*** Doing Business & Living Tips ***

Robert

Stay Frosty!
Jan 2, 1999
20,574
341
83
dr1.com
These are those little pieces of invaluable info you learn along the way when doing business, living and working in the DR.

Let's kick this off with...

*** Office Furniture on a Budget ***
Skilled labor is cheap in the DR compared to many parts of the world.
You can have custom furniture that's very good quality made at very reasonable prices.

Here in Santo Domingo we have 2-3 very large and very good lumber yards.
Often you can pick up some nice pieces of wood at great prices.

It's amazing how nice a 6x3' well polished mahogany slab can look when made up as a desk.
Plus you get to customize the pieces to your design and requirements.

The desk below is 10x3' and 2" thick. It's a solid slab and weighs a ton.
The total cost including the legs, wood and labor was under US$250 (2 yrs ago).
It will last for years of abuse and still look great.

desk_1.jpg


A lot of what you are about to read below is common sense when having furniture made.
Saying that, I'm amazed how often it's not applied by people here.

1) The best way is to have a photo or sketch of the custom piece you need. Photo or magazine clipping of something similar works best.

2) In most cases you will be expected to buy the raw materials up front. Go and do this yourself, just ask the person doing the work what he/she needs. Buying it yourself can often save you money and you will not be paying for the materials for their best friends job.

3) Make sure you establish the price upfront and be very clear on what you want and the amount your willing to pay. Better still, have a Dominican friend do the negotiating for you :)

4) Make sure you negotiate hard, especially as many smaller guys will apply a "gringo tax" as soon as they see you.

5) Push to get dates and times for completion. Not an easy task here, but do it anyway.

6) Do not pay for the finished product until you are 100% happy.

7) Find someone that comes with a recommendation. Look at their work, make sure they can handle the job.

8) This is the most important tip! If the job turns out great and your 100% happy, don't tell anyone. If word gets around you have a great wood person or furniture maker, everybody will want to use them and you will never see that person again :)

If you live and work here and have any tips to share, please post away so we can all learn!
 

Wonderdog

New member
Apr 25, 2005
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Robert said:
These are those little pieces of invaluable info you learn along the way when doing business, living and working in the DR.

Every time I travel to DR I learn a new tidbit. Each time, the lesson costs a little less. First trip cost me all my electronic goods and a great pair of tennis shoes, last trip only cost me gringo price on a cab ride to a casino I found out was closed only after the cab driver bolted.

God I love DR!
 

planner

.............. ?
Sep 23, 2002
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Great Idea...

Hey RObert, I love this idea! First: can I suggest we break this into 2 threads. One for general living and the other for business specific. They will have all the common stuff under general but the business stuff can be separated out....

General:

1. It will never happen on time, when they say it will!!! Ever. Depending on what you are dealing with add 50% to 200% to the time line.

2. It will always cost more than you think. Again depending what you are talking about the price increases can vary.

3. You will have to supervise the job / task yourself. Do not ever assume that someone else will do it the way you wanted it done unless you are there to supervise.
 

MrMike

Silver
Mar 2, 2003
2,586
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www.azconatechnologies.com
My .02:

When the job is not done on time or is not done according to clear specifications, and the contractor is playing stupid and pretending to have no idea what you're talking about, resist the temptation to go psycho on him at all costs.

Very rarely and only with a tremendous stroke of luck will anything ever be done on time in this country, and no the answer is not to set deadlines that are far off in the hopes they will be easier to reach, it is better to set a false deadline earlier than your real deadline and do all you can to have it taken seriously. Since you have padded your schedule a bit, there is actually a chance you won't be up a creek without a paddle when crunch time comes.

You may think you can fire your contractor and get someone else to do the job, but oddly instead of his competitors being happy to jump in and profit off of his irrisponsibility, they will be hesitant to work for you knowing you are a hard-*** who was mean to their buddy. (and they are going to find out straight from him almost right away)

After being horribly let down several times you will eventually come across an honest contractor who takes his commitments seriously and gets stuff done on time, doesn't overcharge etc.

Now you must resist the temptation to spoil him. Once he feels you are his friend, the quality of work and adherence to time constraints will generally falter, so strive to maintain a professional relationship even though you may feel an urge to show gratitude for the fact that you are not being ripped off.
 

planner

.............. ?
Sep 23, 2002
4,409
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Mr. Mike, you are right on. While I've never built here, I've watched many others go thru it.... you seem to have a good handle on it...

Good advice too: don't spoil them when you find a good contractor. I've learned that applies to a good administrator, good cleaning person, good driver etc. As soon as you start to "spoil them" all the standards fly right out the window.

For me, I always treat them with courtesy and respect but with very firm standards and expectations...
 

Chirimoya

Well-known member
Dec 9, 2002
17,850
982
113
discount for cash payments

As some of you may know, I'm in the process of remodelling an apartment, which naturally involves a lot of purchases in 'ferreterias' (hardware stores) and the like. I have found that when paying cash for a large purchase (or even not that large, anything over a couple of thousand pesos), if you ask for a discount, they will almost certainly agree to this.

We have been given some gratifying markdowns in the last few days, at Almacenes Unidos on Avenida JFK, Ferreteria Americana and a place off La Privada (Mirador Sur) called El Inca, a 'cerrajeria' which I suppose is a locksmith in English.

Click here for more information.

How could I miss the opportunity to plug my blog!
 

Chris

Gold
Oct 21, 2002
7,951
28
0
www.caribbetech.com
Let's get some updates to doing business and living tips? What are the thoughts out there ... about living in the DR? What have you learnt, what has burnt you and how are you doing? :D
 

Pyza

New member
Jan 3, 2007
37
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speaking of wood, how expensive is some pretty nice wood? cause i was planning on doing a bit of carving while im there as a past time.
 

Oceanview1

New member
Dec 13, 2006
11
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0
www.banker-trust.com
Automobile & Real Estate Titles

Unlike other countries, auto and real estate titles in the DR are similar to bearer bonds - whoever holds them, owns them. Therefore, it's never advisable to let these documents out of your control. Countless foreigners have lost their homes and autos by allowing certain unscrupulous lawyers and others to possess them. Be smart. Keep them safe, and preferably not at home in a file. Use a safe deposit box. Below are some institutions (and their websites) which rent them:

Scotia Bank www.scotiabank.com.do
Banco Reservas www.banreservas.com.do/
 
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DrChrisHE

On Probation!
Jul 23, 2006
599
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When a contractor or worker tells you they'll be back in an hour, that likely means tomorrow. Whenever someone in the DR says "Ma?ana" that means "sometime in the future and most likely NOT tomorrow unless specified ma?ana temprano." Over the past 7 months I've been reminded by practical mistakes on counting on things happening "on time" over and over again.
 

chola1978

Bronze
Mar 20, 2006
770
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ELECTRIC CONTRACTS.
This is one of the most important part when getting new local for an office. How soon will the electric company have the electric contract or contador up and running, what will be your charges. We have had several issues so far in regards to our electric contract and electric meter. Its your responsibility to make sure no one still your electricity since the EDEs will not care if is register in the meter.
Please make it a daily habit to account for your consumption early in the beginning so you will have something to compare with. Please have an electrician that is not form the neighborhood looking into the wirering so that you can feel a bit safe that no one is connected to your power lines. hope this helps...Ah this might be the same for a house also.
We have to be the cops and protect out power lines the companies will not do that for us.