business

Tom0910

Well-known member
Sep 28, 2015
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And what happened to that guy who set up a bar in Sosua without any alcohol but had lots of candy, how well is that one doing?
That guy's name is Randy and he is still in the area,he moved to Puerto Plata but I think he now lives in Sosua. The last time I saw him he was in the middle of financing his ex girlfriend and daughter to go to the states through Nigaragua or Guatemala and he paid $5Kusd upfront and the handlers stole the money. He bought a car from a dealership in POP without test driving it and the motor blew a week after he bought it. We nicknamed him Trainwreck.
 

jaguar86

New member
Aug 4, 2013
3
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I have run hospitality businesses here for many years and I would seriously advise against setting this up. In any bar you have to pay 18% ITBIS and 10% Propina Legal, so basically a third of what you charge immediately goes. Bars use a lot of electricity for refrigeration and for A/C, and we live in a country which is one of the most expensive on the globe for electricity. You need a lot of staff to work in a bar, and the minimum wage is RD$ 20,000 a month. And then you have to think of the cost of your stock, you're mainly going to be selling beers and there is a crazy small margin on beer in this country.

Just walk around and see how many closed down bars there are, how many hundreds of thousands of dollars people have pumped into setting up bars here and how many have failed.

If you are determined to start a business here, don't do anything in hospitality. Not hotels, not AirBnB's, not a restaurant and definitely not a bar. There are plenty of other businesses owned by expats that work, but they are in completely different sectors.

Do you think pest control is a good business to open? Maybe one that specializes in Mosquitoes and Termites?

Does anyone here pay for this service?
 

FF1

Well-known member
Dec 17, 2022
317
441
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DR
Do you think pest control is a good business to open? Maybe one that specializes in Mosquitoes and Termites?

Does anyone here pay for this service?
I have a friend in La Vega who does fumigation, he has one of those things that look like leaf blowers. He's not starving but he's not making any serious money neither. I'd say if you can get a few contracts to maintain commercial buildings (hotels, malls, restaurants...) then there's money there. Doing government buildings is probably very profitable but you'd never be able to get those contracts.
 
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Manuel01

Well-known member
Apr 1, 2009
810
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Do you think pest control is a good business to open? Maybe one that specializes in Mosquitoes and Termites?

Does anyone here pay for this service?
There are plenty of them already. Many Businesses are requiered by Law to fumigate (Healthcare, Lab's etc etc.) Also Supermarkets and Food Processors are using this service all the time. To get the licence is pretty easy. The Beauty of this Business is that you do not need to invest a lot of money at all. Basic Equipement and Advertizing. If you are good and patient you can make a lot of $. We fumigated our Offices just 2 weeks ago and paid 6000 RD$. The guy who did this spend maybe 200 RD$ on Chems.
 
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JD Jones

Moderator:North Coast,Santo Domingo,SW Coast,Covid
Jan 7, 2016
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There are plenty of them already. Many Businesses are requiered by Law to fumigate (Healthcare, Lab's etc etc.) Also Supermarkets and Food Processors are using this service all the time. To get the licence is pretty easy. The Beauty of this Business is that you do not need to invest a lot of money at all. Basic Equipement and Advertizing. If you are good and patient you can make a lot of $. We fumigated our Offices just 2 weeks ago and paid 6000 RD$. The guy who did this spend maybe 200 RD$ on Chems.
They need to know what they're doing. Remember the French guy who fumigated an apartment and the lady and her child died?
 

Manuel01

Well-known member
Apr 1, 2009
810
864
93
They need to know what they're doing. Remember the French guy who fumigated an apartment and the lady and her child died?
This is exactly the problem ! All of them are so afraid now that they hardly use any poison. Like i mentioned, we used this service 2 weeks ago without any efect whatsoever. I think the sprayed soap. But this is ridicolous, people stop driving after a big traffic accident !? Now this idiot did not take any risk but certainly will loose all his clients in no time. Advise to anybody reading this; Insist on being present when they mix the badge !
 
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Pikobello

Active member
Nov 12, 2020
243
233
43
Santo Domingo
They need to know what they're doing. Remember the French guy who fumigated an apartment and the lady and her child died?
My thoughts too, really you want to handle with those poisen most every day? Better to clean water cisterns and the tinacos on the roof, you need a vehicle, water pump, a ledder and somemore equipment, all those you can buy in used condicion. But you'll not become rich of this.
 

MariaRubia

Well-known member
Jun 25, 2019
2,316
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I think a retirement village would be an excellent business here. Personal care is so expensive in the US and Europe and if you set something up properly with good doctors and nurses and a social centre I think this could be a great money spinner.
 

MariaRubia

Well-known member
Jun 25, 2019
2,316
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That guy's name is Randy and he is still in the area,he moved to Puerto Plata but I think he now lives in Sosua. The last time I saw him he was in the middle of financing his ex girlfriend and daughter to go to the states through Nigaragua or Guatemala and he paid $5Kusd upfront and the handlers stole the money. He bought a car from a dealership in POP without test driving it and the motor blew a week after he bought it. We nicknamed him Trainwreck.

He is exactly the type of expats Dominicans love. I bet he gets a loooooot of attention like bees crowding around a honeypot
 
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MariaRubia

Well-known member
Jun 25, 2019
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A low-cost STD clinic would probably do really well on the north coast.

Also in Santo Domingo. And I'm not joking, there is hardly any sexual health service available given a city of 4M people with a strong propensity for jiggy jiggy. Somewhere which also gave people to STD drugs and HIV preventative care at sensible prices would do incredibly well, even though I suspect the church would do their best to shut it down.
 
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CristoRey

Welcome To Wonderland
Apr 1, 2014
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Also in Santo Domingo. And I'm not joking, there is hardly any sexual health service available given a city of 4M people with a strong propensity for jiggy jiggy. Somewhere which also gave people to STD drugs and HIV preventative care at sensible prices would do incredibly well, even though I suspect the church would do their best to shut it down.
Dominicans don't seem to give much prudence to prevention.
 

ando1991

Active member
Dec 5, 2016
115
47
28
I'm looking for a nice spot remote from the Downtown Puerto Plata. My idea is to offer something different from the tipico bar here.
like and upscale bar with a live piano playing music.
Cabarete has many expats. A sports bar may work there. There is a vacancy at the old pool hall there. Top floor of a building.
Sosua has plenty of sports bars.
 

RDKNIGHT

Bronze
Mar 13, 2017
2,759
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That guy's name is Randy and he is still in the area,he moved to Puerto Plata but I think he now lives in Sosua. The last time I saw him he was in the middle of financing his ex girlfriend and daughter to go to the states through Nigaragua or Guatemala and he paid $5Kusd upfront and the handlers stole the money. He bought a car from a dealership in POP without test driving it and the motor blew a week after he bought it. We nicknamed him Trainwreck.
Wow wow
 

Pikobello

Active member
Nov 12, 2020
243
233
43
Santo Domingo
I think a retirement village would be an excellent business here. Personal care is so expensive in the US and Europe and if you set something up properly with good doctors and nurses and a social centre I think this could be a great money spinner.
But is this not an hospitality buisness too that you don't recommend in a post before? And how many millons (dollars of course) you need to invest in such a buisness?
 

Fulano2

Bronze
Jun 5, 2011
3,328
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Europe
But is this not an hospitality buisness too that you don't recommend in a post before? And how many millons (dollars of course) you need to invest in such a buisness?
I think it would need a lot of afford, time to convince families to hand over their
older people in DR hands,.