Sold Hostal Murali, now what?

This week I sold a business I owned and ran for a year and half, Hostal Murali in Guayaquil, Ecuador.

It was going good, in fact, January of this year, 2013, was a record month in sales for us.

It wasn’t even really for sale.

I just got an offer and took it.

Business is business.

You can’t be too sentimental about these things, sometimes its just time to move on.

So what sticks out as big lessons learned?

Well, even if you’re the type, like me, that prefers to do things on your own, when starting a new business in a foreign country you’re not familiar with it sure helps to have a local partner you can trust.

In Murali, I had one Ecuadorian partner, a wealthy friend of mine who I had known for several years prior from a short stint I did in the country as a marketing consultant.

I probably would not have had the balls to throw everything I had into a business in a new country without having the local support network to rely on.

Of course we had our differences but we worked well together, I learned a lot, and we ended well.

You can find trustworthy Ecuadorians, just maybe not your first week or two in the country!

Also, I’d say the best way to learn a business is to just do it. You’re not going to learn it by taking courses (although universities would try to tell you otherwise), interning or consulting (you’re still an outsider).

The only way is being that 9-5 employee or owning the business.

Once you know the country a bit the local partner isn’t entirely necessary anymore, in fact, a month ago I started Quito Airport Suites as a solo operation, a small hotel near the airport in Quito, and everything is going good so far.

So if you’d like to meet stop by my new business and say hello!

So where would I invest on the coast right now in 2013? Which areas are moving and which aren’t? For that, sign up for my weekly Ecuador Insiders Newsletter below, you can unsubscribe at any time:

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Should you rent or buy in Ecuador?

I get this question a lot…

“Should I Rent or Buy property in Ecuador?”

Complicated question, with a simple answer.

Most people who move to Ecuador wish to at least maintain their standard of living, if not improve it, while seriously lowering their cost of living.

To do that, you should buy on the coast of Ecuador while rent in the highland areas of for instance Quito, Cuenca, Loja, Cotacachi.

Why?

Well, the rentals in the highland towns are cheap and high quality with nice two bedroom apartments usually starting around $300 a month unfurnished.

Heck, my friend rents a decent 3 bedroom house in the highlands in a valley near Quito for $150 a month.

While on the coast the area is more rural, there is less to choose from and you likely will have to settle for a very cheap, very Ecuadorian rental existence usually with cement floors and leaky roofs (which most of us foreigners can’t handle) or pay a premium for a decent rental, usually not under $600-700 a month for a decent 2 bedroom place.

Meanwhile, land on the coast can still be had VERY cheap, starting around a few bucks a meter, especially if you are willing to live a few blocks off the ocean, obviously beachfront would be more expensive.

Yet it can be difficult in the highlands to find a decent 2 bedroom place in a nice area for sale under $50k or cheap land in town either.

That’s why if you ask me this very general question I give you this very general answer.

Buy on the coast, rent in the highlands.

It’s best to buy and build/ renovate something to your own standards on the coast, while consider renting in the highlands.

So where would I invest on the coast right now in 2013? Which areas are moving and which aren’t? For that, sign up for my weekly Ecuador Insiders Newsletter below, you can unsubscribe at any time:

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The Teakwood Business in Ecuador Uncovered

Teak wood is at a premium.

India craves it.

And Ecuador has it.

And right now the Ecuador government is offering an incentive for reforestation projects reimbersing 75% of the operating costs of any reforestation project for the first 4 years of growth, which happen to be the most costly years of the harvest.

Teak wood is a hard, luxury wood that grows in dry, tropical climates. The numerous things made out of it, according to one lumberjack from www.treeserviceremoval.com, are primarily hand made and tools such as manual log splitter are used for the process. Teak wood grows well with 9 months of dry and 3 months of wet just like in many areas of coastal Ecuador.

Often Teak trees in Ecuador that are 8 years old look like the Teak in Costa Rica of 12 years.

If you need tree services think on Tree Removal Greensboro Agency, they have passion for trees is reflected in they tree care solutions. Tree Removal Greensboro are here to support the health of your trees by providing personalized local tree services.

