Totally agree. I think though that once they open the highway and make the north coast within 2.5 hours of the capital, it will be the salvation as you'll get access to the richest domestic market. That's what is saving Las Terrenas, especially now that Air France is no more. At the moment the north coast is just too far from the capital to make it there and back and enjoy a weekend away.
- Thread starter windeguy
- Start date
Jolly Roger only $399K in Sosua
Totally agree. I think though that once they open the highway and make the north coast within 2.5 hours of the capital, it will be the salvation as you'll get access to the richest domestic market. That's what is saving Las Terrenas, especially now that Air France is no more. At the moment the north coast is just too far from the capital to make it there and back and enjoy a weekend away.
The issue is that it's really expensive to operate a business in DR. These days you have to pay the ITBIS and the propina legal. The electricity is crazy expensive. Salaries have gone up a lot in the last year and it's hard to find people who really want to work and have good skills. Food costs are also way up on last year. My costs are up maybe 50% on last year, but my customers expect to pay the same as before. And on top of that you get zero help from the government, all that happens is that you get an endless stream of government agencies expecting you to fill in more and more forms and pay more and more taxes.
It's the same all over the whole of the DR. I was walking around the Colonial Zone with a friend last week looking at how many boarded up restaurants there are. Sad that so many people have invested hard earned cash into these businesses just to lose them a few months later. This is honestly a very very difficult place to run a hospitality business and I completely understand why anyone would want to give up. I do myself quite a lot of the time these days to be honest.
Especially a food business. Margins are very tight. Employees are difficult to manage and the inherent turnover. As you said the light bill, food costs, payroll. You need smarts, talent and passion. I thought I did but dealing with the customers and their needs/wants and complaints, uff. These days I sit at a PC and fix problems with no headache for me except one client in Germany (3am wake up many nights). However, if I never saw the inside of a restaurant kitchen again it would be too soon.
I have also had issues with how much food the employees eat themselves. It's difficult to stop staff who work in a kitchen helping themselves to food, but recently we decided to lose one of our new staff and one of the reasons was that he just ate so much food it was costing us a fortune.
I can top that. I was brought in to help turn a "hospitality" establishment around. In the walk-ins my team discovered 5 gallon paint buckets filled with food waste. For a long time the owner said oh they want that for "la comida de los puercos". Turns out under the slop were well wrapped meats, cheeses and coffee packages!!
Adding, I was intrigued why the food waste buckets were stored in the walk-in 😂, hence our discovery
I'm waiting for Jon Taffer to Chime in on this Thread ... Fascinating Stuff ..
It aint easy making money in the Food Business , thats for sure .
Like that cliche saying goes , if you want to make a Million Dollars in a Business in the DR, better bring 2 million .
It aint easy making money in the Food Business , thats for sure .
Like that cliche saying goes , if you want to make a Million Dollars in a Business in the DR, better bring 2 million .
Tommy, you know: horseshoes and hand grenades "almost" counts. All of PC is for sale. And I think $399 is reach.
I always am surprised zhen a lot of people say that it is hard to have a bar/restaurant that makes profit in this country.... It is, but is it not the same in every country? I know that in my home country (Belgium) 70% of the new bars/restaurants that open, close again within a year. This is a hard business all over the world, not just in the DR.
Plus most of the people that I see that don't succeed in the business are people that had zero experience in that type of business before. They work in construction or in an office or something else, but because they made a cocktail and baked an egg at home, they think it is easy to open a bar/restaurant......
Plus most of the people that I see that don't succeed in the business are people that had zero experience in that type of business before. They work in construction or in an office or something else, but because they made a cocktail and baked an egg at home, they think it is easy to open a bar/restaurant......
When I had my place it was very successful, and a lot of folks tried to emulate my business.
Almost all of them failed because they used the business and its profits like it was unlimited. They were the ones buying drinks for friends and carrying a pocketful of bills.
I made sure my sales were deposited every day. Paid bills when they came due. The high spots definitely made up for the low spots.
My place was seasonal for sure - always had a big college crowd. When classes were out, I'd sit there and watch TV usually by myself except for the daily drinkers, who by the way are a bar's bread-and-butter crowd.
Matteo's and Plan B are also for sale.
Matteo's Seaside Pub (formerly Britannia) has been for sale for a while and Doug at Plan B is moving on for the second time after being at Cheers and now Plan B. I doubt he has a Plan C in mind other than not being in business, but you never know.
Not sure if El Choco is also for sale, there is that pesky For Sale flag out front.
Matteo's Seaside Pub (formerly Britannia) has been for sale for a while and Doug at Plan B is moving on for the second time after being at Cheers and now Plan B. I doubt he has a Plan C in mind other than not being in business, but you never know.
Not sure if El Choco is also for sale, there is that pesky For Sale flag out front.
Thank you for telling us what the rent is. The Listing is meaningless without that information.
I took the motorcycle from PUJ to Sosua a few weeks ago. It used to be that the destination was the pinnacle of the trip...now it is the drive there. The Jolly has always been one of my fav's when visiting but this time when I went on a Thursday evening, I was the only one in the place. Over the next few days, I saw very few in there. In fact, the whole town was in a state of depression. The only clientele I saw, looked like they were lifetime expat Sosuians and the supersized towel brigade. It certainly has lost its iconic charm. I found myself retiring to the room and sound asleep by 930pm.
As I said, the drive is now the highlight of the journey to Sosua...not the destination.
As I said, the drive is now the highlight of the journey to Sosua...not the destination.
now hold on Sir Windy, i thought you said the new W hotel and the beach shack transformation was going to turn Sousa into a mega destination.
The good old day's when Barb and Linden ran the Britania pub and the Campo bar was the place to go to get a good drink are long gone.
I agree if it doesn't include the property the price is way over the top.
I wonder if the failing businesses we are seeing in Sosua is a sign of more problems ahead. Maybe people no longer have the disposable cash to to rampant inflation (It's hit me)
I see bars and restaurants with 1 or 2 or no people, night after night. Even on the weekend.
The only thing congested is the hooker corner and Kings with illegally parked taxis, wrong way motos and sloppy fat hookers in ill-fitting Chinese onesies turning Sosua into the lowest common denominator.
Even the Jet Blue visitors are getting mucho mas asqueroso
I agree with one point - when the bloom is of the rose, no one picks it. Ask Acapulco
And the Sosua Beach renovation is taking longer than the Panama Canal to build, just like the Cangrejo bridge
Think about it in beers. How much do you make on a beer? Divide $1400 by that. Then divide that number by 30.
That's what you have to sell every day, just to pay rent.
Depressing.
I defy ANYONE to go $400 K into Debt , on the first Day, and make an actual PROFIT at ANYTHING in Sosua, even if it involved Spandex Girls charging by the Hour .
( a Hotel or Real Estate are exceptions , thats common sense., and real assets)
But any TURN KEY BUSINESS where you Own Nothing but the Lease and the sign, good will, and Inventory , and you show me a profit , at $400K in Dept ??
I would challenge that , would make a great TV Comedy Show tho.
Experience has zero to do with that Math.