Message 25314 of 39188 in General Discussion

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Sure, actually, down in Puerto Escondido, it's very easy. Technically, to run 
a business down there you need an FM3 visa, which takes a little doing, but 
can be done in about six months. Despite that, most of the expats running 
small businesses down there don't have anything more than a tourist visa (FMT) 
- Unless you piss someone off that in turn, turns you into the immigration 
guys, you won't have a problem, and in that part of the country, literally 
ANYONE can be paid off. At the time he was running the palapa bar, he only had 
a tourist visa, but he did have a mexican girlfriend, which definitely comes 
in handy with this type of thing. On the main surfing beach, Zicatela, there's 
more than a few, of what are essentially abandoned palapa beach bars and 
restaurants. He found the owner of one, and rented the place. I'm pretty sure 
he paid less than $300 a month. However, it was bare bones - no electricty, 
running water, etc. He put in a generator to run lights at night, music, 
blender etc. I'd say, he probably got setup for about $1000 that first month, 
and from there was making enough to live off of, or at least live fairly 
cheaply. He wasn't rolling in the bucks by any means. Eventually, an Italian 
guy took over, and really revamped the place quite nicely, and did even better.

My friend recently opened up a Dive Shop down there 
(www.puertodivecenter.com), but also got his FM3 taken care of, so he's legit. 
Last I heard, he's moving to a new location on the beach with a small 
restaurant attached to the building to "grow his empire".

Anyways, if you're really serious about doing it, you first need to save up a 
few grand. This would give you about two months living expenses down there 
(comfortably) and $1000 to get a small biz started. Honestly, I think Puerto 
can use a nice coffee shop, with blended coffee drinks to-go as a specialty.

Starting in may until august is the low, low season down there. The town is 
empty, and you can find a place to rent dirt cheap. If you decide to do it, 
let me know and I'll point you in the right direction, and give you a few 
names of some people I know down there. The six months I spent down there I 
had the time of my life, quite literally.

-- 
Cheers! - Josh @ BarSim
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