www.CostaRicaTicas.com

I have been in business for about 6 months. I won't go into details about the exact nature of my business but will only say it is a product/service mix and targetted to small to medium businesses with a telephone front-end and a sales system behind. It seemed like a great idea as their are TONs of small to mediums shops in CR.

After 6 month and missing all my targets, I'm ready to give up. I have horribly missed all sales forecasts and can't even really justify continuing.

Why? Costa Ricans are impossible to do business with!!!

My one and only employee has the business aptitude of a nine year old. She was fired yesterday. I don't even think she understood that she was being fired!!! I can't tell you how much sales coaching I gave her. She had books. I gave her tools. We did role playing. I'm the customer.... sell me something. You name it!!! The one thing I HATED SEE HER DO was reading from a stupid script during cold calls. She new it bothered me, but just kept doing it. How many customer want to hear some person babble about a product in a scripted monotone voice??? Then, if they asked her a hard questions... like tell me about a feature... she would park them on hold and frantically ask me what to say. I trained her for a week and even offered her certification, which she blew off.

Over and over again.... You can't sound like a robot. YOU NEED TO ASK GOOD QUESTIONS AND THEN LISTEN!!! She never got it. ASK BOUT THEIR PAIN POINTS... TALK ABOUT PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS. nah.... she would just read this boring script over and over again. In fact, she would sit and do nothing if I wasn't around. The second she heard me coming... she would quickly look frantically busy. She is sooo dumb she doesn't understand that the "scramble to look busy" act was a clear sign she was DOING NOTHING before I came.

I asked my girlfriend what to do. She told me I'm paying her too much!!!!! I was like WTF!!!! I'm paying a Web Telesales Lead $3.75 per hour and its too much???? Isn't that supposed to be motivation?????? She said NO. In this country, if she makes just enough to get by, she will do the bare minimum. She also mentioned that you need to fire someone quickly and quietly, because she can go to the government and file a complaint.

Great!!!

Now - unto the customer side. I have never EVER SEEN PEOPLE SO GOODAMMMNNN CHEAP IN MY ENTIRE LIFE!!!!! and the lack of planning and thinking beyond today is incredible. No wonder so many locals open retail shops, only to close after 2 months. They have ZERO PLAN. They close when they run out of money. Period. Its got nothing to do with not making earnings forecasts or reducing costs or competition. Pure and simple. If they succeed - its only a matter of luck. If they fail, they have no more money and thus have no choice but to close their shop.

You can tell a tico that if he spends $1 more today on system X, he will likely spend $2 less next year, because its replaces system Y which is a piece of shit. And, you will make money with system X because your sales increase. He will say... nah... we will use system Y until it completely breaks down and take the dollar to buy duct tape to re-patch system Y til ti breaks down next year.

My sales rep (couch potatoe) was actively pursing a small business owner ( more so than any other prospect) because she thought it was a sure thing. This women was phucking playing with her because she was bored. She didn't want to spend a nickel. In fact, when I quoted her, she sqawked. Then, she asked if she could fly to Miami to buy the system cheaper and then smuggle it back. I mean WTF!!!! First, for entertainment, I ran some numbers and said - yes - technically you can fly to Miami for about $250 and save about $55. SHE WAS ALLLLLLLL OVER THAT. Then I explained that she would probably need a hotel. I think she was ready to sleep in the airport. Then finally I explained that she couldn't buy the system without authorization and certification... all the studying and tests we had to take to get certified. You can't buy this system at Circuit City. You need a wholesale license... a distributor and CERTFICATION. Meanwhile... my sale rep has wasted countless hours with this woman. I even wasted one hour.

In the end, I told the customer to take a walk. I imagined the nightmare of installing her system. Then her not being happy and not paying her bill and decided it just wasn't worth the headache.

This is just one example of many.

All this time... I've been blaming myself and my approach. My business strategy sucks!!! you name it!!! This week I have seen the light. It has nothing to do with my business plan or strategy. Its the market - Ticos won't spend a nickel, if they don't have to. Period!

