I have a friend who is seriously considering opening a bar/resturant in the Sosua/Caberete area and wants me to join him. He is an American and I keep telling him he is nuts. I feel he is going to be extorted by many people down there. I have been in the Sosua/Caberete area and I see plenty of bars/resturants. If he comes up with an idea for a bar/resturant that is unique that would be a good start. I feel the success rate of this business is very low. How does anyone else feel? Does anyone have any suggestions to make this venture successful?
- Thread starter nyyankee09
- Start date
Opening a bar/resturant in Sosua/Caberete
It's impossible for anyone to give you any useful information.
You need to give specifics in order to get specific information.
Capital US$, language skills, local knowledge, business background etc etc.
I have a piece of string, does anyone know if it's in centimeters or inches?
Us Brits are sarcastic, what can I say.
Bottom line, we are here to help anyone that's willing to invest their time and money in the DR. The combined knowledge on this board is unmatched. Nobody wants to make your friends business a success more than many of us on this board.
You need to give specifics in order to get specific information.
Capital US$, language skills, local knowledge, business background etc etc.
I have a piece of string, does anyone know if it's in centimeters or inches?
Us Brits are sarcastic, what can I say.
Bottom line, we are here to help anyone that's willing to invest their time and money in the DR. The combined knowledge on this board is unmatched. Nobody wants to make your friends business a success more than many of us on this board.
Robert,
He speaks pretty good spanish and has good local knowledge. He has never owned or worked in a bar but has spent plenty of time in them. I could not give you a number on capital though. Generally speaking you would agree it is very difficult to have successful bar/resturant in th DR without knowing someone in the police or military.
He speaks pretty good spanish and has good local knowledge. He has never owned or worked in a bar but has spent plenty of time in them. I could not give you a number on capital though. Generally speaking you would agree it is very difficult to have successful bar/resturant in th DR without knowing someone in the police or military.
Cabarete Business
We are not in the bar or restaurant business but do use them all in Cabarete on most days of the week. It's a difficult business. Unless you are smack bang in the middle of the beach strip then no-one ever gets to your place. Unless you can attract the local youngsters every night, plus your tourists, then we have noticed that these bars just stay empty. There are many other businesses to compete with and a very small number of punters for most of the year.
We see them open, they stay for a few weeks or months and then close again! Unfortunate - but that's the fickle public!
We know all the places in Cabarete and would be pleased to let you have more info - just PM or e-mail us.
Personally, I would advise that this is not the time to be venturing into opening a business here.
Peter
We are not in the bar or restaurant business but do use them all in Cabarete on most days of the week. It's a difficult business. Unless you are smack bang in the middle of the beach strip then no-one ever gets to your place. Unless you can attract the local youngsters every night, plus your tourists, then we have noticed that these bars just stay empty. There are many other businesses to compete with and a very small number of punters for most of the year.
We see them open, they stay for a few weeks or months and then close again! Unfortunate - but that's the fickle public!
We know all the places in Cabarete and would be pleased to let you have more info - just PM or e-mail us.
Personally, I would advise that this is not the time to be venturing into opening a business here.
Peter
Why invent the wheel
There is a Sports Bar for sale and it has been in business for years and has a steady clientel and a pretty good track record.
Go to www.eddysportsbar.com and see what is there.
The truth is that this is a 24-7 business, highly demanding on the owner and requires human relation skills above all.
Not the easiest thing to get into.
HB
There is a Sports Bar for sale and it has been in business for years and has a steady clientel and a pretty good track record.
Go to www.eddysportsbar.com and see what is there.
The truth is that this is a 24-7 business, highly demanding on the owner and requires human relation skills above all.
Not the easiest thing to get into.
HB
Wow, Eddy's is for sale. That place is an monument. It is off the beaten path a little bit but a big favorite of the expat's. My whole point of a bar/resturant not being successfull is the following:
1)There are plenty of bars already in Sosua/Caberate.
2) Tourism is down.
3) The biggest thing most of all is if you are a american or any other foreigner you are going to get robbed if you do not know anyone in the police, military or that crackerjack gov't they have there. I have heard tons of horror stories of people getting extorted. I bet Eddy knows tons of people or he would have sold or been put out of business years ago.
1)There are plenty of bars already in Sosua/Caberate.
2) Tourism is down.
