Investing in Carro Publico or Prestamo Business?

J

Jarrote

New member
Jan 19, 2016
31
0
0
Hello fellow members. Just returned to the states from Santiago and visited other interesting areas looking for good business opportunities. I plan to return to the DR within 30-60 days and stay up to 6 months.

Biz opportunity #1)
While in Santiago I hired a driver for a week that operates a FIXED route picking up passengers from 6A-4P at least 4X a week. Third day into my trip I observed his route/shift. Nice adventure. He currently rents the vehicle (which is NOT in great condition) from the owner, paying $1,200-$1,500 RD daily + PROPANE gas, maintenance, etc. He proposed an idea to invest in 1-3 used cars (in good condition) whereby he would work
ONE shift then another driver would take over the same route from 4P-12P. The maximum earnings a driver can make on a fixed route seems to be $1,500 RD per shift which is $33 USD. If one driver works 5 days a week and earns (being conservative here) $1,200 RD (or $24,000 RD a month) = $533 USD/month. Two drivers would be $1,066 USD/month. Frankly, this is a low margin business to me. However, owning a small fleet of vehicles operated by independent drivers COULD prove profitable.

Your thoughts are appreciated :)

Biz opportunity #2)
The idea of loaning money for business or personal needs was confirmed to be profitable by a few people I met doing this and the owner of a popular hotel. Does anyone here know a lot about this business model? Right now, the loan method is traditional with NO electronic means for people to receive loans and repay the loan over 7, 15 or 30 days. They have to physically meet the financier to receive the money and surrender their debit card until the loan is repaid allowing the fianancier to place a lien on their property (or other assets) in case the loan is NOT repaid.


Thank you in advance
 
D

drSix

Silver
Oct 13, 2013
1,323
0
36
If you do either of these things, you'll wind up dead within a few months.

You might as well try and walk into Juarez Mexico and declare yourself the new drug lord in town.
 
M

Mauricio

Gold
Nov 18, 2002
5,607
7
38
I don't think number 2 is so dangerous. Just don't be the visible owner of the business as a foreigner.
 
I

IEatTravelnCode

New member
Oct 29, 2014
246
0
0
Jarrote said:
Hello fellow members. Just returned to the states from Santiago and visited other interesting areas looking for good business opportunities. I plan to return to the DR within 30-60 days and stay up to 6 months.

Biz opportunity #1)
While in Santiago I hired a driver for a week that operates a FIXED route picking up passengers from 6A-4P at least 4X a week. Third day into my trip I observed his route/shift. Nice adventure. He currently rents the vehicle (which is NOT in great condition) from the owner, paying $1,200-$1,500 RD daily + PROPANE gas, maintenance, etc. He proposed an idea to invest in 1-3 used cars (in good condition) whereby he would work
ONE shift then another driver would take over the same route from 4P-12P. The maximum earnings a driver can make on a fixed route seems to be $1,500 RD per shift which is $33 USD. If one driver works 5 days a week and earns (being conservative here) $1,200 RD (or $24,000 RD a month) = $533 USD/month. Two drivers would be $1,066 USD/month. Frankly, this is a low margin business to me. However, owning a small fleet of vehicles operated by independent drivers COULD prove profitable.

Your thoughts are appreciated :)

Biz opportunity #2)
The idea of loaning money for business or personal needs was confirmed to be profitable by a few people I met doing this and the owner of a popular hotel. Does anyone here know a lot about this business model? Right now, the loan method is traditional with NO electronic means for people to receive loans and repay the loan over 7, 15 or 30 days. They have to physically meet the financier to receive the money and surrender their debit card until the loan is repaid allowing the fianancier to place a lien on their property (or other assets) in case the loan is NOT repaid.


Thank you in advance
Click to expand...


Don't do number 2, it's already hard for Dominicans to get the money from other Dominicans.
First option seems viable.
 
J

josh2203

Bronze
Dec 5, 2013
1,611
553
113
Jarrote said:
He currently rents the vehicle (which is NOT in great condition) from the owner, paying $1,200-$1,500 RD daily + PROPANE gas, maintenance, etc. He proposed an idea to invest in 1-3 used cars (in good condition) whereby he would work
Click to expand...

Not commenting on the ideas, but the rent that this driver supposedly pays, cannot be true. I know a multitude of GOOD vehicles (SUVs from year 2005+) that rent out easily with those prices (1200-1500 DOP daily), and I know a taxista, who also has rented a van in good condition, rent was 2000 DOP weekly, not daily.
 
D

dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
31,266
363
0
1. the driver omitted to mention that in order to operate on a fixed route of any kind you need to buy a licence/permit for each of the vehicles, affiliating with existing transport companies. they can cost a lot of money. many years ago a girl i know bought one of those for her sankie and it was over 100,000 pesos.

2. money lending is great business but hard to break into for a new face and to start from scratch. you also need a substantial start up money, a lawyer for checking colaterals and preparing contracts plus folks picking up the money, plus bodyguards.

generally both ideas are good in terms of business but if you need to ask about them a bunch of strangers then you are not a fit to do any of those, if you catch my drift.
 
