# best way to open a small restaurant in mexico



## fab4004

Hello guys,

I have some capital and want to open a small restaurant in mexico with my mexican girlfriend.
I want to know if it's better to put the business at her name then mine since shes mexican ?

to get the investement visa you need like 100 000 usd and i have far from that.

can I open the restaurant on her name and then I could be partner ? or she could employ me as the manager and get my fm3 work visa ?

what would be the best way to do that ?

thanks a lot !


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## RVGRINGO

Look at it this way: Plan on losing every cent. Then, with odds similar to winning the lottery, something better might happen.
You would have to live wherever you plan to do that, study the market very carefully and have a lot of restaurant experience to even hope to succeed. Everyone has this dream and few make it happen; then, most of them fail. So, I would tread very, very carefully.
You don't even mention the part of Mexico that interests you, or the type of restaurant.


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## fab4004

we are currently studying that part. dont worry. thanks for the advice.

but my question is more what tramites and stuff like that ?

it would be in the city of Durango, I have lived there and we know something that misses and that would interest people overthere.

thanks


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## mexliving

you would want to form a mexican company (acta constitutiva) wich details the investors/partners - can be formed with 2 people of more - once its registered, you can apply for your fm3

to open a restaurant you begin with Permiso de uso de suelo filing you will have up to 2 years to finish the process

once you have that permit- you must file the Declaracion de apertura de establecimientos de mercantiles does not have an expiration but you must file if you ever shut down restaurant. you cant lie on your filing or you will be fined for any mistakes... meaning if its going to be a bar ...


licensia de funcionamiento a restaurant permit is A a bar permit is B the A cost over 6,000 pesos and the B 12,000 pesos 
they are valid for 3 years and then you re-new.

anuncio exterior- this permit is for the restaurnant sign.


its not a difucult process but you do need a professional that knows all the process 100% when you open a restaurant you want to have everything in order.

the whole process can be done in 3 months


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## jlms

fab4004 said:


> Hello guys,
> 
> I have some capital and want to open a small restaurant in mexico with my mexican girlfriend.
> I want to know if it's better to put the business at her name then mine since shes mexican ?
> 
> to get the investement visa you need like 100 000 usd and i have far from that.
> 
> can I open the restaurant on her name and then I could be partner ? or she could employ me as the manager and get my fm3 work visa ?
> 
> what would be the best way to do that ?
> 
> thanks a lot !


I would go to another town, preferably in the same Municipio, and ask around to people that have done it already. It has to be in a different town, because people in the same town you are targetting clearly would like to put you off the track  , specially Durango City (is there where you want to put it) being such a small place.


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## jlms

RVGRINGO said:


> Look at it this way: Plan on losing every cent. Then, with odds similar to winning the lottery, something better might happen.
> You would have to live wherever you plan to do that, study the market very carefully and have a lot of restaurant experience to even hope to succeed. Everyone has this dream and few make it happen; then, most of them fail. So, I would tread very, very carefully.
> You don't even mention the part of Mexico that interests you, or the type of restaurant.


I am sure the odds are not that adverse, but it is certainly difficult and very hard work.


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## RVGRINGO

In this economic crisis, we are seeing restaurant failures increase rapidly. That is in addition to the normal failure rate of new restaurants being opened by inexperienced people. It is a very demanding business and the general public can be difficult to please.


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## AdePuebla

The only advice i can give you is to get a Contadora!
we started doing the process ourselves at the begining and we weren't even half done and i got sick so we ended up getting a contadora. i'm glad we did too because she did EVERYTHING and even stuff we didn't even know that we had to do. also she told us all the things we needed to have so we dont get in trouble. i didn't know we needed a fire extinguisher for our store, and that there were certain types you need. for all the work she did she only charged 1500p. i would have paid her that just to wait in line at Financias! 

What I did is put the business in my husbands name. Everything is in his name but i work here. But a contador/a can tell you what would be best for you.


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## Joeysmom05mendez

Is a Contadora only for resturants, or do they help other types of businesses to? We would like to try an internet cafe in Monclova Coahuila.


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## AdePuebla

they help all businesses. they pretty much do all the paperwork for business start up and if you hire them on a monthly basis they do your finances which need to be reported monthly (and other times of the year at different places).
it's SO much easier getting one of them because there's like 3 or 4 different places you need to get permits and stuff. 
our contadora even helped our landlady to register our 'local' at the registro civil. they can do all sorts of stuff. if you dont know one, you can ask a local business who they use. we met ours through a mechanic down the block.


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## maesonna

“Contadora” means accountant. If you happen to get a male one, he will be a “contador” and I hear they are just as good. As a point of interest, you can call them “Contador(a)” directly when speaking to them, this is a friendly, yet respectful way to address them.


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## chicois8

I know nothing about opening a restaurant in Mexico but as I travel around the country and eat out 2 to 3 meals a day I am usually the only patron in many restaurants... For example last Nov. I was at Palenque and Chetumal in restaurants the each had approx. 210 chairs each and beside me was 1 waiter,1 cashier and 1 cook, pretty grim... Except beach side palapa restaurants which are usually pretty full most in town restaurants are pretty empty...suerte


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