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Got an opportunity to own a bar in Cancun - no experience 24yo
04-13-2016, 11:42 AM
Man, it sounds like you are hell-bent on doing this even though everyone is telling you it is not the greatest idea. If you are going to move forward with it anyway, please have an exploratory period where you work for the bar and observe the current owner while having the sole option but not the obligation to buy the business. Buy a ticket and spend a month or so down there doing this. This money spent will be a good investment as you will either be 1)training yourself for the future job you purchased or you will be 2)spending a fraction of what you would have to realize that it makes sense to use the money on other opportunities.
Can you share the amount of the investment? That may help us in guiding you toward less riskier or straight up better uses of the money.
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Got an opportunity to own a bar in Cancun - no experience 24yo
04-13-2016, 12:09 PM
Why don't you just start your own bar. Might be cheaper. Who knows. But the odds are stacked against you for numerous reasons detailed by the fine men of this forum.
So if you can do it cheaper at least you lose less.
There was someone looking to start a bar in Poland or something. Plenty of options other than this one.
Are you that attracted to Mexico? Just sounds like you want to get out.
One last comment and I think most would agree, rarely have things gone well when we have been so eager, so desperate to do something. And it is easy for the other side to manipulate you once they sense it. "I have someone else who is interested" blah blah blah. You get sold on the dream, you rarely get the Dream.
Whatever you do. Be good enough to let us know what you decided to do and how it goes. So many dudes come here tapping the wisdom of the forum and then don't have the decency to share how it went. It would be different if you found some super secret bar that is 100% guarantee of a ONS, I could see you not sharing that.
Fate whispers to the warrior, "You cannot withstand the storm." And the warrior whispers back, "I am the storm."
Women and children can be careless, but not men - Don Corleone
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Got an opportunity to own a bar in Cancun - no experience 24yo
04-13-2016, 01:48 PM
Quote: (04-13-2016 12:54 PM)texas Wrote:
OP, here is another bar opportunity in Latin America from a RVF member. The investment is less, although having been to both places, there is much more action in Cancún. This could be a good stepping stone with a lower cost of investment and less likelihood of getting raped by the cartel tax if you can forfeit some of the glamour.
thread-53018.html
If the Cancún option is the one for you after doing the test run, take the great Kona's advice and get him to finance a portion of it so you're not all-in at once. His consideration of this will also give you hint as to whether he is shopping it around to others or what is up (ie: he may say he has another all cash buyer so he won't seller finance, he may need an immediate 10k for family medical procedure but the rest can be in payments, etc). "Being tired" is a very vague reason to sell a business that generates money unless he is very old and has no family members to pass it along to. Ask him exactly why he is selling and why he needs the money.
Remember, you have the cash and he has the desire to sell; You have all the power. Make him know that you are not afraid to walk away and take it a step further and say you are comparing it to other investment opportunities and the alternatives seem to have better return/offer financing/cost less/whatever.
good call texas
and although ecuador isnt perfect, i personally would rather invest in and live in ecuador 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 (a quintillion) times more than in quintana roo.
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Got an opportunity to own a bar in Cancun - no experience 24yo
04-14-2016, 05:00 AM
I'm not sure I agree with that.
I'd much rather lose money on a business that has at least a 50/50 chance of success.
This bar is a mental idea and I reckon the OP will realise that before he goes through with it.
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Got an opportunity to own a bar in Cancun - no experience 24yo
04-14-2016, 08:36 AM
Quote: (04-14-2016 08:32 AM)Scaro066 Wrote:
Quote: (04-14-2016 08:23 AM)Peregrine Wrote:
Quote: (04-14-2016 05:00 AM)CrashBangWallop Wrote:
I'm not sure I agree with that.
I'd much rather lose money on a business that has at least a 50/50 chance of success.
This bar is a mental idea and I reckon the OP will realise that before he goes through with it.