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http://TipsCostaRica.com for pratical advice on living in Costa Rica.
In order to write about life, first you must live it! - E. Hemingway.

Yup. I was foolish enough to open a business here. It broke me after about 1 1/2 years. Ticos don't work, think or give a damn. I agree that they also do not spend any more money than they absolutely have to, and even then they try to get it on credit because the have no intention of ever paying.

IMHO the only option for a foreigner here is to figure out how to business with foreigners. BUT most of the foreigners who live her are here because they too are cheapskates.

Good luck to you in your biz.

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"Believe none of what you read, and half of what you see." Old Island Woman

Sorry for your trouble but I see this as an opportunity. The opportunity to be doing the same thing I am doing right now , 20 years from now, because NOTHING will have changed !

Actually, think about that. You went into business without really understanding your market, or your potential customers. I'd say that qualifies you as just as poor a planner as you accuse them.

You also hired an employee with no previous experience, and you failed to monitor their performance while leaving them alone. You expected them to want to treat it as more than labor job. You hired the wrong person.

In effect, you are in fact to blame. Tico's are what they are, and you expect them to be something they are not. Thus, you fail.

To succeed in business here, you have to take your customers eccentricities into account, and your business plan has to reflect the market as it is.

being good at anything isn't all that easy...build it and they will come..worked in the movies but as you've seen simply doesn't work in real life

Sales on the other hand is probably one of the toughest jobs, one has to be able to eat rejection for breakfast every day and they still may not do especially well..

seems that if you do in fact, have a necessary product, that you may have spent too must time on sales employee that just didn't cut it and thus lost a good opportunity yourself

why did you even hire a person with a "business aptitude of a 9 year old" and stake your company on her?

The most important foundations for business success ANYWHERE is that
A) You have the correct people, I know people who bring US people down to CR to get it done even though they are 100X as expensive.... it still works out a better deal
B) Customer ability to pay, willingness to pay and lastly customer need or rather perception of their need.
Your strategy overlooked these biggies... Employees and customer ability to pay/customer need.
But dont sweat it....you did not lose just chalk it up to experience and learn from overlooking those two big principles... CR is a cheap place to stumble and learn compared to the US.

My buddy manages the HP call center in CR and he flies in all the time yet does not live in CR because he is married, he is rather expensive for them in CR but he cannot be replaced at all by a Costa rican... they tried because he did not want to be flying to CR all the time and then back to his family believe it or not he preferred the US anyway, well his replacement was a disaster.....he says even his cream of the cream employees can be nightmares, supervisors sleeping with subordinates left and right, slacking shirking and apathy and the list goes on and he has his pick of the litter in CR. But at the call center level paying them 25% or less than a US employee does pan out

At happy hr. another member once shared the joys of attempting to do biz in CR. He said even though he could offer a better product at a cheaper price Ticos don't like change or listen to logic, they also don't like to return phone calls, emails or show up for meetings on time (if they show up at all). Good luck.

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Living well is the best revenge
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwUtj_YnNoY

Thanks for the slam!!! God... why do I dread posting on this site?

FYI... I have an extensive business plan with an extensive marketing plan. I believe it would work anywhere there is growth.

The problem with CR is there is very little growth. But, the bigger problem is - THEY DON'T WANT TO GROW. How do you factor into your plan that your customers, which are small to medium business JUST DON'T CARE. THEY DON'T WANT TO GROW. IF THEY SURVIVE, THEY ARE LUCKY. Everything we are taught in business school is based on the desire for an on-going concern.

I also ran 1 month of marketing tele-surveys which showed there was demand. In fact, two out of 10 businesses were actually willing to meet face to face for a presentation. Those are good numbers.

