how to open a cell phone store

tilinmarte

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Aug 29, 2007
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wanted information on opening either a claro o orange cell store . Just finished building a commercial store front in the colinas/libertad area. Obivously there will be no rent to pay" praise the Lord". The space is about 700 sf. I do have a picture of the space. This would be in santiago .
 

cobraboy

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IMO, you'd make more money renting to a cell phone vendor that being a vendor yourself...

That market is saturated about as much as the corner colmados are...
 

tilinmarte

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IMO, you'd make more money renting to a cell phone vendor that being a vendor yourself...

That market is saturated about as much as the corner colmados are...

What do you mean ? please specify more or less n numbers. How do I rent to a cell phone vendor?

I had one offer today for 8000 pesos a month wanted to give me 3 months up front. He offered to do the contract .He said if lawyer does it they keep one months rent. He said was wants to put a internet/call center.

When he mentioned that i told him there is one next door you won't make money his replay was I own two in SD need one in santiago he said my location was bigger and much nicer he said he can make it work.

Im shooting for 10000-9000 pesos monthly I'll do how they do I'll start high in case they want to bargail lol!!
 

cobraboy

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What do you mean ? please specify more or less n numbers. How do I rent to a cell phone vendor?
Wouldn't have to be a cell phone vendor. It could be anyone willing to rent the place.

I understand the cell biz is low margin.

Use the 8000 pesos offer you had. If you ran a cell phone store, you'd need to make a MINIMUM of that. That means your revenues would prolly have to be in the 55,000+ peso per month range...and you'd be working at least 6 days a week for long hours. and the 55,000 number may be low.

Landlord: 2-3 hours a month to make 8000 pesos
Bus. owner: 260+ hours a month to make 8000=/- pesos

Just not worth it, IMO.
 
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bienamor

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Apr 23, 2004
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I understand the cell biz is low margin.

So is Centro de LLamadas. with the computers, t1 line, tech support, and 25rd an hour. have looked into this before. You have to have a hell of a lot of students needing either internet time or office programs like word powerpoint, and excel.
 
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tilinmarte

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So then if this is low margin then what would be high margin . If you know what seems to not work then you should also know what works.....THanks
 

cobraboy

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So then if this is low margin then what would be high margin . If you know what seems to not work then you should also know what works.....THanks
I suspect you've never been in business before.

Take some friendly advice; do NOT try your first venture in the DR. It is much harder to conduct business in the DR than in the US.

I really don't know what busniesses could be considered high margin in the DR. I will tell you this: the more competition you see (cell centers, colmados, restaurants, salons, innerweb cafes/centers, bars, etc.) the lower the margins. That is the first line item sacrificed to competition.

A high margin business would be one with offshore, foreign customers and domestic labor. Or one where you add value to domestic materials and sell to foreigners.
 

AZB

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I agree with cobraboy. The sort of business OP is looking to open will only produce peanuts (and I am not talking about planter's brand either). I have never seen a colmado owner who owns a car or a local cell phone dealer with high income. Only the super high grade private cell stores make some money, but the local (around the corner) type cell stores can hardly make a confortable living from the business. In simple terms, you will have a hard time meeting the competition from local businesses.
Judging from his questions, I have a feling the Op doesn't even have suficient time living here. he maybe from santiago (originally), but he knows little about the city.
AZB
 

tilinmarte

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Guys, you went completely off subject I never said I wanted to be rich . This is just extra income to play around with . Azb I don't live down there but I have spent 1 year down there. I usually go twice a year. Im in the insurance business here in Miami I do very well . For the past year I have only been workin only 6 months out of the year and makin 60K. The peanuts i will be makin down there like i said is so i won't be bored down there. I didn't say specifically I will be puting a cell center. I have been approached to put a Lab (bloodwork)/dental clinic/beauty supply store/ and a couple of others my goal is to pull either us300 monthly on rent or manage it myself and pay someone. I have 4 store fronts not one. Also just to let you guys know my friend makes over 60000 pesos amonth in a store thats no bigger that 400sf selling eggs, sacichon,ham, chuletas fish wholesale and retail. I've seen it and he does not break his back works from 8am to 6pm. As a matter of fact he recommended I put one in the store fronts which I might even do. I have a car down there and an apartment all paid for so its all good down there. Heck I even have several girls with benefits when i go down . Not to mention that I love miami as well ,I have as much fun here as i do down there.

 

tilinmarte

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AZB i can't believe you said you've never seen a colomado owner with a car . That's crazy and absurd and you live down there your a nice guy and funny also from your previous posts but your wrong I know santiago very well . Just to give you an example my uncle owns a colmado in EL reparte del Este and he does very well . He has a house that's equivelent or even better than yours and your house is nice I saw a pic a while back kinda yellow anyways he has three cars 2007 tundra bought brand new 2008 crv and toyota corolla and most of that came from the colmado its a mini gold mine . He also has land en el campo where he raises pigs and cows and goats, ect which helps him a little also. That's just one I know several other colmado's that they do well also.
 

cobraboy

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Since you've made up your mind already, I guess we can drop all the pretend advice we gave, OK?











I think a cell phone store is a unique, amazing idea. Or a barber shop. Or Beauty shop. Maybe a cambio or call center. Colmado. Or...how about this: sell goats. And beer. Sell goats and have tables for beer and dominos. I'll bet nobody is doing that. I hear all are easy pickin's...

