Episode Summary
In this episode of The Expat Files, Johnny Mueller discusses his upcoming expat wisdom insiders seminar in Central America, emphasizing the benefits of avoiding over-touristed areas and focusing on the tourist trail. He criticizes large international seminars for placing participants in expensive, gringo-saturated tourist spots and selling real estate in real estate bubbles. Mueller highlights the personal touch and immersive experience of his small group seminar, explaining the limited number of spots due to logistical and personal reasons, such as hotel capacity and access to private business tours.
Johnny also discusses the challenges and opportunities for expats looking to do business in Latin America. He highlights that many expats come to the region without a clear business plan, and their ventures often develop organically. He promotes his seminar, where expats can share their experiences and answer questions, emphasizing the value of firsthand knowledge. Johnny addresses the fears of potential expats, particularly regarding financial security and the lack of safety nets in Latin America compared to the U.S. He advises against starting common businesses like restaurants or hotels due to high competition, but suggests identifying niches where there is a demand or shortage. He specifically mentions the lack of decent Chinese restaurants in Latin America, noting that most are either cheap and unsanitary or high-end and expensive, leaving a gap for a quality option.
Johnny further explores the potential for a niche market in the Chinese restaurant industry in Latin America. He highlights the lack of middle-of-the-road Chinese restaurants, which are common in the U.S., and points out the poor hygiene, lighting, and signage in existing establishments. He suggests that opening a clean, well-lit, and properly signed Chinese restaurant could be a profitable venture. Additionally, he mentions the absence of traditional elements like fortune cookies and white carryout boxes, which could be unique selling points. Johnny also notes the lack of enforcement of hygiene standards by local authorities, which allows for subpar conditions to persist.
He then discusses his negative experiences with Chinese restaurants in Latin America, attributing his aversion to the unsanitary conditions and the risk of illness. He highlights the prevalence of amoebic dysentery and the common use of local drugs like Tiniben to combat it. He critiques the lack of ambiance in these restaurants and the challenges expats face when trying to open their own restaurants, noting that while some may dream of doing so, the reality is far more complex and risky.
Finally, Johnny discusses the potential and pitfalls of starting or buying a restaurant in Latin America, emphasizing the low costs of labor and food, which can make running a business more affordable. However, he warns that many small, family-run restaurants operate at a loss or barely break even, and that buying such a business can be a trap if the financials are not carefully examined. He highlights the informal nature of business practices in the region, which can make it difficult to assess the true financial health of a restaurant. Johnny advises potential buyers to thoroughly review the books, consult with an accountant, and check bank records before making a purchase, as many owners may not have accurate records or may be operating at a loss for personal reasons.
Topics
Expat seminars, Tourist trail, Gringo advantage, Real estate bubbles, Personal experience, Logistical constraints, VIP access, Expats and business opportunities in Latin America, Challenges of starting a business in Latin America, Johnny Mueller's seminar and its value, Financial fears of expats, Market gaps and niche opportunities
Chapters
00:00:00 Opening 00:00:17 Introduction to the Podcast and Seminar Announcement 00:00:41 Seminar Details and Location 00:01:08 Critique of Large International Seminars 00:01:58 Advocacy for the Tourist Trail 00:03:27 Reasons for Limiting Seminar Participants 00:04:51 Comparison with Other Seminars 00:05:46 Expats Come Without a Business Plan 00:06:01 Johnny Promotes His Seminar 00:06:19 Expats Seek Business Ideas in Latin America 00:07:52 Fear of Financial Instability in Latin America 00:08:46 Avoiding Common Businesses Due to Competition 00:09:34 Market Gap for Quality Chinese Restaurants 00:11:14 The Competition in Latin American Chinese Restaurants 00:11:33 The Absence of Middle-of-the-Road Chinese Restaurants 00:11:55 The Potential for Success in the Chinese Restaurant Niche 00:17:25 The Unsanitary Reality of Chinese Restaurants in Latin America 00:18:38 The Common Use of Anti-Amoebic Drugs in Local Pharmacies 00:19:50 The Lack of Ambiance in Chinese Restaurants 00:22:37 Potential of Starting a Restaurant in Latin America 00:23:02 Low Costs and Time to Operate 00:23:38 Owners' Financial Situation and Retirement 00:25:29 Warning About Falling in Love with a Restaurant 00:25:48 Importance of Financial Due Diligence
Transcript
Automatically transcribed from the original recording; names and wording may contain errors.