You see, Ecuador has the dry climate Teak love, their roots are deep roots that reach the deep undertable water making rainfall unnecessary.

Entry costs: Where best to grow?

For me, the most idela areas for this business is the Emalme to Quevedo coastal plain areas… the average price of raw land in the area ideal for Teak farming is going for $1500 per hectare. It’s best to buy vacant land and grow your own plantation. But land ideal for teak is raising in price.

The hottest opportunity area I see for starting a Teak farm is the Pedro Carbo area where the climate is right, a few savvy farmers are already having success and land is still cheap at $800-$1200 per hectare.

Flat land is needed for optimum Teak farming. Plus, the land should never flood.

The harvest:

Trees are usually planted 3 meters apart to all directions meaning you can fit about 1100 trees per hectare of land. To have the most profitable farm it is preferred to have around 100 hectares.

Projected Operating costs:

For a new 100 hectare Teak farm your biggest expense will be the labor costs. You will need one Agricultural Engineer to manage the farm for the first three years. Agro-engineers in Ecuador in this role as farm manager usually make around $1000/month. You’ll also need about 14 minimum wage workers ($318/month) to water the farm and clear the undergrowth among other general farm maintenance work. That’s $5452 per month or $65,424 a year.

Water is attained through wells. Electricity isn’t a significant cost.

On average all inclusive, the first year you can expect to invest about $2000 per hectare of crop, but thereafter you can cutback on farmhands to the point where the most efficient farms spend about $400-600 per hectare annually.

Harvest time:

Your first harvest can be at the 8 year mark when your wood is sold by the cubic meter. 1 tree = 3 “trozas”, 9 trozas = 1 cubic meter = $230 based on diameter min 44cm $110. At the 8 year mark you can expect to have around on average 800-900 trees remaining per hectare. So from 900 trees which are 8 years old we can expect to make 300 cubic meters of wood for sale at the current prices (which are likely to rise) of $230 per m3 giving us a gross income per hectare of $69,000.

The real money can be made if you can wait to the 15 or 18 year mark when each single Teak tree can command $300. But only expect to have around 350 Teak trees remaining of the original 1100 you planted at the onset. This would give you an income per hectare of $105,000.

The sale:

The sale of Teak is VERY easy. No marketing needed, you produce it and the buyers will come hunt you out! You make the deal, they come, they cut and they usually handle the rest including the export.

The potential profit:

Assuming you bought in the Pedro Carbo area for around $800 per hectare, then proceeded to invest $2000 the first year in each hectare, then $600 for each year thereafter for 7 more years, your total investment per hectare comes to $7000. So in 8 years if you can generate an income of $69000 from that same hectare you will have multiplied your investment about 10 times.

Of course, the set-back for this business model is that you need money to play, big money, and time too.

The kicker:

But what makes this business REALLY profitable, right now, in Ecuador, as mentioned earlier is that the government is willing to pay 75% of your operating costs the first four years you are in operation. To qualify for this “type of grant” whether you are Ecuadorian or foreigner you need to fill out the application documentation and submit it to the MAGAP (Ministerio de Agricultura, Ganaderia, Acuacultura, y Pesca) and solicit an inspection of your farm.

Upon approval of the grant you will then need to begin harvest. At the end of one year the MAGAP will once again inspect your farm and refund 75% of the money you have spent on the upkeep depending on what percentage of the original trees remain alive. And for the next three years you can get the refund following the same process.

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My 1st export from Ecuador: the good, the bad, the ugly, + the ABCs

Recently, I completed my first export from Ecuador. 

Ecuador-themed 2013 wall calendars. 

A big 9 kilo box of them. 

What did I learn? 

Well, it’s not as easy as just taking them to DHL and “chao”. 

