# Opening a restaurant in Merida



## Rescoldo

I would love to hear from someone who has opened up a restaurant in Mexico.I have a few questions on wanting to buy an old colonial in Merida and opening up a Restaurant . We are Canadians that are not retired, can we do this and what kind of visa do we need. We are going to hire Mexicans to work and were wondering how much work we can do in it ourselves also. We want to find a place that we can live in also and watch over it. Are there any restrictions, what are the steps on doing this and what kind of start up costs are we looking at. Any information would be of help. Thank you


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## sparks

I would go to Merida Insider for some real info. Mostly people that live there or close by. They have a message board

Merida Insider, the Information Source for Merida, Yucatan

Here's the Immigration page for FM3 for Actividades Lucrativas

And practice my profession - INAMI


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## synthia

Welcome to the forum! Merida is a nice city, although I understand it is brutally hot in the summer months.

Browse through the other posts in this section. There are a couple of discussions about opening businesses.

The first thing you need to do is check out what sort of visa you would need to see if you qualify.


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## teadust

Getting to know the culture and societal guidelines, as well as dealing with red tape, local politics, construction/remodeling, employees, seasonal business, et al is a requisite and it's great that you're researching. Here are two very different experiences you might wish to read:

Gringos Restaurant Closes Doors. What Went Wrong?
--in the town of Chelem, Yucatan, as reported by the blog "Dropped In")

and

Luna Blue's PlayaZone
--Toni and Cheri's blog in Playa del Carmen. They're Americans who "...bought a run down hotel and spent the next year turning it into what is now the most popular small hotel in all of Playa del Carmen.." and their wonderful blog updates their ongoing story of "...How we got here–the ups, the downs, the good and the bad – a story many people seem to enjoy hearing."


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## jamie

Rescoldo said:


> I would love to hear from someone who has opened up a restaurant in Mexico.I have a few questions on wanting to buy an old colonial in Merida and opening up a Restaurant . We are Canadians that are not retired, can we do this and what kind of visa do we need. We are going to hire Mexicans to work and were wondering how much work we can do in it ourselves also. We want to find a place that we can live in also and watch over it. Are there any restrictions, what are the steps on doing this and what kind of start up costs are we looking at. Any information would be of help. Thank you



I decided to reply to this. You probably already know this but be very careful. Live there first. For a year or more. 

Until you get to know the situation, people will take advantage. Expatriates and locals both. 

I live in Honduras and I have been screwed by both.


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## synthia

There are some other threads here about opening a business in Mexico, and they aren't very encouraging. One measure for me is how many foreign-owned restaurants, hotels, guest houses, and the like I notice when I travel. Where opening a business is relatively easy, as in Nicaragua, I see a lot. In places where it is very hard, I see few. I really don't remember seeing any in Merida.


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## jamie

Here is something I found just browsing around.

Running a Business in Mexico
Hello Tom! Just want to warn people who want to open businesses there. I have had a hair-raising year and experience with a Mexican landlord and my restaurant. Seems, in a nutshell, he saw my business taking off well, so has done everything in his power to run me out of money so he can take over.
First he filed a criminal lawsuit in Cihuatlán, bogus, which he eventually lost, then he filed a civil suit in Autlán where they are a very old respected family. Am still fighting that. Learned he has problems with numerous other people who have ventured into business dealings with him, after I was already committed. The first I knew of the civil suit, they came and embargoed my car, all the papers in Spanish; I understand this is illegal in itself. Then the judge eventually signed an order saying he had to return the car, which he refused, and I just keep getting one runaround after the other, designed to run me out of money through legal fees, which he has done, my lawyers have disappeared from the scene, I fled the country on advice from a thirty-year American consulate veteran who says they have a file a foot thick of Americans who were killed or just disappear when they appear to have the upper hand or are fighting lawsuits.