[00:00] South of the border down Mexico way That's where I fell in love when the stars above came up to play and now as I wonder My thoughts ever straight Hi everybody I'm Johnny Mueller and you're listening to the expat files Living in Latin America the show that tells you what it's really like to live work play and or retire in Latin America I tell it just like it is so let's get started Okay before I start today again I'd like to announce that my expat wisdom insiders seminar the one that so many people have been asking for details about Like I said again, it's gonna be held in Central America. That's Sunday June 23rd through Friday June 28th
[00:48] So yes It's been all firmed up and you'll be able to read all about it and get all the details if you go to my website Expat wisdom comm and click on the seminar link and that link should be up on the website by Monday April 15th Or hopefully even sooner. So do check it out. And remember I'm only allowing 24 people on the trip So it'll be nothing like one of those big cattle call seminars with hundreds of people, you know Like those big international mega seminars that are held in gringo Saturated tourist spots like Panama Costa Rica or Cancun or Playa del Carmen, you know where there's hundreds of people and there's basically no Personal touch at all and you know, it beats me. I just don't get it Why don't these big companies even try to put on their seminars at these big gringo saturated first world expensive tourist sites?
[01:34] Those are the places you've got no gringo advantage at all Exactly where you don't want to come down and live as an expat That's what my whole show is about advising against doing that unless of course, you don't mind first world expensive and hanging with gringos 24-7 so if it's just about the weather in the Sun and fun, why don't you just move the Florida or Arizona? But you know by now that's not where I'm coming from You know what my religion is stay and live off the tourist trail We've got that huge gringo advantage working for you because when you're on the tourist trail All you really are to the locals is a big dollar sign So will somebody please tell me why these big international seminar guys stick you right in the middle of that? And then to add insult to injury they try to sell you a chunk of real estate there
[02:20] Even though you're right in the middle of a real estate bubble that no one ever seems to mention Except yours truly so let me get this straight they advise that you settle in a country where you're just a dollar sign to the locals a place where Your gringo advantage has long since vanished and those great real estate Opportunities they direct you to are no cheaper than what you'd pay if you were buying the same kind of thing up in the states Oh and let's not forget the first world style taxes that they hit you with in those countries too And though they may not be able to copy the US style big brother system because they just don't have the resources They certainly have copied the US tax structure. So will somebody please explain to me? What's going on here? Okay I guess I beat up on those guys enough But to their credit at least they're offering first world people a way to get out
[03:06] Which is perfectly fine for expat wannabes who want to land down here in a soft way a soft landing You know where they can hit the ground running where there have already been a ton of gringos who paved the way Nothing wrong with that. At least you've got that option Now as for my upcoming event Like I said, I'm only allotting 24 spots off the gringo tourist trail Of course, and I still get emails from people asking me why only 24 people there's really two very good reasons for that One of the places that we visit has some very beautiful Spanish colonial boutique hotels Some of them two and three hundred years old restored the first world standards, of course But you see almost none of these very cool hotels has more than 30 rooms and no way am I gonna split up my group
[03:51] Since that's part of the immersion experience all of us hanging together doing the same things sharing the same experiences 24-7 so I have to have rooms for 24 people and my expat wisdom staff and me of course all at the same hotels and The other reason why I can only accommodate 24 people is because when we're out on the road on the boots on the ground part of the seminar when we're visiting hospitals and medical complexes and Factories and IT centers and checking out the real estate bubble and visiting businesses and things Well, some of those factories and business outfits are owned by personal longtime friends of mine who'd never for a second permit an outsider Or any group of outsiders to step foot in their establishment What I mean is they don't give tours
[04:37] but they are opening their doors as a favor to me and I'd never want to wear out my welcome or abuse the privilege by showing up with a big unwieldy group of people and that would be the end of my VIP tours and That in itself should tell you about the big seminars that are put on in Costa Rica and Panama and Playa del Carmen and stuff They could never give you that hands-on Personal VIP treatment. I don't see how they could walk you individually through anything at all Now imagine over a hundred people at a seminar with boots on the ground Now you'd be talking about a minimum of three or four school buses filled with people showing up at some small Businessmen's doorstep the logistics of that would just be impossible But it's something I can easily pull off with only 24 people and that's just what we do
[05:24] We stopped to visit some of my personal expat gringo friends at their factories and businesses Now these are great examples of expat rags-to-riches stories These guys came down here some years ago with no Spanish without any Contacts at all and with a very small amount of money enough to start a small business down here But not nearly enough to do a business in the States Which is one big reason they came down here in the first place and believe it or not These guys did not come down to Latin America with any kind of business plan Things just kind of happened for them as they stumble along So if you do come down to my next seminar You can hear them tell their own stories and you can ask them as many questions as you like and you can't put a price On that kind of information. Can you anyway?