I do have two good prospects which I still consider to be hot. Why??? Because their HQ is American. Go figure!!!! But, since they are tico operated, they want to move like snails. In fact, they can't even decide if they are allowed to make decisions regarding capital purchases. I've been on the phone with their HQ trying to coach them on moving from A to B. Seems the HQ could give a flying shit about their Tico counterpart.

Someone said - you have to do business with foreigners??!!! What I have found down here, with rare exception, is most foreigners are completely broke. They are a few making money off poker (enough for rice and beans and some massages for 5,000 Col) or Sports Books and some succesful hotel owners. But, the average gringo is living on rice and beans and praying for their next serving. I'm not kidding.

Regarding my employee - not a micro-manager. Refuse this approach.

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http://TipsCostaRica.com for pratical advice on living in Costa Rica.
In order to write about life, first you must live it! - E. Hemingway.

Apologize wasnt trying to slam you. Its just I looked at trying to do biz down there and found they lack the willingness and ability to spend money on productivity improvements to their business that will reap rewards tomorrow its just that I care about today only attitude that trumps all....maybe its the hot weather maybe its the laid back lifestyle dont know but seems the only things that are sure winners are things for which their demand is inelastic.....(cigs, liquor, quick access to food and vice consumption...the chinese already have entered) the lucrative minimart, car, ipod, playstation,phones things like that that they cannot do without or need for the status ie ipod and new phones. None of which seem like fun or interesting businesses to be in. You could take in Ipods those seem to sell for double to triple mark up here but then you have to find the buyers that have the cash because most buy on credit at 40% plus your just a reseller also and will get caught eventually trying to smuggle them in without paying their tax, so nix that fascinating idea

I realize I'm posting this in your topic of wanting a business here so my post may be out of context. But for my concerns, I'm glad they are the way they are. I had a reason to leave the USA and move here. It would defeat the purpose of my move if they all got the "USA, more is better fever" or for that matter, the "better is better" thinking.

Living in the land of exposed 240volt breaker boxes with missing covers is part of the tico thinking that makes this place what it is.

As long as you don't market a product or service to Ticos, or have Ticos as employees you will be a lot better off...Went through it myself, learned my lesson...

What I didn't include here - her job was more than just sales. She was an Adobe certified developer and created a pretty damn good web site. Upon hiring, I told her that her job was conditional on sales metrics, and that her primary function was sales. Her secondary was to work on the web site. No one should have to canvas 8 hours today. So, her time was split evenly.

After just over two months of "SUCKING BIG TIME" on the sales side, I waited for her web work to be complete. Then I fired her. It simply wasn't that simple.

Anyway, my experience stands firm. TICOS are cheap people. If they are in business, they are not in for success or growth, they are in for today's bread and nothing more. I also need to qualify this - I'm not marketing towards your average losers that have mom and pop shops on Avenida Central. I marketing towards larger companies with over 20 employees. My largest prospect has 2,500 employees with 900 users of my system. These guys aren't poor. They just lack business drive and work on a Spanish clock (lunchtime siesta and run for home at 5 PM) and not on an American clock.

This doesn't make them bad people. Coming from our business culture, it is next to impossible to make the cultural GAP.

For the record, I'm not closing shop yet, as I have some prospects left. I had to fire my only sales rep and now will regroup. Got an add out on local job sites and will be very keen on proven sales experience.

Talking about business to a board of whore mongers... What did I expect???? At least, I was trying something other than starting a strip bar, or a massage parlor.... How many of these busines models have flopped in the past 5 years in SJ? Yet, I bet many on this board would consider that to be a very sound, low-risk and respectable endeavor.

Sheesh...

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http://TipsCostaRica.com for pratical advice on living in Costa Rica.
In order to write about life, first you must live it! - E. Hemingway.

I'll bite. Why would you hire a web developer to do sales? Those that succeed is sales are dedicated to it and they live off the high of closing a deal. Only a sales person knows that and anyone else not addicted to it isn't going to succeed no matter how much training and coaching.