Agree. There's "that's a long shot and you'll probably lose everything, but there's a chance you won't and you'll learn a lot either way", and then there's jumping into a ball pit filled with rabid raccoons.
Don't need more information to know this is the latter. But hey, some people need to piss on the electric fence themselves.
I don't mind losing the 27k if I get a life lesson out of it. Also the way I see things there is a 60% change of success and that is being negative. The business looks like it maintains itself at least, according to numbers it makes profit. I need to make sure what the real numbers are when I go visit the business and interview the right people. The worst case scenario would be to lose money every single month, but as long that it maintains itself I am happy.
If you're really thinking like this then I think you may be suffering from some sort of emotional/mental problem at the moment resulting from a desperate desire to escape.
What basis do you have to consider this likely to be 60% risky?
Seriously; go take a holiday and relax. Not to Mexico...and don't take your savings with you!
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Got an opportunity to own a bar in Cancun - no experience 24yo
04-14-2016, 08:42 AM
We were all young, stubborn and stupid, let him learn his lesson. Go to Mexico my friend, go to Mexico.
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Got an opportunity to own a bar in Cancun - no experience 24yo
04-14-2016, 12:19 PM
OP should rename the thread to:
"I bet you can't convince me to drop this absolutely terrible idea!"
That would be a much closer description of the discussion here.
OP, I tried to come up with a more detailed and helpful answer, but then I remembered that you basically ignored all the good advice the forum members gave you so far. You are delusional if anything about this offer seems like a great deal to you.
Here's my advice:
Take those 27k you apparently don't care about losing.
Give it to me.
Just kidding.
Take 7k.
Go and travel.
Maybe Latin America. Maybe SEA. Maybe EE. You seem adventurous, so it might even be Africa. You'll see that 7k is a lot of money, especially in LA and SEA. Goes a veeeery long way. Use it to have the best time of your life. Do everything you ever wanted to do, live like a king, have a blast.
Didn't you say you are location independent? Might even stay if you find a place you like.
When you return, you'll be a different man. Then, and only then, you should think again about what to do with all that money that apparently grows on trees for you. I garantuee you that you'll come up with a better idea and will laugh at the silly younger version of you who wanted to throw it down a bottomless pit.
Before you leave, take the remaining 20k.
Put it into a few ETFs.
Don't think about it again until your return.
Better yet, just leave it there and don't touch it.
Let compound interest work its magic.
This way you get your life changing experience, sunshine and tropical climate to enjoy, hot, exotic girls to bang, new and interesting people to meet, new opportunities that will open up, all while retaining your freedom and flexibility, and most of your money.
At a fraction of the cost of chaining yourself to a nightlife business (!) in Mexico (!) you know nothing about (!).
It's a no-brainer, really.
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Got an opportunity to own a bar in Cancun - no experience 24yo
04-14-2016, 02:18 PM
OP, last serious attempt to help.
It seems like you want the experience. And you just want to stop what you are currently doing for work.
How about just make a small investment into the bar. A capital infusion. By being a part owner, I bet you can get your work visa easily. Make the capital investment over several months like 5k over 6 months. This way they won't toss you out until they got all the money.
This caps your downside. You get the experience, you get your pickup angle - "I am one of the owners", etc.
Fate whispers to the warrior, "You cannot withstand the storm." And the warrior whispers back, "I am the storm."
Women and children can be careless, but not men - Don Corleone
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Got an opportunity to own a bar in Cancun - no experience 24yo
04-14-2016, 06:58 PM
Quote: (04-14-2016 06:34 PM)Sephiroth Wrote:
Then there are millions of options available. This "bar in Mexico" idea is a terrible one.
If you bring the 27K here in $20 dollar bills you will never ever forget how fun that night was.
http://www.tootsiescabaret.com/clubfeatures.aspx
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Got an opportunity to own a bar in Cancun - no experience 24yo
04-14-2016, 07:12 PM
OP has not told us everything in sufficient detail, so we can't customize "perfect" advice for him.