I have Mexican friends there still trying to fight this thing, but I hold out little hope, and basically lost everything, over something I have all the receipts and licenses, etc. saying I complied with everything, by virtue of the fact they can keep presenting roadblocks until you eventually give up and get out and they win by default. I love Melaque, and that is the saddest part, but I thought people considering business there should be aware. To all of the people who frequented my establishment and the international band of Musicians who jammed there so often, thank you for a wonderful two years. I can be contacted at Loca [email protected]. Hasta luego to all!

Judy
[email protected]
July 2000


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## DUTCH

*An extrem case*



Rescoldo said:


> I would love to hear from someone who has opened up a restaurant in Mexico.I have a few questions on wanting to buy an old colonial in Merida and opening up a Restaurant . We are Canadians that are not retired, can we do this and what kind of visa do we need. We are going to hire Mexicans to work and were wondering how much work we can do in it ourselves also. We want to find a place that we can live in also and watch over it. Are there any restrictions, what are the steps on doing this and what kind of start up costs are we looking at. Any information would be of help. Thank you


Definitely, i woud say the story of Gringos Restaurant in Chelem is an extrem case. Unffortunatly they became the pride of the new PRI Goverment officials in the area. My wife and I own a business in Merida, and we never encouter any problem, but we keep a low profile, we speak spanish, and we have good responsible employees. Our advice: First know the place, do not focus only on the expat customers and learn the local business culture, use local advice, and more importantly, keep a low profile. Competitors do not like outsiders to take part of their business. Allow your business to grow slowly, do not pretend to be the top of the top, you may gain unwanted enemys, putting your investment at risk.


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## DUTCH

*We offer you our help*

I forgot to mention that we are willing to help you as much as we can. We (the ones who live in Merida) need people with good entrepreneurial initiative, along our journey of becoming entrepreneurs we met very helpful people working for the government and also professionals who are doing things right. So if you are still interested do not hesitate to contact us. Greetings


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## RVGRINGO

Your information is useful and I hope that you do not object to my editing to make it more clear to the reader.


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## synthia

I don't think anyone should invest money in a foreign country until they have leved there a year. Of course, if it is throwaway money, it doesn't matter. But if you are putting a significant amount of your assets into property here, and then into a business, you should be in the area for a full year first.

Merida is within 50 kilometers of the coast, so you will have a more complicated purchase process, since you have to set up a trust. Foreigners can't buy outright within 50 kilometers of the border.

Dealing with contractors will be difficult, too. Of course, that's true everywhere. The main thing is not to rush into it. If you have been here a while and still want to do this, then go ahead. But don't come down here and invest a ton of money until you know the place. Especially in the hot months. It's going to 102 tomorrow, and 105 on Tuesday.


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## rfairbro

*Business in Mexico*



Rescoldo said:


> I would love to hear from someone who has opened up a restaurant in Mexico.I have a few questions on wanting to buy an old colonial in Merida and opening up a Restaurant . We are Canadians that are not retired, can we do this and what kind of visa do we need. We are going to hire Mexicans to work and were wondering how much work we can do in it ourselves also. We want to find a place that we can live in also and watch over it. Are there any restrictions, what are the steps on doing this and what kind of start up costs are we looking at. Any information would be of help. Thank you


Wow, where to start. I guess my wife and I have come further along this process than we thought. Both of us are well below retirement age. We have been travelling to Merida since 2003 for about 6 weeks at a time. We have met a lot of fantastic friends. Some foreigners and many Mexicans. We had been looking at real estate since the first week we landed in Merida but it took us until last year to finally buy one.

We formed a a Mexican corporation in 2009. It's a lot more complicated in Mexico to do this than it is in Canada or the US. You need to use an attorney. Budget between 1500-2000.00 US. You can then apply for Visa's which allow you to work under your company. Your new company now does this for you and you become employees of your company. This only gives you the right to work for your company and not for any other company. Also, you can only work in the type of business that is written in the by-laws of your company structure. However, you can add as many types of services as you want and it is easy to get your company by-laws amended in order to add another type of business. In order to get the work visa, you can use your attorney or use a service like Y.E.S. (Yucatan Expatriate Services). The cost to help you with your visas and the formal letter your company is required to write in order to give you permission to work for it is modest.

