Doing business in Colombia. I am going to open it up to questions if anyone has them. If I don't know the answer I will get it for you.

[Don Gringo]

I wish I could say more about things but this is a public forum and I would get in big trouble, maybe even killed if I opened my mouth and started sharing what I know about business in Colombia so I will never do it. I operated businesses in the US and that was never the case. There are Stark contrasts between life here and there. The thing that you learn after a while is that no one is going to tell you about them. You will need to learn yourself. I have always been able to warm up to people pretty good and people trust me. They tell me shit that maybe they wouldn't someone else. That has saved me so many times here. Also learning Spanish has saved me. Shit without that your dead in the water.

I will say this in Colombia the rules are there to hurt the honest guy. He will not be able to compete with the corrupt no matter how hard he tries. Which is why most honest people strive to work for a large company, this is their dream. To be a business man is rarely the dream of anyone because it will corrupt you in one way or another.

Case in point and this is only an example. I want to keep it like that. This is not one of the things I said I would not talk about. I don't import cameras.

If you import wiggets to Colombia. You have a certain kind of wiggetts, oh hell a better example. Lets say you are bringing in cameras. the little cheap ass camera that has no bells and whistles on it maybe you pay 16% in empuestos tax and the cameras will more bells and whistles on it you pay 25% and if it really deacked out you could pay 70%. This is all in the minds of DIAN, really the shithead your dealing with as your cameras come in. OK so with all that ambiguity it is so easy to get screwed.

Your import agent can tell you anything doctor the papers and take a bigger chunk of your ass. He can be in it with that nice agent assesing if your camera is for the wealthy class or the poor class and that is how tax is determined in Colombia btw, that is the bottom line. Yes the estrato system is in play on every level and is a tool of the corrupt. They can all screw you over, play with your profit margin until the cows come home. How do you put a business model together when you have no idea of your costs.

So what have we learned, well we learned that those companies operating ligitamently, your competition are paying a high price for the newest models of whatever, the ones with the most bells and whistles they are paying the most for. So that camera is $300 in the US new and $1200 here. Everyone wonders why?

So then if you are corrupt you have a business here selling cameras, you import the cheap ass cameras the legitament way with all the paperwork to show DIAN when they pass by, they pass by about twice a year btw. It is possible to pay to know when that is btw.... The high end cameras you go a different route of which there are several that I wont get into. One that pays off all the agents (por las brujas) and you can bring in whatever the hell you want and no problem. It is not some secret either, anyone can do it. If you are mafia connected and everyone knows it the thieves don't touch your shit and everything goes smoothly for you. Your profit margin is bigger than anyone else and you win. That is one example of doing business in Colombia. It is not like anywhere else I have been. If your not connected or people don't fear you then they will simply pick you a part on a large shipment, maybe loose a small shipment, etc but actually it is surprisingly dependable.

I have learned so much here and I will pass it on if anyone is interested. I could never do so on a large forum so that is one advantage of having this small forum. The things I have learned that I will post have an edge to them. That is they are not printed up on a pamplet or on a government website. they are vital to know in order to operate here though. Colombia has some of the toughest regulation of businesses in SA. The fines for this or that rule breaking are unreal. So go get all signed up and play by the rules. Your entering a world where you will not leave in one piece. There is a better way. The Colombian way.....

[Don Gringo]

PS the peso is just inching up this week. Having failed to break below 2k It looks to me like it is ready to bounce! 2100 and beyond!! jaja Who knows but it looks like a bounce is gonna happen any day. Maybe up to 2150 2200 area and test that.

[David Barkley]

Are saying the Coast Guard patrols up and down and around Florida, just like a cop in a patrol car?

How can they possibly go up to every blip they see on radar?

The belongings could be shipped by air freight.

You could make it a 2/3 part operation with one party bringing them up to the Caymen / Bahama area, then the 2nd party taking to the 3 mile part, then a runner boat onto shore . Less chance of them tracking one boat all they way though. But now you are talking about a split of the $10k revenue per head.

I would do it no problem, no moral issues, but don't have boat.

[Don Gringo]

say bye bye 2 triple zero. Not sure if that is good or bad?

Live rates at 2009.06.19 17:55:54 UTC
1.00 USD = 2,110.50 COP
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1 USD = 2,110.50 COP 1 COP = 0.000473821 USD