Arrive on May 5th

I stayed at Oasis when it was called Pipon. Nice place. It's up the hill from Parking Lots break which is my favorite. People tell me that the surf season may be extended through May so you might get some surfing in. Tomorrow it's supposed to be 3-5 at 17 second, yahoo!

As much as i didn't care for living in PR, I'd take it over Texas any day. I don't have a lot of specifics on opening a business other than I know it is a long arduous process. That's one of the things that hampers the economy there. Opening a business is made way too difficult to do. Then there is the overhead. Don't know if you are aware but water and electricity are astronomical. There are others on this forum who can contribute in more detail as they have actual experience. Hopefully they will chime in. In the meantime read some of the past posts to get some general idea of what it's like. It's been discussed here before. However the tax sytem has changed recently and has not improved things for the business owner. I very much enjoyed spending time in Rincon and met some absolutely wonderful people there. I hope you can too. Best of luck to you and your son. Please keep us posted on how your life progresses in your new home

About eareries. During the past year a bunch of restaurants and food carts have opened. There is a lot of competition. If you want to open an eatery it should offer something different that's not here and is needed. And IMHO it is risky having a business in Rincón because the high season is relatively short and businesses suffer during the low season. I toyed with the idea of opening a vegan restaurant but would do so if and only if I could close it during the low season and make it work.

I discuss at length in one of my earlier threads how to set up a business. Below is an excerpt from one such post. Please note that some laws or procedures may have changed since I originally posted this, which was in 2013. Also note that this is for educational purposes only. I am not giving anyone legal advice.

"I've written elsewhere in this forum on the specifics to starting a business in PR. Here is a link to one such discussion: https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=240853 and here is just what I wrote (please note some specifics of my post below may be dated, e.g. references to the Fortuño administration, and some procedures may have changed since I originally posted this):

"I write about this for educational purposes only. It's not legal advice. If you need legal advice, I recommend Lic. Yuannie Arrollo Casillas in Ocean Park: 787-258-5566; licyac [at ] gmail.com. I've used her before and she's good.

To register an LLC or LLP (which are the company types I imagine you would want to use), you should register and pay online. This service wasn't available when I did my last incorporation so I'm not sure if it's reliable or not. Either way, you pay and you get a receipt so it would just be a matter of following up. Here is a link to the PR SOS Corporations Division: https://prcorpfiling.f1hst.com/Creation  lity.aspx.

If you're having problems using the online system, here is a link to the company organization forms that you can use to submit your paperwork the old-fashioned way:  http://www2.pr.gov/agencias/estado/PageCorp.aspx. If you go this route, I would not mail-in your paperwork. Take it personally to the PR SOS. The Secretary of State's Corporations Division is in Old San Juan. Go early in the morning. When I lived there, you'd notice a short line forming before the office even opens. This was/is because the "public servants" would stop accepting applications for forming a business after an hour or so, or a set limit of applications (like 15 or something ridiculously low). I don't know if Fortuño's administration was able to stop that practice or not. If not, I hope the new administration deals with it.

You'll quickly notice one of the many ways the PR government treats business owners and entrepreneurs like a vampire treats its victims: When you submit your paperwork, you have to choose one of I believe are three payment options for them to process your Certificate of Incorporation. The cheapest is $160 or thereabouts for what is supposed to take a few weeks, the next cheapest, if I recall correctly, is approximately $400 for a quicker turn-around, and then I believe there is even a more expensive option for two day incorporation. It's a shake-down. If you only pay the $100, they could sit on your application for as long as seven months, so make sure you go down there again. Don't just call - it would be a miracle if anyone actually answered the phone but as you may know, in PR it's all about face-to-face interaction if you want anything to get done.

You need your Certificate of Organization if you want to set up a business bank account (this is thanks to the Patriot Act). You'll also need to have your municipal business license in order to set up the bank account. I think Banco Santander PR has a list of exactly what you'll need on their website.

In addition, don't forget to register on the Compulsory Business Registry by July 15 of each year. This is handled by the Puerto Rico Trade and Export Company.

I'm very pessimistic about business ventures in PR. The government disdains business owners and punishes them as much as possible. They're viewed as cash-cows, not as risky enterprises that should be encouraged. Puerto Rico is where many good small businesses go to die. Then again, I'm a commercial bankruptcy attorney so perhaps I've simply seen too many failures."

Hey Jackie, are you Susan T. Friend Jackie???????

Thanks all!! Yes, I am Susan's friend. Who may I ask is asking? Is the oasis near the beach? Walking distance to beach and stores?

Hi Jackie, it's Marie from CDM....
Don't know a lot about Rincon but hope Willie is OK and will like it.

My only suggestion would be to work in a place for a while then see if you can buy it or rent it for a while... the gov.  here sucks big time and while they don't take bribes ( right!)  it's who you know not what you know.

good luck.
m

Hi Marie!
Thanks for the info! I'm going to take it easy the first 30 days then I will look into something small...
Hope all is well with you,
Jackie

I am looking into opening an organic cafe. Going to check out the Farmer's   Market Sunday. Only being open during peak season is fine with me, I like to travel so 6 months to 7 months of work will suit me just fine...