[06:09] That's just a little of what my seminar offers and part of what it's all about So go to expat wisdom calm and click on the seminar link Anyway back to the show The majority of emails that I get are coming from people who want to know about doing business down here in Latin America Usually they have a few ideas themselves But mainly they want to know I have any inside information on ideas about businesses that I can give them And I'll tell you expats down here with boots on the ground They see business ideas all the time and like expat Eddie says sometimes It's like going to a restaurant with way too much on the menu. You can't decide what to pick We should all have that problem, right up in the States unless you got a ton of dough you can forget about that Well, just come down here and you'll see for yourself
[06:55] The fact is I do get a lot of emails from expat wannabes up north who are sitting on the fence They want to come down in the worst way, but they're terribly worried about making the move They have a cloud hanging over them basically a nagging fear of failure And it's not about the culture clash or not knowing any Spanish It's about the money or the lack of money and they think if they come down here with five or ten grand Because it's all they've got once it's run out They're so well and you know I even get emails like that from people who've got 300 or even 500 grand stashed in the bank up north or that much in assets believe it or not Even some of those guys have a fear of failure They too are worried about crashing and burning when they get down here And you know, I think it boils down to the way us first-world Americans are brought up
[07:41] We were brought up with all these safety nets our parents our relatives the government social security Unemployment insurance and health insurance even welfare and you're thinking when you get down here Well, there's none of that suddenly it's you taking care of yourself. Nobody else. It's all on your shoulders But what you're forgetting is that the logical part of your brain keeps telling you how expensive and difficult It is to start a business and to live comfortably up north because that's what you're accustomed to That's your point of reference in all you've ever known and just me telling you you have to change that Mindset completely when you get down here isn't gonna make it so but I can't offer some neat examples along the way That should lessen your fears quite a bit. So let me start right now It's something I think you really have to know and if this doesn't put you scaredy cats in a nice comfort zone
[08:30] I don't know what will so here goes as much as I poo-poo the idea of opening a restaurant a bar or a disco Or a bed-and-breakfast or mom-and-pop hotel. There are some obvious exceptions and in fact in some cases It could be a very good idea Now normally there's one big reason why I advise against starting businesses like the ones I just mentioned and that's because there's just so much Competition and I say that even if your competition is strictly lame local Latin competition And the worst of all business scenarios is if you're going up against gringo or first-world competition Then you're just asking to get sucker-punched So that's why my best advice is that you should be looking to fill a niche Like for example if there's an excess demand somewhere or an obvious shortage and a lot of gringos
[09:20] You know end up being the only game in town or the only game in the neighborhood Which is ideal, right? But let me give you an idea for a surefire thing that kind of goes against my basic business instincts But this is one of those exceptions to the rule So don't laugh at me when I say that there's a great shortage of what we might call the average American Chinese restaurant And I know that sounds like an oxymoron, but hear me out on this now sure all throughout Latin America There's a zillion Chinese restaurants. They're everywhere just like pizza joints But let me tell you there's only two kind of Chinese restaurants the 99% that are absolutely dark Dank and foreboding when you go inside not to mention totally unsanitary With kitchens that look like the inside of a dumpster and bathrooms. Well, I don't want to gross you out
[10:09] So for now, let's skip that but still these places are Absolutely thriving and some of them doing gangbusters balls to the wall Why number one because Latins don't know any different and number two They're very cheap Then you get that other 1% or less of the very high-end Chinese restaurants practically gourmet and you'll generally only find those in high-end Shopping centers or in the very wealthy commercial sections of medium and large Latin American cities And those places can be quite classy and are generally very clean But you're gonna pay easily double or triple what you'd pay at your standard Chinese restaurant So in fact when you go into one of those places You never see the average Latin guy You only see the upscale crowd with nice cars often with a gaggle of bodyguards out in the parking lot