3) The biggest thing most of all is if you are a american or any other foreigner you are going to get robbed if you do not know anyone in the police, military or that crackerjack gov't they have there. I have heard tons of horror stories of people getting extorted. I bet Eddy knows tons of people or he would have sold or been put out of business years ago.
Business on Northern Coast of DR
Please tell him not to do it.
I have visited on and off for over 16 years.
You have to understand 13 years ago when tourism was really hot people were building like crazy. It was speculation fueled by foreign money when vacationers came here and decided to stay.
Most planes are only 30% full going towards the northern coast (always a window seat on the plane : ) ) and the majority of tourist stick to the vacation complexes they bought thier package deal in.
If your serious about investing, go to sosua and spend a day near a sosua bar on Friday and saterday and see how much buisness is brought in. But in my opinion it is a gamble in which your hoping business will pick up. Most people there bought thier places in the boom years and are stuck and/or too comfortable (or lack the finances) to change. You'll see lots of businesses even right on the beach that are rather slow, and remember in a financial way for your freind it will be close to a one way trip because the amount you earn in DR with a business will do very little towards purchasing a house or condo or whatever in US or any other 1st world nations. Finally relize that because the property taxes are so low people tend to sit on property they want to sell and wait for the right price, if you freind is buying at that "right price" he too might have to wait a year or too to sell at that "right price" again if he decides to sell.
You can e-mail me if you have other questions.
-Lee
Please tell him not to do it.
I have visited on and off for over 16 years.
You have to understand 13 years ago when tourism was really hot people were building like crazy. It was speculation fueled by foreign money when vacationers came here and decided to stay.
Most planes are only 30% full going towards the northern coast (always a window seat on the plane : ) ) and the majority of tourist stick to the vacation complexes they bought thier package deal in.
If your serious about investing, go to sosua and spend a day near a sosua bar on Friday and saterday and see how much buisness is brought in. But in my opinion it is a gamble in which your hoping business will pick up. Most people there bought thier places in the boom years and are stuck and/or too comfortable (or lack the finances) to change. You'll see lots of businesses even right on the beach that are rather slow, and remember in a financial way for your freind it will be close to a one way trip because the amount you earn in DR with a business will do very little towards purchasing a house or condo or whatever in US or any other 1st world nations. Finally relize that because the property taxes are so low people tend to sit on property they want to sell and wait for the right price, if you freind is buying at that "right price" he too might have to wait a year or too to sell at that "right price" again if he decides to sell.
You can e-mail me if you have other questions.
-Lee
Just to add my 2 cents worth ...
One other thing to consider is the difficulty in actually purchasing things here. At least on the North Coast. Remember - this is the sticks!
I am sure everyone has these stories, but I just spent 3 days without water because I couldn't by a 10 peso connector for our water pump between Saturday afternoon and Monday morning without driving to Santiago. Went to a favorite bar/restaurant of ours in Cabarete which is owned by an American to let a little wine take the edge off of my "Dominican Day(s)" and related the story to him. I said "I don't know how you do it! I have so much trouble buying little things just to keep the house running, if I'd have known I might not have purchased it!" I said I have to have one employee whose job it is basically just to run around and buy things for me. If I had to do it I'd have killed somebody by now they make it so difficult to give 'em your business sometimes."
He pointed to my wife's salad and said, "See that? I have to go to 14 different places just to buy all the ingredients in that one salad." And he does exactly what I do ... has people doing nothing but running around buying the (really good!) food he needs to keep his retaurant operating.
Too much work for me! I'm trying to have a retirement here!!
One other thing to consider is the difficulty in actually purchasing things here. At least on the North Coast. Remember - this is the sticks!
I am sure everyone has these stories, but I just spent 3 days without water because I couldn't by a 10 peso connector for our water pump between Saturday afternoon and Monday morning without driving to Santiago. Went to a favorite bar/restaurant of ours in Cabarete which is owned by an American to let a little wine take the edge off of my "Dominican Day(s)" and related the story to him. I said "I don't know how you do it! I have so much trouble buying little things just to keep the house running, if I'd have known I might not have purchased it!" I said I have to have one employee whose job it is basically just to run around and buy things for me. If I had to do it I'd have killed somebody by now they make it so difficult to give 'em your business sometimes."
He pointed to my wife's salad and said, "See that? I have to go to 14 different places just to buy all the ingredients in that one salad." And he does exactly what I do ... has people doing nothing but running around buying the (really good!) food he needs to keep his retaurant operating.
