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Joined: Jul 2008
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It is getting more popular here for long distant business owners to utilize online monitoring tools such as video cameras and software (quickbooks) to access business activity/data frequently.
Having said that, "boots on the ground" or a strong, trustworthy manager/ oversight person in place will be key. I would imagine this would apply anywhere. "When the cat is away......"
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Joined: Oct 2003
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I have been a business owner all my life, and I would NEVER attempt to "run" a business long-distance. "Running" a business means exactly that: YOU run it. You have to be on top of your business all the time, making sure that customers are treated properly, inventory is in line, books are balanced accurately and honestly, etc. Yes, there will always be shrink due to a moderate amount of internal theft, but that is the price of doing business. We have only one location of our retail chain that is a bit away (1 hour driving time), but we are lucky in the fact that it has been run by a dear and trusted friend for the past 10+ years. Not all friends/family can be trusted.
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Joined: Dec 2006
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Insanity to try and have a business down here and live in the states. Most of these island guys where born learning to take advantage of foreigners coming to the islands. Its practically a heritage and the Gringos are the commodity.
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Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 16
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OP
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I have been a business owner all my life, and I would NEVER attempt to "run" a business long-distance. "Running" a business means exactly that: YOU run it. You have to be on top of your business all the time, making sure that customers are treated properly, inventory is in line, books are balanced accurately and honestly, etc. Yes, there will always be shrink due to a moderate amount of internal theft, but that is the price of doing business. We have only one location of our retail chain that is a bit away (1 hour driving time), but we are lucky in the fact that it has been run by a dear and trusted friend for the past 10+ years. Not all friends/family can be trusted. Perhaps "run" is a bad choice of words. "Own" would be a more appropiate term in this case for the time being at least. Certainly day to day operations can be handled by a competent site manager (the person doing the "running") and staff. Or doesn't that model hold true on AC? Elbert, can you give me some examples?
Glenn
Catchy phrase not included.
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Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 242
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Perhaps "run" is a bad choice of words. "Own" would be a more appropiate term in this case for the time being at least. Certainly day to day operations can be handled by a competent site manager (the person doing the "running") and staff. Or doesn't that model hold true on AC?
Elbert, can you give me some examples?
You can own a business and leave it in someone else's care, but between the general entitlement to everything gringo owns, no sense of personal responsibility and inability to distinguish "take" from "borrow" don't expect much in terms of profits. Why bother at all? If all you want is to invest money, there are much safer ways of doing it without you having to be here cracking the whip.
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Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 6,267
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Examples of successful island businesses with absentee owners - Ramons, Mata Chica, Victoria House. There are probably more, but these come immediately to mind.
It's the mom-n-pop stuff that is hard to own/run successfully from afar. Usually there is just not enough cash to hire a manager who cares as much as the owner. IMHO this is true just about everywhere and is not country-specific.
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Joined: Dec 2006
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Sorry Diane that list doesn't impress me.
All good examples of Emory Kings rule,'If you want to make a small fortune in Belize, bring a big one!'.
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Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 16
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Examples of successful island businesses with absentee owners - Ramons, Mata Chica, Victoria House. There are probably more, but these come immediately to mind.
It's the mom-n-pop stuff that is hard to own/run successfully from afar. Usually there is just not enough cash to hire a manager who cares as much as the owner. IMHO this is true just about everywhere and is not country-specific. So would it be a safe assumption(oxymoron) that most/many/majority of local business are operated with the owner on site/present/available for most of the operating hours/times?
Glenn
Catchy phrase not included.
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 13,675
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I have been a business owner all my life, and I would NEVER attempt to "run" a business long-distance. "Running" a business means exactly that: YOU run it. You have to be on top of your business all the time, making sure that customers are treated properly, inventory is in line, books are balanced accurately and honestly, etc. Yes, there will always be shrink due to a moderate amount of internal theft, but that is the price of doing business. We have only one location of our retail chain that is a bit away (1 hour driving time), but we are lucky in the fact that it has been run by a dear and trusted friend for the past 10+ years. Not all friends/family can be trusted. Perhaps "run" is a bad choice of words. "Own" would be a more appropiate term in this case for the time being at least. Certainly day to day operations can be handled by a competent site manager (the person doing the "running") and staff. Or doesn't that model hold true on AC? Elbert, can you give me some examples? If you have the right people it can work, but most try and hire locals to manage their business and its a formula for crash and burn. Good managers can do it, trick is finding the good managers.
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C2C
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C2C
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So would it be a safe assumption(oxymoron) that most/many/majority of local business are operated with the owner on site/present/available for most of the operating hours/times? Yes. It's not a job, it's a lifestyle.
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