1. First, you have to check to see if the product you’re shipping will have to pay import tariffs upon entrance to the country you are shipping to.  To do that, you’ll need to find out the HS Code, every product has one.  The fastest way to find it is to “Google it”.  For instance, “HS Code calendars”.  Or in Spanish “partida arancelaria calendarios”.  Or you can go to this link from the Ecuadorian Customs and search it by the name of the product (in Spanish)… http://sice1.aduana.gob.ec/ied/arancel/index.jsp

2. Then, you can use the handy free tool online at macmap.org after free registration to see if the product you are exporting will incur an import duty to the country you are exporting to based on the country you are exporting from.  Register than follow the link that says “Market Access Map” and fill in the blanks with the HS code of your product. 

3. (If applicable) In the Mac Map tool from the last step, if it appears that the product you are exporting would incur a duty yet doesn’t because it falls under a special bi-lateral treaty then in order to take advantage of the benefit you will need to get a Certificate of Origen (Certificado de Origen).  It’s not as hard as it sounds, to get one in Ecuador you will need to register in the website of the Ecuapass, portal.aduana.gob.ec .  Choose the option “Solicitud de uso”.  In the menu choose “Ventanilla Unica” then fill in the form at “Elaboracion de DJO”.  Then choose “Elaboracion de CO” and fill in that form completely, but you will need to pick it up physically at the local offices of MIPRO where you reside in Ecuador.  The cost is minimal.  But my wall calendars according to Mac Map enter the US at 0% duty so I could skip this step. 

4. Then choose your shipping carrier.  For important documents I recommend DHL, you can get items from Ecuador to the USA quick, usually in about 2 days (for about $60).  But for a box that weighs 9 kilos like mine it would cost $350 to ship, while with the general post of Ecuador CORREOS ECUADOR it only cost me $150.  Correos Ecuador does give you a tracking number where you can check the shipping status online and works with the government post services of other nations. 

However, if I register as an exporter at ExportaFacil.gob.ec I can ship internationally with Correos Ecuador at about half the price of the normal shipment of $150.  For me, it cost just $72 to ship the box.  You will need to obtain an Ecuadorian tax ID number (RUC) from the SRI to sign up for the discount program. 

5. Once your goods make it to the final destination the easy way is to pay a friend or relative to ship them off one by one to their final destinations or if exporting to the USA, you could use a service like Webgistix.com.  They receive, unpack, warehouse and ship products to their final destination for a fee. 

My calendars arrived. 

They sold.  All good. 

But I underestimated how long they would take to arrive. 

Allow 4 days to arrive in Miami from Ecuador with Correos Ecuador.  Then allow another 2 days for the package to clear customs, more if your package hits the US on a weekend when offices are closed.  Then another 2 days for it to get to its final destination in the USA.  Then give it 2-4 more days when mailing the items within the US unless you’d like to pay more to overnight them. 

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What pays in Ecuador and what don’t

“I’d love to offer my marketing service to Ecuador businesses, but what would they pay me?” A friend told me recently over a coffee in Ecuador.

He was right.

Did Ecuadorian businesses need his service, just like businesses in the US do?

Yes.

But were they willing to pay him what the service is worth?

No.

After a year and a half in Ecuador, I feel like I got a bird’s eye view of this s-h-i-t.

Like in most ‘third world’ countries, in order to make money in Ecuador you have to sell a product.

Your own product.

So stop thinking like an American, or someone from a service-based economy, and stop trying to sell services.

I mean…

Don’t start a travel agency… build your own specialty tour and sell it through the travel agencies.

Don’t become a real estate agent… flip your own properties.

Don’t become an ESL English teacher (it doesn’t pay like it does in Asia)… start your own English school.

Don’t offer a service to exporters… export something.

Don’t be a financial advisor… sell shares of your own niche investment fund.

Don’t offer your service as an electrician, plumber or builder… start your own specialty lighting business.

Don’t offer your service as a professional video editor… make your own videos.

Don’t look for someone else to hire you (employees start out making $318USD a month)… start your own business.

I can’t stress this enough, you need your own ‘thang’.

My first few months in Ecuador I spun my wheels trying to sell a marketing service to Ecuador businesses, I learned the hard way, now you don’t have to.

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