Probably already asked 1000s of times - Please help :)

Comments / Questions

Hello Sebastian,

I do not live in DR, so I leave it to people living there to give replies to your particuar questions re. security, lawyers, local employees etc.

However, I find your idea very interesting. I have had ideas of setting up my own consultant company, maybe in DR, and I am curious to know more of your thinking. So I only wanted to make some comments / questions here:

- Do you speak Spanish? This is an absolute necesssity for you!

- You say that you are "...convinced about moving..." to DR. So I take it that you have visited the country a number of times already?

- Why pick such remote locations as Fiji and DR? If you want to work for a global market, theoretically you can live anywhere, but to me (my personal opinion, right or wrong) is that you do not make it any easier for your business if you decide to run it from DR. Even for a business like the one you have in mind, you will want to meet your customers. Travel from DR is neither cheap or swift.

- Do I understand that you will move with your parents? So your retired parents and yourself = three people. What are your parents going to do in DR? Your business will feed all three of you? Maybe I am getting too personal here, but visits to their old home in Slovenia will not be cheap from DR. Again, please forgive me if I ask too personal questions!

- Have you ever operated a business like this before? In Slovenia? Or you start from scratch in DR? My point is that if you are new in setting up a business, I am not sure how much support you will be able to find in DR??? By comparison, in Sweden (my native land) there are all sorts of organizations that can provide support for someone setting up a new business, including financial support.

- A quick calculation tells that you have a total of 150,000 US$ to start with. With that kind of money, you should be able to set up a business in Europe! Slovenia is a member of EU, so setting up a business somewhere in EU should not be that difficult, should it? Maybe in Spain? Or maybe I am way out here?

I guess my question is: What would be the benefit of setting up your business in DR rather than in Europe? It is for sure not the climate. Anyway, you will be working 80 hours a week, so not much time left for enjoying the ocean breeze...

Buenas Seb!

Yes, I got your point! Thanx!

Hahaha! Here you are asking for advise and all I give you is questions! However, I am notoriously curious about how other people do things.

You find Europe's way of life boring? Really? Hm... My own egocentric feeling is that you can do a lot more living in Europe, than you can living in DR. (For example, if I lived in Montpellier, I could go to the beach one weekend, see a Paris show the next and go to London the following to buy books and see the latest exhibition in Tate Gallery! Fantastic! And not in the least boring...) But that is my feeling. Other people have other feelings about this and that is good. People are different and look for different things.

Greedy people? Well, maybe I go negative and pessimistic again, but my feeling is that you find greedy people wherever you find people! But maybe the difference is that in DR they will smile whilst they take your money...

If I may venture advise here, it would be to do research, research and then more research! There seem to be quite a few expats in DR doing business and you need to "pick their brains".

About importing stuff, write to "Pib". She knows everything about import, custom clearance etc. Her e-mail is aunt.clara@dominicancooking.com

Rgds,
John

Location & Real estate:
- Where do you think is the best place to move? Which city, place, etc..? I'd need mains electricity & internet access (DSL, preferably). I've been studying Fiji islands for a year, and now starting all over again for the DR is not my best scenario. Any advice to help me out? Oh, also I'd like to be in the less-humid & less-hurricane-visited area, if possible

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Where is the best place to move is totally up to you and where you feel the most comfortable. Santo Domingo is a metropolis in every sense of the word, Sosua is a small resort town, Jarabacoa is a pleasant mountain town, etc. There is variety here, so its hard to say where exactly would be best. However, if you want nightlife, dining, culture, and business opportunity, Santo Domingo is the place.

Less humidity is found up in the mountains for the most part. Much of the year the Humidity is not a real problem, only in the summer. Hurricanes don't affect us directly alot, they do come close to us very often, but few actually give us a direct hit. Don't worry, just when it comes, get out of the way.

- The house. Could I find a decent (say 3-4 bedroom) house in a nice neighbourhood (I have to admit, some posts on the "legal" forum scared the hell outta me... There seem to be places when you need to carry an automatic rifle... but I doubt it's like this everywhere) for the amount I said? More? Less?