As for posting on a whore mongering board, why do you post if you don't like people disagreeing with you? I thought some of the answers that were given to you were rather legitimate when it comes to starting a business and growing a client base. You also seem to be basing your business practices on cultural norms for US business and not Latin American and in particular Costa Rican norms. What research did you do on business norms in the country? Did you talk to the local expat business group to get a feel for how things run in the country? These are factors and if you read most international business journals and books, they all say look at how the country operates before you even set foot into it. Cultural norms are a big factor in if your business succeeds are fails.

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[url=http://www.amishrakefight.org/gfy/]

In small business you need to wear many hats. I wear exec, marketing, sales, programmer, engineer and tester all in one day. Secondly, am I being criticized for HIRING HER OR FIRING HER? If it is for hiring her, she was recommended by a neighbor who owns a successful medical supply company. She did telesales for him and also worked in a Call Center on the phones. So, I gave her a chance and fired her for not meeting quotas. It was either that, or outsource the sales position to a Call Center for triple the cost, where I would have zero ability to do product training or even supervise. As for firing her, in order to do it legally, you need to give two written notices, with a clear understanding two week apart. I didn't know about the 90 day probationary period. So, it took about a month to fire her, without legal recourse.

Secondly, I DID NOT POST ON CRT FOR BUSINESS ADVICE. I posted to give those a heads up on the business environment in CR to anyone considering opening something. That said, if anyone is running a small biz that offers hardware, software and professional services to businesses with 100 or more employees.... maybe send me a PM with your background and we can chat.

I realize that my business plan needs work and have made some mistakes. I'm my biggest critic. I've invested very little other than software licensing and some demo hardware... about $6k. I can easily sell most of this stuff on Ebay, if I decide to. Would I have been better off spending $100k on a hotel or a strip bar??? Maybe??? MOST PROBABLY NOT. Most hotel owners in CR are living by seat of their pants. I'm taking a risk and doing something totally different.

The annoying thing and the reason why I react as such - most gringos that visit here and/or live here think they know everything, about everything. I posted to INFORM and instead got SACKED by a bunch a guys, who in all likelihood, have zero experience in small business in CR and perhaps even the states. It only takes $39 to join. Again, not looking for advice. I'm pretty certain a giant business mistake would be to follow advice, from a public board, from random posters who provide no background or qualification for their advice.

I think that MadGerman gave me the strongest knock. Followed by Spanky. Well then - lets here your background and your experience with operating a business that you solely own in Latin America. If you have better insight on the market and the customers, lets hear it then... I can't really afford to hire a consultant. I WASN'T LOOKING FOR ADVICE HERE... but since you guys seem to be experts. What the heck??? Let's here about it????

_________________
http://TipsCostaRica.com for pratical advice on living in Costa Rica.
In order to write about life, first you must live it! - E. Hemingway.

There is some merit to this. You can do okay (rice and beans) selling cheap low markup stuff in CR. Demand elasticity. There are cigarette stands and minimarts, boutiques and such. Fast food... the Chinese have a giant present in all these spaces in CR. Liquor stores. All of these are retail consumer markets. I'm not even looking business to business retail. I'm marketing mostly to healthcare and the financial industries. Retail ain't my thing....

I can't tell you how many gringos try to make money "muling" electronics are even importing autos. There is zero money in any of this stuff. The gig where I found a cheap car Florida... now if I can only get it cheaply to CR... I can make a cool $2k per month. I've heard that one. A friend of mine was doing it and gave up cuz it was zero money. He's actually driving the second car he imported, because he can't sell it at a reasonable price.

I know one gringo who haunts regular places frequented by people on this board. He sells fake stock in company he owns (it changes every six months) to tourist looking for a safe investment outside of the US economy. He seems to do okay. He usually has a sucker hanging from the line whenever I see him.

Maybe I should give this a try???

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http://TipsCostaRica.com for pratical advice on living in Costa Rica.
In order to write about life, first you must live it! - E. Hemingway.