Become VERY familiar with Mexican labour laws if you are going to hire Mexicans. They are complicated and antiquated. They very highly favour the employees and even the Mexican government realizes they need to be overhauled. This has come about because of the abuse of employees committed by land and business owners up to the revolution near the beginning of the 20th century. They are that old!

You also are required to have an accountant. There are many good ones in Merida. I can recommend a good lawyer/Notary and accounting firm that we are very happy with.

TAKE IT SLOW - as others have said. Get to know Merida first. The heat is one thing in the late spring/summer, the humidity is quite the other. For us, the humidity is the worst. The only time I feel dry and normal during that time is when I'm in the swimming pool.
I would recommend to rent first. Minimum 6 months, preferably a year. Make sure that you can take it there. You may fall in love with centro...the colonial houses, the older Mexicans with their old cultural values and morals and extreme friendliness but then find that it's too noisy, or find the streets too narrow and houses cramped or... 

Or you may prefer the wider streets and quieter neighbourhoods in the north of the city where many homes have front and back yards and you have space between your neighbours but then find that your Mexican neighbours, while still friendly, aren't quite as friendly as they are in centro and desire to be back there. Maybe you find preference in the outskirts of the city, like Cholul, for example which is less than 5 minutes to the city where you'll find the newest malls, plazas, hospitals and residential developments. If you rent first, you'll have the freedom of being exactly in the part of the city you prefer.

While there, do the part of the research for your business that you can only do when you are there. Make sure you have the right type of business that will be sustainable in the correct part of the city. As an example of this, there was a very good restaurant/b&b in Centro that many foreigners and Mexicans alike enjoyed. The meals were what you would find in a high end restaurant but were priced not much higher than you would find in a decent restaurant in the US or Canada. The building was a beautiful old colonial that was beautifully restored by the owner. However, to the disappointment of many foreigners, us included, he went out of business. From talking to both foreigners and locals alike, it turned out that his type of restaurant was in the wrong part of the city. He needed a wider client base than he had to support it. The locals living in Centro don't typically have the type of disposable income to regularly support his establishment. The wealthier Mexicans who could easily afford his meals live in the north part of the city and most of them absolutely hate driving to and in Centro. Asking them to drive to Centro is like asking them to drive to the other end of the planet. I'm sure if he was located in the north, he would still be in business today. You may even find that a restaurant is not the best idea to pursue while you are there and find another business that fills in a void. There are a lot of opportunities still left in Merida. 

There are a whole host of other things to consider. I'm not in any way trying to discourage you. By all means, pursue your dreams. That is one of the many things that makes life worth living. But jumping into something too quickly can turn easily turn those dreams into nightmares. I wish you the best in your new venture and keep moving forward with it. If others have done it successfully, so can you.


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## baroque

*Small cafe in Progreso, Yucatan*

Hello,

My fiance and I are moving to Progreso and want to open a small cafe. Any information would be most helpful.

Thank you.





DUTCH said:


> I forgot to mention that we are willing to help you as much as we can. We (the ones who live in Merida) need people with good entrepreneurial initiative, along our journey of becoming entrepreneurs we met very helpful people working for the government and also professionals who are doing things right. So if you are still interested do not hesitate to contact us. Greetings


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## chicois8

baroque said:


> Hello,
> 
> My fiance and I are moving to Progreso and want to open a small cafe. Any information would be most helpful.
> 
> Thank you.


That's what Progreso needs, one more restaurant!!!!!!

Since this thread is almost 4 years old the OP has probably
opened a restaurant, gone bankrupt and it is closed it by now........


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