Before he 'fessed up to it (quoting him: "I've lived in a third world country for 9 years and I have some non-violent criminal connections."), I was pretty sure he had "underworld" connections, because he didn't strike me as stupid, and it would be stupid indeed to invest in a bar in Cancun without such connections (or political ones, not so vast a difference...).
Anyway, as we don't know the level of interaction of OP with his "non-violent" (until some day...?) underworld friends, we can't comprehend his actual situation and perspectives. Myself, I have an idea, a mere... sniffing really, on what his "non-violent" Cancun friends might do for a living, and it changes the situation.
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Got an opportunity to own a bar in Cancun - no experience 24yo
04-15-2016, 07:33 AM
man you guys are raping me with the harsh advise, but I really appreciate for keeping it real. You guys are cool. It is also my fault for not giving a lot of details, since I don't want to give away too many personal details, but I also want opinions on different sides on the idea. I am trying to be as transparent as possible and taking into account every single reply, I am not ignoring them just entering them into the equation.
I'd like to clear some things up about the safety issue: have you guys been to Cancun? it is very safe, at least in the popular areas, crime will still happen everywhere, but I was surprised to see police officers with AK-47's patrolling the city in trucks every 15-30 minutes. About the bar: owner says never had issues with the "cartel" or have any dangerous situations, this is believable because the bar is located in a main street, there is university nearby and it is in front of the "Palacio Municipal" (Local Government Office). According to street info from a Taxi driver the dangerous spots are far away from the city, he claim you can get assaulted and robed by guys with Machetes.
My goal is really a lifestyle change, hence why this thread is in the Lifestyle area. The working remotely as a web dev has attracted me a lot.
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Got an opportunity to own a bar in Cancun - no experience 24yo
04-15-2016, 08:17 AM
The vendor is trying to sell you a bar. You need to take everything he says with a pinch of salt.
As I said on the first page, criminal gangs shake down independent bars in my British city. Britain. The epicentre of modern law and jurisprudence. A first World country with almost incorruptible policing. A country with few guns lolling about and the highest amount of CCTV in the World.
Think about that, man!
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Got an opportunity to own a bar in Cancun - no experience 24yo
04-15-2016, 10:20 AM
So OP has made up his mind.
A few research to help you build some confidence in your investment then (I own brick and mortar business myself).
1. Have you been in the place on the off peak season? did the number of transactions during that period look good? If the business can sustain itself during the lowest of the lows, you don't have to worry much on the high seasons.
2. How much of it is cash based. Have you observed the staff doing their work and figure out how you can steal from the owner? Because if you can figure out from a 15 minute observation, they sure as well can do better.
3. I think what you missed about on the maximum loss of investment is the stress you would need to endure during this whole process. If your cash flow comes up to about nett 3k USD a month, would that be worth it compared to your current job?
4. Have some thoughts about it, and prepare for the possibility that you might still have made a bad investment. I've closed more outlets than I have opened. But the ones that stayed have made me more money than I have lost. So remember, this might not be your first and last.
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Got an opportunity to own a bar in Cancun - no experience 24yo
04-16-2016, 11:02 AM
The majority of good businesses that get sold are sold to family, friends, partners or employees of the owner. Good businesses are the exception to the rule with businesses for sale on the open market. Probably less than 10%.
It is unlikely that you will find the exception to the rule when you don't have any experience in the industry. It is even more unlikely if you are a young guy with no business experience.
The low cost of this business is also a red flag. Does the owner claim to be making any money at all? I think it is more likely that he is trying to get some money for his inventory and equipment because the business is breaking even or losing money.
The OP seems to be mostly focused on "redeveloping" himself. First, that is a huge red flag that he shouldn't buy a business. Second, I don't understand why OP doesn't use his savings to take some time off to travel or move to a new location and work in his current career of software development, which ironically is one of the most in demand skills for entrepreneurs. None of this makes any sense.