Making a Living Is No Picnic, Expatriates Often Discover

Vacationing under the Mexico sun is one thing. Making a living there is another.

Foreigners seeking work in Mexico often encounter cultural obstacles, bureaucracy and an elusive financial payoff. Those who stick it out tend to have a passion for the exotic and a tolerance for frustration.

Looking to start a small business such as a restaurant in a tourist area? It helps to have a good Mexican lawyer or a U.S. lawyer familiar with Mexican laws, including restrictions on buying coastal or border land.

In recent years, the Mexican government has been trying to centralize functions of the disparate agencies that supply prospective business people with permits and licenses.

But “it’s still a lot more involved than setting up a business in the United States,” said Josh Cohen, director of economics for the American Chamber of Commerce of Mexico, a private business group based in Mexico City.

“Someone who is not ready for that might be surprised and frustrated. Starting with professional help from the beginning, you avoid a lot of that frustration.”

Elizabeth St. Germaine, 47, a former resident of Atlanta, says her experience is typical. Six years ago, she moved to the developing Huatulco Bay region in Mexico’s southern Pacific coast and set up a real estate agency with her Mexican fiance.

She now considers her business successful, but she initially found a shortage of reliable accountants, notaries, lawyers and other professional help. She also found it tough winning respect as a businesswoman. It was particularly hard when she was trying to learn during her first years on the job.

Profits from a Mexican venture can be long in coming.

Eighteen years ago, Suzanne Lopez, 51, formerly of Los Angeles, opened a small jungle resort in Puerto Angel, a village up the coast from Huatulco. She says she still isn’t making much money. Part of the reason is she’s reinvested most of it into making the resort more ecologically sound, such as building bungalows deeper in the jungle, which she reforested.