Shoot, you drop that measly $60k gig in the states in 3 months.

I'm tellin' you, guys with your brilliant business insight and moxie will show those Dominicans a thing or two...:cheeky:
 

AZB

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I would recommend that you rent the place and do not spoil your fun by trying to make money here. For everyone who makes money in colmado business or cell shop, there are 100's who are crying in the same field of work.
The best way to enjoy living in santiago is not to work in santiago. bring your money from usa and live like a principe here.
Good luck.
AZB
 

RacerX

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I would recommend that you rent the place and do not spoil your fun by trying to make money here. For everyone who makes money in colmado business or cell shop, there are 100's who are crying in the same field of work.
The best way to enjoy living in santiago is not to work in santiago. bring your money from usa and live like a principe here.
Good luck.
AZB

Second that.:chinese:
 
tilinmarte

I'm laughing because you felt the need to brag about having "several girls with benefits" in the DR ... do you think you are unique in this way? That means absolutely nothing in the Dominican Republic. An old family friend in his 60s missing 2 front teeth and drinking rum 85% of the day has "several girls with benefits"...so take a seat. Stick to talking about business and try to maintain some level of self-respect... :::shaking my head:::
 
May 29, 2006
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I agree that it is a lot easier to be a landlord than get a business off the ground, at least at first. I would ask around the neighborhood and find out what storefront they would want. It won't help you if you get in a failed business if you have to go after them for money in court.

What I've seen is the most boring businesses seem to have the least amount of turn-over. You hardly ever see a laundromat change hands, for example. It's also an all cash business with no inventory which can "help" with taxes.

If you still want to do the cell phone thing, find another location (not close by) and ask around for the owner. He may be interested in expanding or tell you whether it's worth getting into. As for the market being saturated, the local mall near where I live has FOUR cell phone kiosks just in the one building. Do your footwork for whatever business you want to do or who you want to rent to.

8000/month seems pretty cheap regardless of its location.

Don't be fooled by those little colmados. I ran a tiny storefront in the Pacific Islands and was making great money until my landlord got greedy. Mine was 8'x12' and I was grossing US$3000/week and the work was easy. The reason a lot of business fail is simply the owners forget that gross is not the same as profit and they end up stealing from their own business until the shelves are empty.
 
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tilinmarte

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Aug 29, 2007
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I agree that it is a lot easier to be a landlord than get a business off the ground, at least at first. I would ask around the neighborhood and find out what storefront they would want. It won't help you if you get in a failed business if you have to go after them for money in court.

What I've seen is the most boring businesses seem to have the least amount of turn-over. You hardly ever see a laundromat change hands, for example. It's also an all cash business with no inventory which can "help" with taxes.

If you still want to do the cell phone thing, find another location (not close by) and ask around for the owner. He may be interested in expanding or tell you whether it's worth getting into. As for the market being saturated, the local mall near where I live has FOUR cell phone kiosks just in the one building. Do your footwork for whatever business you want to do or who you want to rent to.

8000/month seems pretty cheap regardless of its location.

Don't be fooled by those little colmados. I ran a tiny storefront in the Pacific Islands and was making great money until my landlord got greedy. Mine was 8'x12' and I was grossing US$3000/week and the work was easy. The reason a lot of business fail is simply the owners forget that grossbecause is not the same as profit and they end up stealing from their own business until the shelves are empty.
RD
thanks for the reply and for speaking politely ..not like some others . I rented thre place out for 9000RD they put an internet site. And that was correct i did scout the neighboorhood for options. I already have a waiting list for the other 3 fronts . It was good idea to do this!!!!!

I'm saving the largest one for me personally and already have a great idea of what to put. But i cannot say because of course most on this site will say its a bad idea as usuall. There's a lot of negativity in this forum . As for as the colmado I know I mentioned my uncle has one and lives well en el reparte de este. He has no complaints
 
May 29, 2006
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It's odd how often people want to tear down your ideas. But when something you do works they are also the same ones who say "well I thought of that years ago." It's the putting your money where your mouth is that is the hard part of getting a business going.

I've have about four ventures abroad with some of them successful and others, not so much. Two went under directly because of landlord issues so you as an owner have a lot less to worry about. No one on this board(including myself) can really say anything about your idea unless they come and visit your place, stand around all day and get a real feel for the demographic you intend to serve. I once saw a "dog wash" idea and thought it was doomed before they opened, but six months later they were going strong and selling lots of accessories. The person who opened it knew about a demographic which I didn't know existed and was able to fill the need.

The only other thing I would say is how vitally important it is to get your community behind you and root for you. When I did my colmado, I had almost no business for the first three days and I was starting to worry a bit. Then I took a bucket of penny candy and went to the schoolyard a hundred yards away and started throwing free candy to the kids and telling them about my store. I immediately started getting my customer base and I made a real point to give a fair price. I also got the kids to run errands for me and treated them with as much respect as the adults. If you can provide a real service at the best price, you're more than halfway to success.

Good luck. It sounds to me like you have a lot to offer.
 
May 29, 2006
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One thing they used to say in the Pacific Islands was "The lobster that tries to climb out of the pot gets pulled back in by the others." This meant whenever someone tried to make a better life for themselves, their friends would always put down their ideas or not be supportive in other ways.
 

harry2010

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tilinmarte.
How much about did it cost you to acquire the land and to build the place?
thanks