- Thread starter Criss Colon
- Start date
Are there any "Success Stories"in the Dominican Republic???????
Success stories
Ever heard of the Bonarellis, Spaghetissimo, Italo? Ever see a shoe store in Calle El Conde not owned by a spaniard. Ever taken a girl out to a Caba?a on Autopista 30 de Marzo? You have to kiss a chineses's ass to get in one of those. Who owns Hiper Ole?What about Ferreteria Americana? That's all Spanish, including their entire management team. I know a jew, real good friend of mine who owns every Funtastico in the city, including the one at the Acropolis and has chains in Santiago.
Have any of the ladies on the board done their nails at Plaza Central? It's all Japs and real cool ones indeed. One of the owners is a blond-dyed Jap. Their women are pretty cool too. They wear tattoos and stuff. You know that show store in the first floor of Plaza Central...Spanish.
But take success stories that date back 100 years. The Haches are of Arab descent. Najri who now owns Delta Comercial likewise. Ernest Burri who managed Codetel is now on his own, a very successful businessman. Do you think American schools in Santo Domingo were founded by locals?
Check out your sushi bar lately? Who do you think owns it? I can tell you hundreds, but my time is up.
Again, these are very hard working people who have learned how to survive the Dominican Labor Department which goes to bat for employees more times than not, and a handful of "buscones" from city hall all the way to Hipolito's corrupt machine looking for tips.
TW
Ever heard of the Bonarellis, Spaghetissimo, Italo? Ever see a shoe store in Calle El Conde not owned by a spaniard. Ever taken a girl out to a Caba?a on Autopista 30 de Marzo? You have to kiss a chineses's ass to get in one of those. Who owns Hiper Ole?What about Ferreteria Americana? That's all Spanish, including their entire management team. I know a jew, real good friend of mine who owns every Funtastico in the city, including the one at the Acropolis and has chains in Santiago.
Have any of the ladies on the board done their nails at Plaza Central? It's all Japs and real cool ones indeed. One of the owners is a blond-dyed Jap. Their women are pretty cool too. They wear tattoos and stuff. You know that show store in the first floor of Plaza Central...Spanish.
But take success stories that date back 100 years. The Haches are of Arab descent. Najri who now owns Delta Comercial likewise. Ernest Burri who managed Codetel is now on his own, a very successful businessman. Do you think American schools in Santo Domingo were founded by locals?
Check out your sushi bar lately? Who do you think owns it? I can tell you hundreds, but my time is up.
Again, these are very hard working people who have learned how to survive the Dominican Labor Department which goes to bat for employees more times than not, and a handful of "buscones" from city hall all the way to Hipolito's corrupt machine looking for tips.
TW
Anyone looked into political risk insurance? Start with your home government agencies, and then check out American International Group. AIG has cornered the China political insurance market as OPIC will not underwrite those corporations like Qualcomm doing business there. AIG is a huge insurance company and is part of the Dow Jones Industrial Average...one of the 30 companies on the index. Too be honest, their actuarial risk exposure to China is overweighted and the DJIA has been lowered, so there is some potential degree of future solvency risk if AIG ever experiences a negative loss because of US-China incidences by US corporations.
That said, AIG is still an innovator in this field and deserves some consideration.
http://www.aig.com
OPIC is the US agency offering political insurance but they are cumbersomely bureaucratic so perhaps in theory a local group of Americans or their Chamber of Commerce would be able to self-organize a risk pool and seek out OPIC insurance or re-insurance of smaller businesses.
http://www.opic.gov
Other nationalities should check out their own options, or AIG. If you are likely to be experiencing the possibility of losing your DR business because of expropriation or related political risks, then definitely get yourself political risk insurance policy for these major "nationalization incidents" and then get some street smarts.
That said, AIG is still an innovator in this field and deserves some consideration.
http://www.aig.com
OPIC is the US agency offering political insurance but they are cumbersomely bureaucratic so perhaps in theory a local group of Americans or their Chamber of Commerce would be able to self-organize a risk pool and seek out OPIC insurance or re-insurance of smaller businesses.
http://www.opic.gov
Other nationalities should check out their own options, or AIG. If you are likely to be experiencing the possibility of losing your DR business because of expropriation or related political risks, then definitely get yourself political risk insurance policy for these major "nationalization incidents" and then get some street smarts.
And TW you forgot to mention that in a smaller scale Calle Benito Gonz?lez has turned into Chinatown. You have to go there to believe it.
OMG. What in the world have I gotten myself into? I am doing a project on presenting an American type of business to the DR. After reading this Thread I think I've decided on the wrong country. Although some of my family do have governmental connections, I can't believe it is this difficult for a company to prosper in DR. I do however have an aunt who runs a small fereteria (hope I spelled that right) in SD and it has been going very well for her for the past 15yrs, maybe because of her connections, maybe not. Actually after writing what I just did, it will turn into one heck of a challenge. Guess I'll ask for an extension on the project time.
Succesful business
Jazzcom- It's important for anyone embarking on a business project here to become familiar with the local labor laws before starting. One should be aware of; registering everything with the Secretario de Trabajo. The three month severance pay law. Basically how to fire somebody the right way. There are lawyers who are expert on labor issues who can help you. At least at first until you understand how the system works. If you follow the right procedures, the risk of having your business embargoed are very slim.
Foriegners can establish succesful business's here but it is advisable to find Dominican partners. A Dominican is much less likely to rip off another Dominican. Obviously it is important to find a Dominican you can trust.
Jazzcom- It's important for anyone embarking on a business project here to become familiar with the local labor laws before starting. One should be aware of; registering everything with the Secretario de Trabajo. The three month severance pay law. Basically how to fire somebody the right way. There are lawyers who are expert on labor issues who can help you. At least at first until you understand how the system works. If you follow the right procedures, the risk of having your business embargoed are very slim.
Foriegners can establish succesful business's here but it is advisable to find Dominican partners. A Dominican is much less likely to rip off another Dominican. Obviously it is important to find a Dominican you can trust.
Jim you paint a very grim scenario, so one may conclude it's not worth opening a shoe shine stand in the DR.
Shoe shine stands are not my area of expertise.
If you operate a successful business, especially to the detriment of your competition, you better have your ducks in a row and a connection or two.
Don't be an island. Be an island and you will soon find yourself off the island if you make people envious or just **** off the wrong person.
I cannot stress enough the importance of a brick and mortar type business to be aligned with the local authorities and yes, that means unofficially this and that and don't make anybody spell it out for you.
If you operate a successful business, especially to the detriment of your competition, you better have your ducks in a row and a connection or two.
Don't be an island. Be an island and you will soon find yourself off the island if you make people envious or just **** off the wrong person.
I cannot stress enough the importance of a brick and mortar type business to be aligned with the local authorities and yes, that means unofficially this and that and don't make anybody spell it out for you.