[10:58] Can you believe it bodyguards and Range Rovers in Chinese restaurant parking lots? Don't laugh down here. You see the same thing in the IHOP parking lot only in Latin America, huh? So if by chance you decide to open your own Chinese restaurant That'll be your competition those tens of thousands of dirt cheap unsanitary Scummy ones and those very rarefied high-end Chinese restaurants that basically you and I would probably skip all together, too So what I'm telling you is there's a huge vacant gap in the middle. So if you like the restaurant business, there's your niche There are just no middle-of-the-road Chinese restaurants like we know so well up in the States It's that American version of a Chinese restaurant that just doesn't exist down here and really it's a no-brainer
[11:46] So all you have to do basically is copy your good old neighborhood Chinese restaurant If you were to open up a clone restaurant like that anywhere down here in Latin America and I tell you in no time the world get around and you might even be famous and Let me tell you a few more things that your competition doesn't have that is besides the obvious like for example Basic hygiene and cleanliness. Well, how about decent bathrooms where the water actually works and they have real paper towels and even toilet paper Sometimes well one more thing. They almost never have is decent lighting So unless it's a bright day and the Sun shining through the window You feel like you're eating in a dungeon and usually when they do have lights 25% of them are burnt out or just plain broken But that's the status quo in practically every restaurant in Latin America
[12:34] except of course restaurants owned by gringos and US franchises that have come down and As much as I hate American fast food joints One good thing is that places like Wendy's and McDonald's and such have to hold to first world hygiene Standards or lose the franchise and in that case, you know who's doing the inspections Don't you the management not the local government because well the local Latin health and safety bureau never actually get around to doing their job And every little Latin city in town really does have a bureau like that somewhere They're in the phone book, but try getting through those guys are perpetually asleep at the wheel Or just don't have gas for the company car if they were on the job Those Chinese restaurants have been talking about would be shut down in a New York minute, but they aren't so there's your niche
[13:22] Anyway, let's concentrate on why if you opened up a Chinese restaurant or if you just leased or bought out a dumpy one that was available if you just clean the place up fix the lighting and The broken window panes and painted the place and plug the roof leaks You'd be way ahead of the game and off to a running start. Oh, yeah, and before we get too far with this Let's talk about signage for a second now of the hundreds of Chinese restaurants. I've seen in Latin America I can't think of one example where the outside sign or the parking lot lettering wasn't either broke damage Corroted rusted or simply falling down which gives you a good idea What kind of tender loving care is taken when they prepare your Kung Pao chicken? Okay, aside from the miserable signage It turns out that only about one in two hundred Chinese restaurants has fortune cookies say what a Chinese restaurant without fortune cookies
[14:14] Hmm. What planet are you talking about Johnny? And of course what you didn't know is that fortune cookies were invented in California in 1918 but no matter they're part of the experience, right? So then you might ask why don't restaurant owners buy their fortune cookies at the Chinese restaurant supply? There's plenty of those places around I've been in a few in fact It was expat Eddie that dragged me through a few of those places and they do have fortune cookies there I've seen them but it turns out Restaurants almost never buy them why because for one the owners tell me they're too expensive Not to mention they don't have fortune cookies with the message printed in Spanish only in English So what good does that do right now? There's another niche for you making fortune cookies with Spanish sayings in them
[15:02] But maybe not like one of these Chinese restaurant supply owners told me if you laid a couple of fortune cookies on a table in a Chinese restaurant The clients would just gulp them down if the paper with the little fortune on it got stuck in their teeth Well, they'd spit it out. They have no idea. There's a fortune inside fortune cookies are not in their vocabulary So if you offered fortune cookies at your restaurant, which you would because that's part of the experience You'd have to train your clients a bit Maybe have a little fortune cookie legend printed on the menu or on the placemats or something and like expat Eddie says and he's A guy that really knows the restaurant business. He says why not call your restaurant the fortune cookie I mean that says it all right and use a fortune cookie logo, too Okay, nothing mind-bending or earth-shattering about that info in fact to a first world business mind
[15:52] It's pretty damn lame, but you can see how the ideas start flowing, but only when you're down here actually looking at things I mean when you're up there in Cleveland who's thinking Chinese restaurants good investment for Latin America Yeah, right, but there's more there's another what we'd call traditional thing that 99.9% of all Latin American Chinese restaurants never do and have never considered They don't and never seem to use the traditional Chinese white carryout box instead They just shove the food in a flimsy ugly plastic tub They don't use that signature box that we've all come to know and love that's part of our Chinese restaurant experience And you might wonder just why they aren't available down here another pseudo Chinese made in America invention