J

Jarrote

New member
Jan 19, 2016
31
0
0
Thank you dv8 and to others that have commented. Regarding asking a bunch of strangers, your feeback is wisdom to me. Due dilligence before investing is essential. I either do it or I don't. I like #2 because I know and trust the local Dominican that would manage the business. She's a tough lawyer and really organized. Regarding picking up the money, thinking about creating an application for receiving loans and repayments. NOT one prestamista in Santiago does this.
 
J

Jarrote

New member
Jan 19, 2016
31
0
0
Good point. When we discussed this, I understood the payout to owner of the vehicle to be daily. Will certainly revisit and the vet the details. The current costs to rent weekly vs daily could be a positive game changer for me.
 
J

JayinRD

Member
Apr 18, 2013
411
11
18
Biz 1. too little gain ROI for the time spent. Biz 2. You are putting your life at risk.
 
S

santiagodude

Member
Nov 25, 2012
513
2
18
People hate to repay money owed or return borrowed autos....That said, if you were lucky enough to find honest clients (in spite of being a gringo), there is potential of being profitable or deadly. A very successful Dominican politician was recently killed over a business equipment loan gone bad.
 
P

playacaribe2

Gold
Jan 9, 2004
10,912
2,247
113
Jarrote said:
Thank you dv8 and to others that have commented. Regarding asking a bunch of strangers, your feeback is wisdom to me. Due dilligence before investing is essential. I either do it or I don't. I like #2 because I know and trust the local Dominican that would manage the business. She's a tough lawyer and really organized. Regarding picking up the money, thinking about creating an application for receiving loans and repayments. NOT one prestamista in Santiago does this.
Click to expand...


That is because a personal weekly visit is far more likely to get a payment than reliance on an electronic app....particularly when the person you lend to does not have a computer...or a smartphone.

My wife's has a tio who is a prestamista with multiple companies countrywide and over 500 employees.

It is a good business....but if I were you I would be more concerned about getting paid.....not the method of payment.

Good luck


Respectfully,
Playacaribe2
 
J

josh2203

Bronze
Dec 5, 2013
1,611
553
113
playacaribe2 said:
[/B]

That is because a personal weekly visit is far more likely to get a payment than reliance on an electronic app....particularly when the person you lend to does not have a computer...or a smartphone.

My wife's has a tio who is a prestamista with multiple companies countrywide and over 500 employees.

It is a good business....but if I were you I would be more concerned about getting paid.....not the method of payment.

Good luck


Respectfully,
Playacaribe2
Click to expand...

My father-in-law and her spouse (not my mother-in-law) are both prestamistas. But they only work alone, no big company behind.

They?ve been doing that for about 20 years, and it?s going good, and while they do have lawyers, no added security, as they only deal with people they know personally. Not sure if they have been lucky or what, but they have never had any issues, apart from the fact that in particular my FIL has also lost money. Not a whole lot, but still...
 
D

dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
31,266
363
0
Jarrote said:
I like #2 because I know and trust the local Dominican that would manage the business. She's a tough lawyer and really organized. Regarding picking up the money, thinking about creating an application for receiving loans and repayments. NOT one prestamista in Santiago does this.
Click to expand...

trusting others to manage a business for you is the biggest mistake you can make, anywhere in the world. you need to overlook this yourself. i know few guys doing prestamos and they in their business every single day.
creating payment loan app is probably not so great from your point of view. just think of one million i-sent-the-payment-but-the-system-must-have-lost-it type of excuses.
 
M

miguel james

Member
Nov 6, 2012
172
0
16
How long have you been coming to the Dominican Republic? What may work for someone else many not work for you don't matter how pretty the lights are....Good luck.
 
R

Rep Dom

Bronze
Dec 27, 2011
1,237
0
0
"I know and trust the local Dominican that would manage the business"

HAHAHA. You will trust the local dominican? How long have you been here? If I was dominican I would not trust myself...
 
J

Jarrote

New member
Jan 19, 2016
31
0
0
Hey dv8. I create startups and looking to invest. That's what I do. Not a full-fledged VC yet but that's where I am headed. Trusting others to manage a business is what the most successful VCs in the world do and have done since the beginning of the industry. Just looking for a good business opportunity in the DR. I respect your opinion though as I've noticed you've posted more than most since 2006 and you're a moderator.

Thank you.
 
J

josh2203

Bronze
Dec 5, 2013
1,611
553
113
Rep Dom said:
"I know and trust the local Dominican that would manage the business"

HAHAHA. You will trust the local dominican? How long have you been here? If I was dominican I would not trust myself...
Click to expand...

Go to the nearest colmado, or any colmado, for how much of the time it?s open, you see at least one of the owners/encargados there? I have grown to know quite a few hard-working people, successful colmado owners, but having employees or not, they work themselves 7 days a week, and if it?s a bigger place, it is only them, who touches the money of the customers.

I know a successful business owner (an expat), he misses not one day, as he knows, that the time that he passed outside of the office anything can happen, because it has happened many times.

Unfortunately trust/knowledge/efficient communication are rather vague concepts here, and that causes too many absolutely unnecessary dilemmas...

The above mentioned FIL of mine, a hard-working man, was betrayed by his very best friend, to whom he gave 20k pesos to start a prestamista together (this happened about 20 years ago), so he handed the cash to the guy, and hasn?t seen him or the money since, and this story has become a legend in the family, as to how not to start a business...

Ever since, he has not partnered with anything significant with anyone, nor really talks to that many people (outside of business)...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom