Business Advise!

Got to City Hall and find out how many expats actually have fixed residence there.
Then, figure a business that you could run entirely on their money.
Brazilians would be gravvy. 

On second throughs, Bluemanu is know to be a cluster for Code Development shops, so lots of computer jocks.   

Get coding contracts overseas and start hiring.

In Sâo Paulo , at least, most coders are paid by the job, all self employed.

Thanks so much for your response but sincerely I find it hard to understand your message. I will appreciate if you clarify your message for better understanding. Apologies on he stress to explain. I just want to be on the right track. Thank you

Nice to hear of your fascination with Florianopolis. Well, your elation period will pass and you´ll see the real world of hardships and challenges that you have to face as you struggle to survive in Brazil.

I lived for a few years in Florianopolis. I lived in Barra da Lagoa, Lagoa Conceição, Canasvieiras, Ingleses, Praia Brava and also the city centre. The ideal place to establish
a business of course would be the city centre.

You haven´t mentioned your migration status and educational background or expertise and also your aspirations as to what level of financial status you want to achieve so that I can more or less gauge as to what business or job opportunity would fit you.

You also need to be fluent in Portuguese to tackle the daily grind. You have to have capital to establish a business. And enough operational funding for 6 months to a year assuming that you need time to gather clients before you become profitable. You also need contacts and a good business plan.

There are many taxes to pay. There are about 90 different taxes all in all for the Receita Federal to collect - of course not all applies to a particular business. Only a few. If you employ people, the laws pertaining to employees heavily favors them to the despair of the employer. You have to pay their "decimo terceiro" - their 13th paycheck issued on December. Then there´s the FGTS (Fundo de Garantia de Tempo do Serviço). Their "leis
trabalhistas" are very protective to employees so you have to be very careful to avoid
litigations.

Job is scarce and mostly reserved for citizens of Brazil unless of course no one qualifies.

So there you go. It´s just the most common obstacles but enough to ruin someone´s day. I really don´t want to rain on your parade but I want to warn you of what´s coming!

I wish you luck and I hope that you´ll be successful and happy in Brazil!

robal

Hello Robal,

Thank you so much for your detailed message and candid advice as regards the reality of things to expect. I posted my inquiry because I didn’t want to make a decision based on the little time we spent in Florianopolis in comparison with experiences of those who had living in Florianopolis / Brazil for a long time. I must confess that we could feel a bit of your point as regards “the real world of hardships and challenges that you have to face as you struggle to survive in Brazil” which was noticeable at the backdrop of foreigners before my departure back to Malaysia. I understand life isn't always rosy and full of challenges everywhere but it’s good to know what to expect and be ready for it.

Regarding your question, I will be honest in answering them. Currently, I am back to Malaysia where I live and about to complete my M.sc degree in Electronics Engineering (Research interests include Digital Image Processing, Pattern Recognition, Feature Extraction, Computer Vision, Machine Learning and related applications). I hold a Bachelor degree (B.Tech.) Physics Electronics. My wife holds a Bachelor degree (B.Sc.) in Pharmacology and Physiology and also about to complete her Master degree in Occupational Health and Safety Management in Malaysia this year.
Our earlier visit to Brazil was more like vacation or feasibility study to explore the opportunities there while we look forward to relocate there should everything goes well based on our findings there. This was important for us as we didn't want to rely on information’s that’s made available to us via few persons there for fear of not going through the ugly situation, we went through in our stay in Philippines few years ago; where we met almost the opposite of what was told.

However, everyone wishes to achieve a greater level of financial status but certainly it begins in gradual steps (grass-root) which I am willing to go through it and grow from there, as long as I live a happy and peaceful life with my family while having some incomes to sustain my home no matter how small, this is my utmost concern. At the moment, it’s just me and my wife, we have no kids yet. In addition, we are already working towards improving on our Portuguese even while we are here in Malaysia, we have a private tutor (Brazilian) and daily practice as well to help us solve this part.
We really need to be guided right and we appreciate your message to us and do look forward to more of your experience and advise to help us have a proper plan.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Regards

Nice background there. However, Florianopolis is not a technological center where industries including research exist and your wife under a biochemist/
biomedical- laboratory analyst profile has a few opportunities unless she builds her own clinical laboratory.  I don´t know if your wife has extensive laboratory toxicological analysis experience where she can seek maybe a government job (with the degree validated by the Ministry of Education and Culture). Her occupational Health and Safety degree needs an industry so that would be in São Paulo also including your degree.

You can try to teach at the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina in Floripa and I´m sure that if you occupy a faculty position, you could be handling students doing their master´s - hence a research facility. You might even be involved with people completing their Phd´s. Your wife can also teach. Federal Universities usually require a Phd but how many are there? So it depends on luck if you want to live in a beach/touristy city. Be sure that your Portuguese is proficient.

We need people like you in the US. The advent of robotics (Artificial Intelligence),
Internet of Things, 5G, autonomous self-driving cars, renewable energy and storage,
flow cell technology are all things that fills your repertoir.

I have stock investments in these areas including biotechnology which develops new medications for malignant neoplasms, cardiovascular diseases, leukemias, new antibiotics for resistant microorganisms especially the Methicillin (Colistin) resistant
Enterobacteriaceae...

Woow. You have a vast knowledge and good understanding of things. I respect that ... You really nailed it. I appreciate your response. Based on your message, my wife doesn't have extensive laboratory toxicological analysis experience yet but she does have a Medical Lab experience.  Upon our return from Brazil, I had thought to enroll her in any of the Universities in Brazil offering interesting courses that suites her choice of carrier in the medical field. Though she had once mentioned toxicology to my last year but didn't give it much thought. It's really a hard time to crack our heads but I am confident everything will be fine. I appreciate your kind words of wisdom

Blumenau is the place for contract  code development firms.  Lots of firms, and incubators there.

Florianopolis is the State's Administrative Capital and a Resort Town.  Not a place you would spend time creating a business in tech.

In São Paulo most coders are self employed and work on contracts.   

In taking payroll you will get into a myriad of taxes.   

Now, if I was to tackle serious coding contracts, I would be wary of taking on Brazilians.    Russians and  Ucraninans would be my first choice. 

Stll, Southern Brazil , the work ethic seems to be more in line with the expectations of anyone working on fullfiling deadlines and deliverying on specs.

Let me add more ideas if you really intend to live at beach areas:

1. If you want to start small, since you´re in tech, you can start a computer/printer repair or even TV if that suits your agenda. These small businesses are always busy!

2. I´m sure your wife has credits in Occupational Health and Safety in waste management and also water treatment analysis. Any city need those type of professions. Florianopolis specifically - being an island has been having problems with their wastes some being shipped away to other places.

3. Regarding tech, Joinville has been always the center since the dawn of technology in 1993. This city is about 30km to Ubatuba a beach with astounding beauty. They have their own version of Oktoberfest. That being mentioned, the opportunities in São Paulo
are much better.

I´ve lived in all these cities in Santa Catarina: Joinville, Blumenau, Pomerode, Benedito Novo, Timbo, Penha, Balneario Camboriu, Piçarras, Porto Belo, Florianopolis, Garopaba and also other beaches in Parana and Rio Grande do Sul.

I´m also a beach guy and those cities are all except the first five.

robal