[16:40] Maybe who knows so basically when you sneak into someone's fridge You never see any of those things in there, which is kind of a letdown So what I'm saying is there are at least 101 things that are wrong with every Chinese restaurant down here in Latin America Which means there's a big niche just waiting to get filled and you know I never thought in a million years I'd be urging anyone to open a Chinese restaurant down here, but you see a long time ago I just quit going to Chinese restaurants down here. I quit doing that years ago I just got sick way too many times even after I switched to simply Vegetarian fried rice even without the usual beef or chicken or cat whatever they put in it a hell of a lot of gringos Still get sick at Chinese restaurants
[17:25] I mean after looking at the kitchens and the bathrooms in those places should be nuts to want to eat there But all green gringos and short-term expats do occasionally order Chinese and occasionally get very sick Talk about a bacterial cross-contamination paradise. Did I just say that? Anyway, it's not that the food doesn't look good and sometimes even taste real good So does the food that people cook outside on the street in their kiosks But eventually we learn you just have to be knocked off your feet for two or three days to figure out that you never want To eat that stuff again, but low-budget unsanitary crap like that are still favorites with cheap gringos and backpackers They just keep getting sick and never learn now, of course the locals are eating that stuff all the time in between licking their fingers and touching doorknobs and chairs and
[18:12] Counting their money and licking their fingers again and picking their noses and touching their hair and petting their mangy dogs and stuff And you wonder why aren't they getting sick? Well, you know what? They've got a lot more resistance against it than we do But they still suffer. That's why anytime you walk up to one of those hole-in-the-wall drug stores right next to the cash register You will usually see a little box or plastic bottle or blister packs of this stuff called Tiniben or tinnidizol and a few other drugs in the same family, too And these are your all-purpose Latin American anti amoebic dysentery drugs And why do you think they've got a supply of these right next to the cash register? Because amoebas are always on the menu down here And I gotta admit that stuff works years ago when I first came down
[18:59] gringle backpackers and stuff would say take this or that antibiotic and sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't but I Can tell you nothing knocks out amoebic dysentery like the stuff the local pharmacy has right at the cash register And you only take two pills a day for three days The problem is from what a first world doctor told me that stuff's basically unobtainable or even illegal up in the states too many Side-effects he says yeah, right The side-effect is that there's no money to be made by the pharmaceutical company since a whole course of treatment is like a dollar and a half So anyway, I'm no big fan of pills or pharmaceuticals or anything But for sure there are some time-tested medicines they use down here in Latin America that really work But I was talking about the real shortage of good Chinese restaurants down here now wasn't I off the tourist trail that is
[19:47] So let's talk about atmosphere Basically the ambiance sucks or I should say there is no ambiance I mean if you want to listen to throbbing Latin disco music or watch the latest soccer match at full volume Just go to your average Latin Chinese restaurant, and I'll never forget one Chinese restaurant I went to that played Christian music with the Latin version of the 700 Club blasting away on the big screen TV I wonder what Confucius say about that Oh, and of course they do have Thai and Korean and Japanese restaurants here, too But it's pretty much the same either have low-end hole-in-the-wall jumps that should be distributing amoeba medicine along with the bill And a few very nice even sometimes spectacular high-end fashionable
[20:33] Cosmopolitan joints and you sure don't want to compete with those guys because they've already got the niche now unfortunately For expat wannabes there's always someone in the family the wife or the husband who wants to start a bar a Disco a bed-and-breakfast or a small mom-and-pop hotel in some tropical paradise in Latin America Which are all pretty tough nuts to crack and they really are a lot of work But even worse when your grand scheme is to come down and open up a restaurant well You're just asking for a kick in the teeth, but don't keep me wrong. I get how it happens You take a vacation to Cancun or Costa Rica and you end up at a nice little quaint restaurant owned and operated by expats And you say man This is what I want to do when I'm semi retired but little did you know what that nice expat couple?