Too much work for me! I'm trying to have a retirement here!!
It doesn't hurt to think about having a trusted maid or driver or even security person who can also run errands for you as part of their job.
As far as Eddy's goes, it sounds like a great place, with an established clientele and dedicated staff.
It's not time for me to think about retirement yet, but it would be something I'd look in to...
mk
As far as Eddy's goes, it sounds like a great place, with an established clientele and dedicated staff.
It's not time for me to think about retirement yet, but it would be something I'd look in to...
mk
Retirement's kind of a relative term. I stopped doing what I did there to come down and do the parts of it I liked better here. I am fortunate because I can take care of things all over the internet.
I wouldn't say that I haven't thought about business possibilities here, and a bar or restaurant, or disco sounds fun. Nothwithstanding that I know nothing about running a restaurant! I just don't see how in the current climate you could make enough money from the business to do much more than spend all your time keeping it going. If you enjoy it, great! If it's to make money to live here, I'd be really skeptical.
It seems to me that you've pretty well identified most of the pitfalls that I'd be worried about. Lack of customers in many parts of the year, glut of restaurants, mafiosas, dealing with police and jealous rival business owners who pay the fiscal a bit more money than you do to hassle you, etc.
Good luck though!
I wouldn't say that I haven't thought about business possibilities here, and a bar or restaurant, or disco sounds fun. Nothwithstanding that I know nothing about running a restaurant! I just don't see how in the current climate you could make enough money from the business to do much more than spend all your time keeping it going. If you enjoy it, great! If it's to make money to live here, I'd be really skeptical.
It seems to me that you've pretty well identified most of the pitfalls that I'd be worried about. Lack of customers in many parts of the year, glut of restaurants, mafiosas, dealing with police and jealous rival business owners who pay the fiscal a bit more money than you do to hassle you, etc.
Good luck though!
XanaduRanch - I think your buddy in Cabarete was pulling your leg. If you know where to look, you can find anything anytime. As far as not being able to find a "small" part for a water pump, believe me the Dominicans have a solution for everything. I once had a water pump go down at 7:00 PM on a Saturday evening. One of my customers, a Canadian plumber had a look at it and said there is nothing he could do to repair it. "There goes my weekend business at the bar". I went to get a guy I know (Rafael) he took the pump apart in front of the Canadian guy and unwelded something in the coil and did something else, can't remenber what. The plumber just shook his head and said "This guy is crazy" Guess what: Started up the pump and it worked. Rafael said" It may last a day, a month, a year but at least I had water for the weekend. I think the darn thing worked for more than a year. When I replaced it, it had nothing to do with the motor he repaired. Been through many situations in the past 20 years, but never been unable to work it out.
Probably right Eddy. But then he's a bit new here, too. He had said he couldn't find wholesalers, but other I've talked to said that's not the case and the wholesaler's they use are in fact very good.
We may need a new term. Instead of "Macgivering" something from nothing, maybe "Dominicanering" is even better? All I needed was a connector from a 1-1/4" female to a 1" PVC male as an old union on the line fell apart when the tank was moved and we couldn't get the two halves to hold together. We tried to fix it Dominican style, really! Inner tube rubber, blocks of concrete to hold the two pieces together, etc. Nothing worked - not even my Dominican helper's help! LOL.
We may need a new term. Instead of "Macgivering" something from nothing, maybe "Dominicanering" is even better? All I needed was a connector from a 1-1/4" female to a 1" PVC male as an old union on the line fell apart when the tank was moved and we couldn't get the two halves to hold together. We tried to fix it Dominican style, really! Inner tube rubber, blocks of concrete to hold the two pieces together, etc. Nothing worked - not even my Dominican helper's help! LOL.
You need the $10 girls ...
Hahahahaha! With the more expensive hookers/plumbers the extra foreplay to get a larger pipe size is included. Ahem. So I am told.
Oh-oh. The thread has drifted! Sorry! Well, I think the moral of the story is a little money, and a little local help is absolutely necessary whether you're opening a restaurant or getting your plumbing fixed.
::wink::
NewtoDR said:
Hahahahaha! With the more expensive hookers/plumbers the extra foreplay to get a larger pipe size is included. Ahem. So I am told.
Oh-oh. The thread has drifted! Sorry! Well, I think the moral of the story is a little money, and a little local help is absolutely necessary whether you're opening a restaurant or getting your plumbing fixed.
::wink::