95 percent of new companies go bankrupt within three years

[the gorgon]

Buy a fleet of used Hyundai's, fill the trunks with pharmaceutical products and cruise the streets that have the busiest bars. Guaranteed to make buckets of cash.
Keep a few pesos handy for the local cops and your on your way to untold wealth.

have you ever attempted that same business model?

people in this country are so afraid of fake pharmaceuticals, they worry even when they buy from a pharmacy. i don't think they would be flocking to buy blood pressure medicine from the trunk of a car...

well, since i suspect that you use the word pharmaceuticals to mean woodie erectors, that market is oversaturated as it is.

 

[Drperson]

why do some businesses charge tax and others like colmados or ferereterias don't
Do all businesses remit to the government?

 

[CristoRey]

Perphaps 95% of the people who start a business
down here are idiots.

 

[Cdn_Gringo]

Being the exclusive provider for a good or service here that is affordable to the majority is the only way to ensure your spot in this marketplace. If what you offer can be easily duplicated and sold cheaper, it will be.

There is no level playing field and many additional costs associated with keeping the doors open in this economy. Ensuring that your potential income stream is secure for years to come is the premise upon which on may be able to weather the first couple of turbulent years to see fruit appear on your business tree year after year.

Just offering a superior product /service alone can work, but usually requires a lot of ongoing effort to reposition the business within the competitive market and ensuring that potential customers know your offering is better than the one available down the street.

 

[Conchman]

The biggest problem I've found runnning businesses in the DR is the fact that most of your competition doesn't play by the same rules.. If I have a furniture factory and pay all corresponding taxes/liquidation/etc and my competition doesn't pay any of that and makes their furniture in their "patio", none of their employees have insurance, nobody gets liquidated, they don't pay income taxes, it means that my competition can sell the same product for 40% lower than I can using the same materials.. Playing by the rules here is definitely an uphill battle but if you can persevere over time you can come out on top!

Basically, you are punished when you follow the rules.

 

[TropicalPaul]

I would highly suggest hiring an accountant on iguala (monthly stipend) if you haven't done so already.. you could do everything PERFECTLY on your end and if you don't have an accountant that's registered they will find problems with what you've done.

I have an accountant, but I still have to have my special software to do the bulk of the work. My business is a hotel, and we have to account for 18% ITBIS and 10% service charge on everything, and there is no ITBIS on the service charge. And we have advance payments so someone pays in December for a stay in February, so you have to declare the ITBIS when the payment is taken, but the service charge when the guest actually stays. And my staff constantly get their calculators out and try to work out what the service charge will be, get the math wrong, spend what they thought it was going to come to, then accuse me of stealing from them when they don't get what they expected. Oh the joys.

 

[sayanora]

I have an accountant, but I still have to have my special software to do the bulk of the work. My business is a hotel, and we have to account for 18% ITBIS and 10% service charge on everything, and there is no ITBIS on the service charge. And we have advance payments so someone pays in December for a stay in February, so you have to declare the ITBIS when the payment is taken, but the service charge when the guest actually stays. And my staff constantly get their calculators out and try to work out what the service charge will be, get the math wrong, spend what they thought it was going to come to, then accuse me of stealing from them when they don't get what they expected. Oh the joys.

Well you aren't alone TropicalPaul.. in the restaurant business it's exactly the same BS.. at least there's some talks in the government about doing away with severance and some of the other benefits employees unjustly get (I know this opinion will be polarizing but I stand by it) .

 

[TropicalPaul]

Basically, you are punished when you follow the rules.

There definitely seem to be different rules for gringos, especially gringos who people think have money, and for Dominicans. If I stole the luz it would be a serious problem, but Dominican business owners in my street think it's their right to steal it. And when the electricity guys come, they always make a bee-line for the gringo businesses, and just walk straight past the Dominican ones.

 

[TropicalPaul]

Well you aren't alone TropicalPaul.. in the restaurant business it's exactly the same BS.. at least there's some talks in the government about doing away with severance and some of the other benefits employees unjustly get (I know this opinion will be polarizing but I stand by it) .

Yes, but at least when you have an employee you want to get rid of, you can just pay the severance and they depart happily. If they stop the liquidacion, it's going to be really much harder to fire people. Sometimes it's just easy to pay.

 

[Aguaita29]

Before you open a business, you should already have enough saved to cover your business expenses for at least a few months. Many people just don't think of that.

Many people go as big as they can from the start. Why not start smaller and leave some room to grow?. Say, you are opening a salon and you're thinking of buying 12 hair dryers. You can buy 6, open with enough to make the business function and grow from there. I know people who started their businesses huge, only to close one or two years later, while others who started humbly and have been making gradual improvements have been successful, while still growing and diversifying.

Also, dealing with government agencies for whatever is needed for your business might be a challenge.Someone might tell you one thing, while someone else who also works at the same place tells you something different. Also, rules and requirements keep changing, creating confusion. Sometimes it also seems that you are getting punished just for wanting to do everything according to the law, while others who don't care are just left alone.

 

[rfp]

Well you aren't alone TropicalPaul.. in the restaurant business it's exactly the same BS.. at least there's some talks in the government about doing away with severance and some of the other benefits employees unjustly get (I know this opinion will be polarizing but I stand by it) .

I agree 100 %. When we were ramping up we brought on 3 relatively skilled Dominicans who were basically working to be fired. After that we outsourced and found people with the right work ethic and realistic salary expectations elsewhere.

The severance situation is an economy killer.

 

[bob saunders]

I agree 100 %. When we were ramping up we brought on 3 relatively skilled Dominicans who were basically working to be fired. After that we outsourced and found people with the right work ethic and realistic salary expectations elsewhere.

The severance situation is an economy killer.

Six month contract, so the severance doesn't hurt so much and you can renew the contract and start over if you want to keep the person.

 

[TropicalPaul]

I agree 100 %. When we were ramping up we brought on 3 relatively skilled Dominicans who were basically working to be fired. After that we outsourced and found people with the right work ethic and realistic salary expectations elsewhere.

The severance situation is an economy killer.

The law says that 80% of your employees must be Dominicans. So it isn't an option to employ foreigners, you could be fined for this.

 

[rfp]

The law says that 80% of your employees must be Dominicans. So it isn't an option to employ foreigners, you could be fined for this.

We do IT security, as we were starting out with getting new contracts it made sense to have our team local, train, monitor etc in person.

We decided to go in a different direction, we use a team of 4 indians for low skill reporting, monitoring work and have a really smart Kid from Honduras who works remotely and is client facing due to his good english and product knowledge.

Dominicans who are worth hiring already have a job or want at least 4 k US a month.