[21:20] Suffered through to get there and you know I still get emails from a lot of expat wannabes Especially women who say their hobby is cooking and they've got some great recipes and their dream is to open up a restaurant All they need is a little place maybe Eight or ten tables in a small tourist town or on a fringe of a tourist town where the rent is cheap And they could live in a little apartment upstairs But you know the fact is being a good cook at home for the family and having a few recipes is a lot Different than owning and operating your own restaurant fact is I remember when I lived back up in the states many years ago One of the best compliments you could pay a woman was to say to her after dinner that food was really great You should start your own restaurant, and then of course the husband chimes in. Yeah. She's a great cook. All right Everyone says the same thing and I keep telling her we should retire early go down to Costa Rica and do it
[22:10] But I know no matter what I say here I'm still gonna get emails from people saying they want to start a restaurant and where's the best place to put one now Here's the real irony you're not gonna believe this but after telling you it's nuts to open up a restaurant Unless you find a great niche like expat Eddie did or open a Chinese restaurant like in the States Well guess who's got a really great idea for a niche restaurant yours truly of course And I'm not gonna tell you what it is either, but if I ever do it, and it takes off I'll hook you up with a franchise But it's also good to remember in spite of the warnings You've heard from me labor rent and food are so cheap down here compared to the first world that your startup and operation Costs will be ridiculously low so even if your restaurant was a bad idea
[22:58] You could operate it a good long time before you fall flat on your face But seriously because your expenses will be so low from the get-go You really will have a lot more time to let your restaurant actually have a chance to get some legs And it's true there are hundreds if not thousands of gringos with Marginal restaurants that just kind of chug along and of course if they'd have been up in the States did a closed down in a month But down here just a handful of clients trickling in every day Just might be enough to pay your expenses and you know in the restaurant business hope does spring eternal So many restaurant owners who aren't actually operating in the red, but pretty close to it We'll keep whipping that dead horse for sometimes years It turns out a lot of gringos never actually paid themselves a salary simply because they couldn't and so many of these guys
[23:50] Don't close up shop because they've got some outside source of income like a pension or Social Security Coming from the States to help them get by so in the end after a few years that restaurant becomes just Something to do kind of a hangout or a hobby for them and after a while They blend in with the neighbors in the local social scene and they still have a pretty nice retirement going now these small mom-and-pop Restaurants that are barely breaking even are a dime a dozen in places like Costa Rica Panama Cancun Playa del Carmen and anywhere on the tourist trail and believe it or not Here's what often happens many times a fresh green starry-eyed gringo couple will walk into a place like that fall in love with it they'll pop in and out a few more times and
[24:35] Express some interest in buying it if by a chance It's for sale and those words are often music to the ears of the present owners since in actuality their retirement or semi Retirement has turned into a lot more work than they ever bargained for at little or no pay in fact I know a couple just like that who own a nice little restaurant in Copan Honduras And though they love their little restaurant and the town and the neighbors one day the owner a nice old guy from San Francisco Told me Johnny, you know one day I sat down and figured out just how much I make an hour in this place and In the eight years that I've owned it I reckon I average about two dollars an hour because like he said anyone who owns a mom-and-pop Restaurant knows that it's normal to put in more than 80 hours a week
[25:23] So what I'm saying is watch out looks are deceiving if someday you're in a so-called tropical paradise And you stumble into a mom-and-pop restaurant and in your retirement fantasy you absolutely fall in love with the place Well, make sure you have a very very good look at the books And by the way A lot of these mom-and-pop restaurants do not keep very good books at all and to find out the real story on how the place Is doing you not only have to look at the books and talk to their accountant It's also a really good idea to go down to their bank and check out their deposit records for at least the last half a year be very careful because things down here are done very informally and accounting books and records easily doctored and Here's another problem It turns out that often even if the numbers don't jive and the books don't look right when you fall in love with a place
[26:11] Like that you've often got unrealistic expectations yourself So don't ever think that you and your partner or your husband are gonna suddenly breathe brand new life into a place That's been virtually in a coma for the last few years Because if you walked in and were enchanted by the place then you have to ask yourself Why isn't this place really kicking out the cash you have to wonder if for you? It was love at first sight. Why hasn't the place caught on with everyone else? Remember just because you paint the place put up a new sign add a few entrees to the menu and buy a thousand dollar Italian Expresso machine those kind of changes are unlikely to bring in any more new customers But you know hopes brings eternal and we've all been through that and I'll be talking a bit more about buying an existing business
[26:57] On the next show so stay tuned Oh and just one more thing before we finish here people are asking how they can do a Skype or a phone consultation with me You know since every expat and expat wannabes got his own personal set of circumstances and during those conversations We can be very specific now in the last year I've done quite a few of those calls which means a lot of people who listen to this show are making plans to come down Here permanently anyway if you have some particular circumstance you want to talk about with me Just go to the expat wisdom website and click on the consult link and we'll work out of time and get it done South of the border down Mexico way That's listening to the expat files living in Latin America Coming to you each week from somewhere south of the border and don't forget you can email me on anything at all about Latin America
[27:48] the expat files at gmail.com See you next time