part considering my rookie status and the culture we're dealing with down here, where being an hour late or the most important of meetings is normal.


What about a "Get certified as scuba diver in one weekend in the best beaches in the world" type of approach?

We see alot of this type of tight schedule keeping on the island and it's no problem. The diving certification organization I belong to and certify for, PADI, does have certain time and dive requirements for each type of class so while I can do fast classes, each class does have its own requirements. I do like to offer extended training with any one of my classes. I am one of maybe 4 instructors on this island that is certified to teach unique classes like, Self Reliant Diver and Recreational Sidemount Diver courses. I am a technical trimix diver and I have the background to teach everything from Emergency First Responder to Master Scuba Divers, and Divemasters. Every bit of advanced training I've gone through, that is directly applicable to the course at hand, is available to all of my students.

What types of wood could you import to the states?

Because of the difference in cultures here, and even though, I've had a conversation with the guy and requested a full list of wood products and prices, I still do not have a complete list of all the varieties available to me. Right now, they are waiting or the govt to finish up with some drama before they will issue permits to move lumber around the country again. So far, I know they offer Honduran Mohogany, Pine, and maybe Teak. Ater a few more conversations and emails, I should have a clear picture of what is available. I can, however, take any orders for the future as long as you have the importing part worked out and will teach me how to import honduran products....my vision has been widening over the past couple of days. I'm beginning to see the rustic custom furniture and doors available out here selling for a huge profit in the states :) I once got into a job restoring antique furniture, fire places, doors, etc and saw the cray prices this guy was getting for his European antiques. I mean CRAZY money! I restored a set of 250 year old Spanish mission doors that measured 4.5 ft across, 9 ft tall, and 4 inches thick. They were sold to a church in Ft. Worth for $36,000 each. I was BLOWN away! I'm so happy I thought to write both my daughters' names, in Sharpie, into the grain in between the door's hinges, before we stained it. Now you can go to the church and if you know where to look, you will see the names, Brooke and Brandy.

Back on point! I've seen what is possible. Now I want to know what is possible for me?


About the coffee, take a look at what this guy is doing with some extra-quality coffee beans:
» Recipe: How to Make Your Coffee Bulletproof…And Your Morning Too The Bulletproof Executive
» Upgraded

I bet you could find out a similar niche and talk to the growers to produce "highest quality" coffee.

This is what I'm working towards now. I already buy from the Santa Barbara region, which in 2012, won 7 out of the top 20 places in the Honduran Cup Of Excellence and in 2010, took 13 out of the top 25 places.

This is the coffee I want to bring to the states and use to bring Honduras' coffee reputation up on par with the great Guatemalans and Costa Ricans, both of which taste so similar, it's not worht paying the extra money for the name.

With coffee being the second most traded commodity in the world and Honduran coffee being the single most underrated coffee in the world, how could I go wrong?
 
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KellyInHonduras

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Utila, Honduras
When I was in Costa Rica, I noticed that some of the most beautiful wood I have ever seen was pretty damn cheap. I specifically remember a small restaurant that had the most amazing picnic tables. I asked where they got the tables, and they started laughing at my fascination with them, but eventually told me that a little lumber shop down the road harvested the lumber and made the tables for cheap. I am 100% positive that these tables would sell like crazy for a very high price.

The one thing I'm not sure of, is if it is even legal to import these woods. I know we have some very strict rules on importation of lumber and various other environmental resources. I know Gibson guitars just settled a large lawsuit with the federal govt about their woods. From what I understand everything was totally legal, they just needed to settle to get back into production...pretty scary when our govt goes after such an iconic AMERICAN company.

100% legal is the only way I want to operate. Getting out of messes is usually harder than staying out of them in the first place. Fortunately for me, everyone I deal with is doing above board business with me so I can focus on making a more profitable company instead of wasting time digging myself out of a hole.
 

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