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You would be able to get a decent house in a "nice" neighborhood for the money you are willing to pay. You will even be able to buy brand new homes in brand new neighborhoods in the Santo Domingo area. No problem there. Don't worry about the crime, most people are not directly affected by it. You will probably not be a victim of crime either, so don't worry too much about it. Just be aware that stuff do happen from time to time. The DR is not a hell hole.

- Is it possible to run the business in my own residential property? Say I find a two storey house... would it be difficult to convert the lower flat to a company and have the upper one as our home?

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It can be done. Many people run businesses from their homes. Just be wary of the norms for the neighborhood. If many folks have businesses, then its Ok. But if in the neighborhood, there are not many people running businesses from their backyards, then be considerate if your business requires a flow of people coming in and out daily. It can get a bit suspicious if you ask me. But, if your business doesn't require much "visits" from your customers, then even in a purely residential neighborhood you should be able to run your business from home. No laws prohibiting such thing.

- Can we buy our property as tourists?

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Sure, just be prepared to pay the "gringo" price. There are little to no restriction about foreigners owning property in the DR. It used to be a hassle, but Leonel fixed that problem during his first administration.

- Do I need to have armed bodyguards taking care of my equipment (lame question, but as I said earlier, I read some posts that look really... uhm, well, not that exciting)

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No, you don't need armed bodyguards taking care of your equipment, property, or self. Of course, if you are some sort of famous person then its obvious. The DR is not a place where you have to dodge bullets day in and day out. You hear about crime, you read about crime, but for the most part you won't see it, feel it, or be a part of it.

Business:

- I'd like to import the equipment I'll use in my company from the US. Mainly computers, cameras, and stuff like that. Will I encounter any serious problem? Taxes?

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There might be some delaying when trying to import the material once it makes it to port here in the DR. Most of the time a small bribe will fix that problem. BTW, corruption is the name of the game so learn to live with it here. The more money you have, the easier your life gets, end of story.

- I'm planning to have about 15-20 DR employees after about 5 years (maybe even sooner...). Is IT trained labour available?

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There are some. Whether or not you will be able to have them materialize when you need them is really up in questions. However, the Dominican workforce is highly trainable. You can train most Dominicans to do anything and they will catch on relatively quickly. Even quicker if your pay is a bit higher than normal for your business field.

The rest:

- Anything else I should know?

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Get to know as many key people as possible. See if you can meet a military personel, a police agent, a government agent, etc. Your life will be so much easier once you get some connections in certain areas of society. Other than that, Welcome to the Dominican Republic!

Pozdrav ))

Pozdrav prijatelju...
Jel znas srpski tj. hrvatski jezik ?

ja znam samo srpski.

about noise

Seb,

I did a double take when I saw you were from Slovenia... when I began searching possible places to move from Canada, Slovenia was high on my list; it and the DR. That might seem strange to you!

One of the attractions of Slovenia was that neighbors were good neighbors, or so it appeared from my research. Slovenians like their privacy, peace & quiet. I need peace and quiet, or I'm not quite right.

Noise is a huge part of this culture and country; I've found it the single most difficult aspect to overcome. Eventually, I plan to live out of the way on enough acres to create my own peace and quiet. For now, I've not got it.

Might be something to consider with your parents when you're looking for a place to live.

I would suggest somewhere on the north coast for less humidity and avoidance of possible hurricanes. I was told by some that August-September are horrible months here because it's much too hot.

So I was a little worried about the oppressive heat... NOT! I live on a hill, and the breeze is beautiful. It makes a huge difference to have a little elevation above the coast. I haven't used air conditioners once, although I have them in all bedrooms. Most nights I need to turn off the fan because I get chilly.
Really, not joking.

Buying a property and owning a business are two of the ways one is sure to gain residency, by Dominican law. But perhaps more important is your choice of lawyer to help with the process.

So, having the right contacts will mean much as you make the important decisions. It's like an underground of people who know how to get things done. Choose the wrong people, and you will have nothing but headaches.

There are knowledgable and helpful people here who can steer you to the right choices... if you plan on spending any time in the Sosua area, I will be glad to point you in the right direction with respect to contacts.

Best of luck with your plans!