“Without fluent Spanish you can’t open a business in Costa Rica…”

“There is so much corruption you will need to constantly watch your back doing business here…” and my favorite…

“There is no way to make enough money to sustain your lifestyle in Costa Rica.”

Essentially, you can’t make it in business here and you shouldn’t even try… you’re welcome for the advice.

Having thoughts of starting over here and feel like you have heard some versions of these statements? Yeah, me too. In fact, every one of them and more. At some point things shifted from my Costa Rican friend in Los Angeles convincing me I could open a bar on a $10,000.00 to “forget it gringo, go home.”

Neither of them were accurate.

[custom_script adID=149]

Many people you come in contact with will tell you why opening or buying a business in Costa Rica will not work out. Why would you expect anything less? Your family and friends don’t want you to leave, and the people who have carved out their spot here don’t want to share it with you.

The advice of others is not easily absorbed. If it is first hand, then it’s worth the time to consider, and worth as much time to consider the source, the motivation of the one giving it, and how it does or does not impact your life.

Ultimately your pitfalls will mirror your personal life-experience so far, and while there is no easy-money situation, if you take your time, come prepared, and consider the facts there is no reason to stop you from playing your hand business paradise-style.

But let’s not be pollyanna about things… There are certainly challenges in any endeavor, and knowing them before starting out can help avoid them. For example, knowing about aguinaldo before budgeting my pizzeria, allowed me to drop this line-item into my profit and loss sheet before things got out of control. Thank you random person along the way who warned me that Costa Rican employees get paid a 13th month (called aguinaldo) every year in December. This was good heeding that I am glad to have in advance.

[custom_script adID=155]

To the person who told me there is no way I can do business here without being totally proficient in Spanish, you can stuff it. Albeit much easier to speak the language in any business situation, flawed is the advice that mandates it; businesses have been crossing borders since long before Google translator existed, and slightly longer than the invention of books.

I know many people who speak much less Spanish than I do but employ fluent managers who assist them with vendors and entities who only speak Spanish. I do speak Spanish, well in fact, and my wife is learning more every day. That said, I don’t have to babysit her through her day as she always manages to communicate with clients, vendors and whomever else walks in our pizzeria. It’s magic.

That said, your confidence will be much stronger with a good command of Spanish, if your intention is do business here. Think of speaking Spanish as less people you will have to pay to speak it for you. It’s a profit-and-loss issue more than anything. We have one employee and she speaks no English. This has been the fastest accelerator in my casual vernacular I could have ever hoped for, but I came in with quite a bit of Spanish.

And to the guy who warned me only months ago that I need to be aware of all the dirty business practices of the officials, I bid a “good day sir” to you for those stomach pains. I worried for days that I had wandered my wife and I into the Latin America hand-greasing arena of business dealing. I pictured men in nice suits, with heavies standing behind them, telling me: “Yeah, you pay us to make sure nothin’ bad happens to you.”

When our pizza oven was held up in customs, as we were not registered for importing such things, I assumed that the officials were trying to squeeze us for cash. I have no doubt they would have taken my money if I had offered, and may have even released my oven faster, but ultimately it came through without any payoffs, and a ton of patience.

Forget the bag of patience and buy the whole pallet.

The truth in all of these scenarios is that there are likely versions of truth buried in every bit of advice. There are dirty dealings and there are deals which are rotten. Talk to anybody in real estate and you will hear some gems. That said making decisions based entirely on one’s fears is foolish.

Here are three quick rules of thumb which I have been using to surf my waves of fear and make more informed decisions in Costa Rica.

  1. Make decisions on facts, not rumors, or what you read online.

    It’s no secret you will need an attorney but make sure to hire an attorney who is bilingual, one you get from a referral, not from an advertisement. Also hire an accountant who is bilingual, and also from referral.

    Your trusted attorney would be a good place to start. I wanted to go pure Spanish at first and didn’t seek out bilingual advisors, which then led to confusion, delays and general discomfort.

    2. [custom_script adID=151]

  2. To get to the facts, ask questions of your attorney and accountant until you are blue in the face.

    Ask other business owners and cross-examine when you can. Because “I don’t know” is the wrong answer to any question in Costa Rica (you will get an answer no matter what, right or wrong) it is best to ask many people the same question and compile the results. If answers don’t add up, don’t make a move until you uncover the truth. Keep asking questions.

  3. Take notes. Take notes. Take notes.

    You will not remember every answer or piece of advice you are given, and unless you like doubling down on conversations, take notes to come back to later when you forget. I can’t tell you how many times my wife and I have had to start over looking for a name, a rule, or a timeline because we didn’t write things down.

Plan on spending time reviewing your options here until you are fully comfortable with your potential investment. If you have done your due diligence, you will find that business is business in any world. As my wife and I found out, you will likely discover the pot of gold to be lighter at this end of the rainbow, but you if you stick it out you may discover why Costa Ricans don’t retire.

When you live in paradise and are doing what you want to do there is no need to retire. You may also find your list of needs, possessions, and bills, are all lighter too.

I will take my current life of balance in paradise over the life of earnings and possession I had in the states any day.

[custom_script adID=97]



Written by VIP Member Damon Mitchell who spent over 10 years in the fitness industry before he moved to Costa Rica in search of a better work/life balance. Currently he runs a small business in Tamarindo with his wife Cristina and their dog Kai.

Daily, Damon’s exercise regimen could include running on the beach in Tamarindo, calisthenics, TRX training or working out at the Tamarindo Fitness Center; really just about anything he can to make fitness fun.

[custom_script adID=153]

You can email Damon here if there is anything specific about staying fit and healthy in Costa Rica you would like him to cover in his next article.

You can email Damon here if there is anything specific about staying fit and healthy in Costa Rica you would like him to cover in his next article.

You Will Fail in Costa Rica and Other Scary Tales

Article/Property ID Number 4358

[custom_script adID=186]

Are you into beautiful Costa Rica?

All interesting things you want to know about Costa Rica are right here in our newsletter! Enter your email and press "subscribe" button.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *