Weezur10

Hello!
I am a 27 year old woman, and my boyfriend and I are planning on moving to mexico (Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco area specifically) from Calgary in about 4 months. I am british and he is Canadian.
We have no attachment to Calgary and have both wanted to leave for many years.
We have been to the area, and researched life in Mexico quite extensively. (Read all the forums, e-books, blogs, etc.)

We do not have kids, and both run our own businesses, and work for other companies as well to create more income.

We are extremly hard working and driven.
We've got everything figured out, out stuff, enough money to survive for a few months, and what we want to do when we get there.

I am a wedding and event planner and I am planning on getting a job at a resort or a hotel doing weddings. Then when I have enough experience I would start my own company.

My boyfriend does large tradeshow displays, as well as photography, and he will be starting his own business right away.

We just want to be sure that we are going to be successful in making money down there before making the big move.

I know you can't really be sure of anything, and I know we'll have to work very hard, but I'd like some advice from anyone who went to Mexico as to what they did to make money, and if this is a good place for us to be.

We don't want to get down there just to find out there are no jobs in the wedding industry, and that no one needs tradeshow displays down there.

If anyone has any information about jobs, business, the industries we are in, or good ways to get started down there, any advice would be so greatly appreciated. We've been speaking to a lawyer about the FM3 process as well, but we're not getting a ton of answers. I

We want this more than anything in the world, but we have a serious lack of support as we are not telling our friends and family until closer to the move date, as they will try to change our minds.

Oh, and we're working on our spanish as well!

Thank you my british friends!

Weezur

AdrianR

Well, your enthusiasm is certainly high - good!

But let me ask you this - why do you want to do this and what do you expect from it?

Firstly, Mexicans tend to be quite insular and family focused. This means that wedding arrangements may well be done on word-of-mouth recommendation, as are many other things here. That said, the formal, catered party is much more of a feature here for birthdays, quinceñeras, baby showers etc etc so there may well be more business opportunities.

How's your Spanish? Fluent? Fluent enough to talk people around to your way of thinking? Fluent enough to be a silver-tongued saleswoman? Mexican culture, in case you didn't know, is incredibly class-ridden and sexist - they really are in the stone age as far as some things are concerned, culturally, compared to, say, the USA or Europe. They also tend be be suspicious of non-Mexicans and demonstrate an annoying tendency of telling you what they think you want to hear, even if it is not the truth. Business is done in a very different way here.

As for permits and papers - you are on shaky ground, unfortunately. To get an FM3 to allow you to work, you will have to be sponsored by an employer. I suggest you speak with your lawyer about an FM3 for business investors or come here on a regular tourist visa then change your status once you have a clearer idea of what you intend to do. Also, read the INM website (and practice your Spanish) at http://www.inm.gob.mx/index.php?page/tramites

Don't be fooled. Mexico often looks like it's a place of few laws. We have rules and regulations up the wazoo but, frequently, they are not enforced. When they are, however, they come down on you hard and it's not always possible to pay your way out of trouble.

But hey - don't let me put you off! Even if we have corruption, narco-gangs shooting at each other, failing infrastructure etc it can still be a great place.

JAJ

I would have thought many more Mexicans would move to Canada if they had the chance.

anuny

Just to add to what AdrianN wrote:

Speaking Spanish is not good enough. Natives can easily make out that you are an extranjero. Mexicans can smell a puerto rican, or guatemalan, or honduran, just like those countries do of mexicans. Business communication is very nuanced and different.

If you want to be a wedding planner - Move to numero uno turista spot - Rivera Maya and then hustle gringos and canucks to get married in MX rather than the kazillion caribbean islands who not have wedding packages

Weezur10

Hey Adrian!

Thanks for your advice. I just signed up to follow your blog!

So let me get this strait, you're from England, and your family has lived in Mexico for 5 years and now you are trying to move to Canada?

Do you know how friggin cold it is up here!?

It's unbearable and depressing to most. Except of course the 2 months of nice weather we get a year. Such a rip off.

So, why are you leaving Mexico? What do you down there? Does your wife work too? Do your kids love it there? Did you ever love it?

I know about the corruption and failing infrastructure in Mexico, but it still doesn't change my mind. Perhaps I'll have to see for myself.

With my business, I would target Canadians, the same way I do now, so I wouldn't be targeting Mexicans really, but that's good advice about the birthday parties, etc.

Here's our blog

www.landbblog.wordpress.com

Cheers mate!
L

JAJ

What's your plan to get a visa/permit to live in Mexico?

AdrianR

Yup - I'm a Brit and the missus is Mexican - we came back here in 2003 to look after her folks and take over the family business. Tampico is a rough place and we live in an apartment on top of the in-laws house in the downtown area - which is not as nice as it probably was even 20 years ago.

Our daughter was born here (so she knows nothing else) and the missus is the one who's driving the move to Canada - she'd prefer Florida, I know, but Canada is a whole lot easier to get in to.

Why leave Mexico? Take a peek at my other, older blog Adventures of a Third World Shopkeeper and you'll see the fullest expression of disenchanted catharsis

Addendum: I just read your blog...and spent a good half hour reminiscing about when I was 27 - spending my second year in LA and loving it and wishing I could make it my life. Of course, one's needs and wants at the age of 27 are very different from those needs and wants when you are 47 with a family a greater responsibility to others.

Weezur10

Hi Adrian - Wow, that's so funny I've been reading that blog and did not make the connect that is you. haha. There is a lot to read, so I've only read a bit so far.

So as far as the business goes, although my Spanish is not good, I am always working on it, and my business would mostly come from Canada anyway I suspect. I've been talking to wedding professionals down there and, they all basically say they'll answer my questions when I get there. It's hard to really plan anything when dealing with a country that is so lax about everything.

I was also thinking I could supplement extra income by working as a virtual assistant. I know tons of busy entrepreneurs must need one!

Anyway that's just a few ideas, we still haven't really worked out the details.
I keep hearing about how hard it is to start a new life down there. I know it's going to be hard, but it's discouraging when no one really has anything good to say about it either. I won't lie, in my search for support in this journey, I've instead encountered a lot of confused faces, apprehension, and a general feeling of "You've got to be crazy..."

Anything good to say about your experiences living in Mexico? Anyone?

I hope your move to Canada goes well, how is the process coming along?
I immigrated to Canada when I was very young, so I can't tell you much about the process. Canadians are super friendly. The weather, is the worst. Try to find somewhere Sunny, so even though it may be -30 degrees, the sun is still shining. Calgary is really sunny.

Oh, and to answer the other question, I would have to talk to my lawyer in Mexico about the FM3 and starting a business process, as I have no clue about that kind of thing. That is not for a lack of trying either. Even the consulate said basically come down and "We'll see". That is super encouraging. heh.